The Critérium de Dauphiné began yesterday with a 5.7km prologue around Grenoble. Australian ITT national champion Luke Durbridge continued his good from this season by taking a slender 1 second win over Bradley Wiggins and 3 seconds over Andriy Grivko who came in third. As well as taking the leaders jersey, Durbridge won the sprinters and youth jerseys as his team Orica-Greenedge also took home team honours on the prologue. Durbridge will likely lose his jerseys over the coming stages as the Dauphiné usually suits climbers in the GC and sprinters for the intermediate stages. Nevertheless this is a fantastic result for the young Australian and the Greenedge team who continue to impress in their debut season.
Wiggins was the highest placed GC candidate in the prologue while Schleck came in 29 seconds down on Durbridge and 28 seconds on Wiggins. Cadel Evans was 9th at 5 seconds off Wiggins which is a rather arbitrary figure considering the climbs that are to come throughout the week. With only one rider coming in a minute behind Durbridge the peloton is within touching distance of itself and the favourites all look on track for a good final position next Sunday. The race will be begin in earnest tonight with a 187 km stage from Seyssins to Saint-Vallier which will include category 2, 3 and 4 climbs. A climber’s jersey will also be awarded after the conclusion of the stage as no climbing points were available on offer during the prologue.
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