Monday 13 June 2016 00:37, UK
Chris Froome said winning the Criterium du Dauphine was a timely confidence boost ahead of next month’s Tour de France but insisted he still has more fine-tuning to do.
The 31-year-old Team Sky rider sealed his third Dauphine title in four years on Sunday by beating Romain Bardet into second place by 12 seconds and Dan Martin into third by 19 seconds.
Froome followed up his previous two Dauphine wins, in 2013 and 2015, with victories at the Tour and his performances over the past week have underlined his status as favourite for this year's edition, which starts on July 2.
"It's great timing to have a win under the belt," Froome said. "It helps build morale, but there is still a lot of work to do before July, but all the right signs are there now.
"I'm not at my best yet. I hope to reach that by the start of the Tour de France. I've not raced much this year in order to be at my best during the third week of the Tour."
Froome came under heavy pressure for the second day in a row on Sunday's Dauphine finale and saw his overall lead cut by nine seconds by Bardet.
Martin also ate into Froome's advantage as he snatched the final place on the podium from Richie Porte, who fell from second overall to fourth.
Froome added: "The last few days we went flat out, and today was no different. My team-mates came back to help me control the race at the end.
"But we almost crashed together near the end and that caused the gap that cost Richie [Porte] his spot on the podium."
