Durbridge wins Criterium du Dauphine prologue in Grenoble

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Australian rider Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) sped to victory in the 5.7km time trial prologue to the 2012 Criterium du Dauphine, holding off a spirited effort from pre-race favourite and defending champion Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), who was the last man to ride.

Durbridge took the lead from Astana's Andriy Grivko and held onto it for over 90 minutes. Wiggins pushed hard as the wind increased and in the end was only a second down on Durbridge's winning time of 6:38:52.

The prologue has set the race up nicely, with plenty of big names in the top ten. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) are all in there too.

Conditions definitely favoured the early starters in Grenoble, with the flat course winding through the streets of the city in the foot of the French Alps. Calm and dry conditions deteriorated slightly as the day wore on, with a light shower coming in the middle of the stage and the winding picking up significantly towards the end of the stage. With some tight bends dotted around the course, it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.

It was hardly a surprise, therefore, that half of the eventual top ten set off within the first half an hour of racing. These five included Durbridge, who posted the best time of the three Australians in the top ten.

“I’m speechless,” the 21-year-old said after watching Wiggins narrowly fail to beat his time. “I was lucky with the wind and the rain and it could have gone either way. Sometimes you just need some luck. Wearing the yellow jersey at the Dauphine? I’ll take that. It’s going to take a while for it to sink in.”

Wiggins was happy with the outcome. Despite his narrow defeat he has put himself in an excellent position for the remainder of the race, which begins in earnest tomorrow with a 187km stage featuring six categorised climbs.

"I'm happy enough to finish second but it's about the whole week. I couldn't have asked for better today," Wiggins said.

"It's always the same with prologues. With riders going three hours apart there's always different conditions. The wind changed massively today. Some guys had disadvantages on the course elsewhere at the start and also advantages.

“I'm just pleased it stayed dry really because it's never nice riding a prologue in the rain. It was perfect. I stayed safe and I'm where I want to be at the moment and I'm just trying to enjoy it."

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