Westra first off, Wiggins last in Dauphine prologue

Image 1 of 2

The organisers of the Critérium du Dauphiné released the start times for the 175 riders taking to the streets of Grenoble on Sunday, with Paris-Nice runner-up Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) leading off the bunch at 11:40AM local time. Defending champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky), who bested Westra in Paris-Nice, will take to the course last at 2:34PM

The field will consist of 21 teams of eight riders each, except for RadioShack-Nissan, whose Dutch rider Joost Posthuma was a last-minute scratch. The team confirmed to Cyclingnews that Posthuma has fallen ill and will not start.

The favorites are scattered throughout the start list, with some teams opting to send off their general classification contenders early to avoid predicted afternoon thunderstorms.

Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) will be one of the last starters seven minutes before Wiggins, as will David Millar (Garmin-Barracuda) and Janez Brajkovic (Astana). BMC's Cadel Evans (11:59AM) and Tejay van Garderen (12:21PM) will set off much earlier, as will Michael Rogers (Sky) and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep).

Last year scattered showers influenced the results of the prologue in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, mostly affecting riders who set off in the middle of the bunch such as Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky)

Start times for Criterium du Dauphine prologue