Cycling: The Criterium du Dauphiné is considered one of the most important preparatory races for the Tour de France, so it's no wonder that many stars chose the route to Lyon to prepare for the summer event. The 10,4 kilometer start brought confirmation and a surprise.
The man of the day was undoubtedly Chris Froome (Sky). Last year's winner was the last to leave and was still behind at the first split. Two seconds separated him from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) after almost four kilometers. But while the Italian had to lose some feathers, the Briton, who was born in Kenya, turned up the heat.
In the end, in his fight against the clock, a time of 13:13 minutes stood still. That put Froome a full eight seconds faster than Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), who had previously been the first to shave time off the surprisingly strong Bob Jungels (Trek). The Luxembourger ended up third.
Things weren't going so well for Nibali, however. In the end he lost 13 seconds to Froome - eighth place for him. Things went better for Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp), Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) and Lars Boom (Belkin), although the gaps here remained in the range of seconds.
Chris Froome is also the first person to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour. On tomorrow's 156-kilometer stage from Tarare to the Col du Béadürfe he will be challenged to defend it.