Chris Froome ready to step up and deliver in Dauphine time trial
Bonjour! The first riders are about to the start the 23.5km time trial from La Tour-du-Pin to Bourgoin-Jallieu southeast of Lyon.
As always we will have ful live coverae of the stage, with post-race comments and images.
Aleksejs Saramotins (Bora-Hansgrohe) will be the first of the 169 starters on Wednesday afternoon, rolling out of the start house at 1:01 pm local time.
Race leader Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal is the last man off at 3:50 pm with one-minute intervals between all riders.
The group of GC favourites headlined by Chris Froome (Team Sky), Richie Porte (BMC), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) start the stage all timed on time.
The test against the clock will see a selection with the possibility of a yellow jersey for the likes of Froome and Porte are expected to also challenge for the stage honours.
Of the GC men, Contador is the first starter at 3:07 pm, with Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) at 3:14 pm and Bardet at 3:17 pm the next to follow.
Porte starts his time trial at 3:21 pm with Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) at 3:23 pm, Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) at 3:26 pm closely behind the Australian. Fabio Aru will follow Talansky with Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) at 3:34 pm, then Froome at 3:39 pm.
All those times are local time in France.
Saramotins has already started his effrto and will be the first rider to the intermediate time check at the 107km point.
Before the start of the time trial riders have been out training and studying the course and stretching their legs after three hard days of racing.
Britain's Ian Stannard is already in action with fellow Brit and neo-pro James Shaw of Lotto Soudal about to join out on the road.
Lots of other riders are warming up fro their 23.5km effort. The UCI race officials are also in action, checking bikes conform to the rules.
Ramunas Navardauskas (Bahrain-Merida) started just before Shaw. We think he is an outsider for the stage victory today.
It seems traffic is building up before the start as riders await their mmont on the start ramp.
We have some first time splits, with Saramotins setting a time of 17:21. However he has been bettered and caught by his minute man Fumiyuki Beppu, who set a time of 16:17.
Australia's Chris Hamilton (Team Sunweb) is second fastest at the 10.7km check, in 16:49.
As you can see from the stage profile above, the TT is far from flat, with a gradual climb after the start and then another in the second half.
Bike skills will be as important as time trial ability today.
James Shaw sets a 10.7km time of 16:38. Pretty good for the young Briton.
Next up are some of the big-name sprinters and their important lead out men. Of course they will have to ride alone today.
Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) is off next, with stage 2 winner Arnaud Demare (FDJ) off soon after him.
Surprisingly Navardauskas is not the fastest at the 10.7km time split. He sets a time of 16:29. That's 12 seconds slower than Beppu.
The Japanese rider is perhaps motivated today because the race is close to his home south of Lyon.
Beppu is also the first finisher, setting a time of 31:29.
Before the start Demare and Alexander Kristoff were on far friendlier terms than in a sprint finish.
The early starters are finishing thick and fast after starting at 1-minute intervals. Beppu remains fastest so far.
Meanwhile back at the start, Alberto Contador has arrived at the Trek-Segafredo bus after his recon ride.
Several of his teammates are already warming up for their rides.
We have a new fastest time at the 10.7km check, with Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis) setting 15:39. He's the first to break the 16 barrier.
We;ll soon see his final time at the finish.
Best time at the finish for Fumiyuki Beppu: 31:29, 15 seconds faster than Jesus Hernandez. #Dauphine
New best time! Amund Grondahl Jansen (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) sets 31:22.
But as expected, Lemoine is even fast, a lot faster, and sets the time to beat of 29:46.
At the start the big favourite for the stage victory is warming up.
Tony Martin is the current world time trial champion and using today's 23.5km time trial as a stepping stone to the opening time trial at the Tour de France in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Nicknamed the Panzerwagen for his constant high speed, Martin is wrming up in the shade of the Katusha team bus.
Martin is of at 14:46 local time.
Team Sky has created a protected area for its riders to warm up in, between the team bus and the mechanics truck.
This image confirms that embattled team manager Dave Brailsford is at the Dauphine.
The Sky ridier warming up is Christian Knees. He is off soon.
The strong German domestique is under consideration for a palce in Team Sky's sqaud for the Tour de France after a strong season.
To learn more about the sqaud being built to help Chris Froome target a fourth victory in July, click here to read the full story.
At the 10/7km time check we have a new fastest time, with Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo) beating Lemoine in a time of 15:33.
Can he hold it until th finish?
Boom. New fasest intermediate time from South Africa's Darryl Impey. The Orica-Scott riders set 15:06. That's pretty fast.
A total of 42 riders hsave finished the TT, with 72 still to start.
#Dauphine @BouhanniNacer termine son chrono en 32'56".
Most of the early starters are riding steady to ensure they finish inside the esitmated time zone.
