Castroviejo hoping to shine for Movistar in ITT

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Having placed fourth in the individual time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné last month, Movistar's Jonathan Castroviejo is hopeful of another top-five result at the Tour de France on Wednesday.

The 31km individual time trial between Avranches and Mont-Saint-Michel may not be quite as flat as what Castroviejo experienced at the Dauphiné but the Spaniard is not deterred. At the Dauphiné, the current Spanish time trial champion was just over a minute off the finishing time of winner Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) with Rohan Dennis (Garmin Sharp) and Chris Froome (Sky) completing the podium. Castroviejo is still recovering from a crash several days ago where he collided with a banner on the side of the road, leaving him with a suspected broken rib, but he's hopeful that it won't affect his time trial position.

"I thought it wasn't serious, but day by day, I'm suffering more and more, so we think there's a break in one of my ribs," he explained. "We didn't undergo any X-ray yet because I've been able to deal with the suffering on the bike so far, but should the injury continue to disturb me, I'll do some checks to know exactly what I have and be more calm. When you're riding close to the limit the pain is not as intense, mainly because the legs hurt more. These nervous stages on rough roads are even harder than those with mountains," Castroviejo said after Stage 10.

Tuesday's stage was trouble-free for the Movistar squad, with the team's sprinter José Joaquín Rojas recovering somewhat to finish in 10th place at the finish having experienced stomach issues before the stage got underway.

The team will concentrate on defending the current GC positions of Alejandro Valverde (2nd), Nairo Quintana (7th) and Rui Costa (10th) while for Castroveijo, it's an opportunity to tick off one of his personal goals of the Tour in his first-ever appearance.

"Tomorrow's stage is marked down as one of my TdF goals since the very start, but the tail wind that's likely to happen might benefit heavier riders," the 26-year-old explained. "I hope to perform well, something like the TT I made in the Dauphiné. I'd like to be top five, but we have to wait and see how the wind blows, because it might become decisive depending on the start times. The number-one favourite is Tony Martin. You could argue Froome is also a favourite due to his form level, but such a flat TT, with tail winds, is ideal for Martin."