A first for Clement, a last for Valverde?

Time trial specialist Stef Clement (Rabobank) won the first road race of his career on Sunday as he outsprinted breakaway companions Timothy Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream) and Sébastien Joly (Française Des Jeux) in Grenoble. French cancer survivor Sébastien Joly attacked Clement and Duggan with inside of two kilometres remaining in the 146-kilometre stage, but Clement clawed his way back with Duggan in tow. Clement neutralised Joly's attack with 400 metres to go and neither Clement nor Duggan, who also made a sensational return as a healthy cyclist after the brain surgery he had last year, could come around the Dutchman at the finish.

"I was jealous of my compatriot who won earlier this week," said Clement in reference to Niki Terpstra's stage win in Saint-Etienne. "I also wanted to win a stage at the beginning of the Dauphiné but I didn't have much freedom because of the time trials. Today was my last opportunity to make it but when I went in the early break, it was mainly for gaining some positions on GC. Unfortunately, there were too many riders in that group so I had to go again. When I was away at the end, I had no doubt that I'd win. I was sure of myself even when Joly attacked. I knew he'd be cooked from his efforts to come across.

"I'm so happy to finally win something other than a time trial," said the Dutchman who got the bronze medal at the world championship two years ago and won the Chrono des Nations last year as a good-bye present to the French team Bouygues Telecom he left for Rabobank.

Despite Cadel Evans' attacks on the main climb of the day, Valverde successfully defended his slim 16-second lead over the Australian. "My team did a phenomenal job," said Valverde who thanked his three teammates José Ivan Gutierrez, Oscar Pereiro and Javier Zandio who made the early break in order to assist him later in the stage. But the Caisse d'Epargne rider forgot to mention the most valuable help he got and that was from Alberto Contador (Astana).

"Alberto did his own race," Valverde said. "He wanted to keep his third place and stayed attentive. This second win at the Dauphiné means a lot to me. I don't externalize my anger but I know it's an injustice to suspend me and I'm confident that everything will be proved in my favour at the end.

"This win is a message to the organisation of the Tour de France, yes," Valverde continued. "I still hope to do it. The decision is not in my hands. I have had so many ups and downs, but the win at the Tour of Catalunya helped me to find the right motivation for the Dauphiné. To have won two ProTour races in a row is meaningful to me, my team and all the people who have supported me in these difficult moments."

After the Dauphiné, Valverde becomes the world's number one rider on the UCI ranking but the governing body will decide within one week to globalize or not the ban given to Valverde on Italian soil.

How it unfolded

A group of 28 riders attacked from the start and after only 10 kilometres had passed they had a 1:30 lead. The break contained José Ivan Gutierrez, Oscar Pereiro and Javier Zandio (Caisse d'Epargne), Stef Clement (Rabobank), Igor Anton and Iñaki Isasi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Hubert Dupont (Ag2r La Mondiale), Sébastien Joly and Anthony Geslin (Française des Jeux), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis), Marco Velo and Martijn Wynants (Quick Step), Cyril Gautier and William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Christian Kux and Martin Velits (Team Milram), Daniele Righi (Lampre-NGC), Bert Grabsch, Adam Hansen and Frantisek Rabon (Team Columbia-Highroad), Nikolay Trussov (Team Katusha), Aliaksandr Kuschinski (Liquigas), Beñat Intxausti (Fuji-Servetto), Brent Bookwalter and Alexander Moos (BMC Racing Team), Jurgen Van Goolen (Team Saxo Bank), Tim Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream) and Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana).

The highest ranked of the escapees on GC was Clement, 15th at 9:40. When the gap was just over 2:20 to the peloton, Grabsch attacked on his own at km 48. The current time trial world champion stayed away until km 111 after gaining a maximum lead of 3:00. As soon as the German was caught, his teammate Hansen counter-attacked at the bottom of the Saint-Bernard-de-Touvet climb. The Team Columbia-Highroad Australian was soon joined by Duggan on the ascent.

On the Saint-Bernard-de-Touvet, Evans attacked several times but Contador was always prompt to respond with Valverde on his wheel. In a race with a lot of dynamic action, Duggan dropped Hansen but was soon joined by Clement in the lead. The duo had a 1:30 advantage over the Valverde group with 20 kilometres to go and were joined by Joly with 8 kilometres remaining. Joly attacked 1.5 kilometres before the line but Clement had enough strength to catch Joly and outsprint his breakaway companions for the stage victory.