We're seeing lots of time around the 33:00 mark that ensures the riders are safe but also use the day to help them recover.
Only the stage contenders and GC favourites will og flat out today.
Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) has started. The Frenchman is riding the Dauphine for the last time in his long career and will retire after the Tour de France.
How many more time trials will you have to ride before retirment Thomas? Two?
#Dauphine S4 TT: start time for @albertocontador is 15:07 CET. His #speedconcept awaits on the @CycleOps Silencer. https://t.co/NHgcKHLfyX
Lennard Hofstede (Sunweb) comes home in 29:30 to set the day's second quickest time so far, albeit still some 28 seconds down on Impey's mark. Another Sunweb man, meanwhile, has scorched through the intermediate check with the fastest time thus far. Chad Haga is 8 seconds up on Impey after 10.73 kilometres.
World time trial champion Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) has just rolled down the start ramp to begin his effort. The German is the favourite to claim stage honours this afternoon.
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) reaches the finish in 29:30, good enough for the second best time to date.
Chad Haga comes home in 28:39 to take over from Daryl Impey in the hotseat. Haga's time is 23 seconds quicker than the South African's.
Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) has laid down the law over the opening 10 kilometres of the course, clocking a time of 14:31 at the intermediate check, 27 seconds clear of Haga.
Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) settles himself in the start house ahead of his effort. The Spaniard is the first of the GC contenders to tackle this time trial.
Into the final 5 kilometres for Tony Martin, who is tucked astride his top tube as he drops down a short, fast descent.
Tony Martin risk overshooting a sharp lefthand corner on the cusp of the final kilometre, but he manages to correct himself and come through unscathed.
New quickest time for Tony Martin of 28:19, 20 seconds ahead of Haga.
Contador is trying to stay aero during his ride but his number is flapping in the wind.
Chad Haga was just 20 seconds slower than Tony Martin. That's impressive after riding the Giro d'Italia.
#Dauphiné A brilliant start to @JashaStterlin's TT: 2nd through the intermediate check (14.53, 12km), only 22" behi… https://t.co/2YQOrFzqfJ
Here comes De Gendt. He's done a great rider, with a time of 28:49. That means he keeps the race lead. Chapeau!
De Gendt lost just 5 seconds to Froome. That indiciates his excellent ride but highlihts Froome's poor performance.
Contador was clearly off the pace too.
That's a great win for Porte and the time he has gained will give him a significant advantage on his GC rivals when the Dauphine hits the big mountains on Friday and the weekend.
@andrewtalansky Talansky jumps up to 12th in the GC, at 1'27" from Thomas de Gendt, who retained his yellow leader'… https://t.co/JkhtzryhW1
Porte was overjoyed to have won and gained time on his GC rivals.
"I didn’t expect to either win the stage or take that much time. But I’ve really worked hard on my time trialing this year. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a good time trial, so to do what I did today makes me really happy," he said before the podium ceremony.
Porte seems to be on track for his best ever Tour de France. He pointed out he will be BMC's sole leader for the Grand Boucle, hoping that everything goes his way without a bad day.
"I’m just so happy where I’m at, being so close to the Tour. I really hope, that with a little but of luck, that it can be a good Tour de France for me," he said.
"They’ve (BMC) put a lot of with in me and I’ll be the sole leader for the GC this year. I’ve got a great team behind me. Whatever happens, happens but I think I can go to the Tour de France in fantastic form and with a great team behind me."
Porte looked happy on the podium.
Thomas De Gendt was also happy on the podium after retaining the yellow jersey for another day.
21 year-old Sam Oomen of Team Sunweb is the best young rider. He was an impressive 12th on the stage and is ninth overall.
To read our report from the 23.5km time trial and to check out our photo gallery, click here.
Porte confirmed that he has been working on his time trialing this seaon. He certainly seemed good on the rolling time trial today.
In other news, Kasia Niewiadoma won the Women's Tour opening stage in Kettering.
Niewiadoma stamped her authority on the Women’s Tour with a storming solo victory in Kettering on stage 1.
Marianne Vos made it a 1-2 for the WM3 Pro Cycling team by winning the sprint behind, with Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans), who won in Kettering two years ago, taking third place.
De Gendt revealed he used a hypoxic altitude tent while training for the Dauphine. They are illegal in Italy and Norway but allowed elsewhere despite debate about their use.
Lotto Soudal boss Marc Sargeant defended the ethics of altitude tent.
"It's a good alternative. You don’t have to go to Sierra Nevada," Sergeant said.
Latest social media video of the two attempts to dispel any notion of tension, but it's hard to believe that the leadership question won't rear its head again this Tour
Including such a big climbing day so early has ensured that Tadej Pogačar is already in the lead by a healthy margin, with two weeks of racing still to go
