Chris Froome rode himself into a strong position at the Criterium du Dauphine after taking third in the stage four time trial.
Four riders move into top six overall
Chris Froome rode himself into a strong position at the Criterium du Dauphine after taking third in the stage four time trial.
The Kenyan-born Brit put time into all his general classification rivals on the flat 32.5-kilometre course to Parc des Oiseaux to move into second place overall.
The day proved to be a significant show of strength for Team Sky with four riders setting times in the top 10, equating to four riders in the top six overall.
Froome clocked a time of 37 minutes and 46 seconds to occupy a strong position, five seconds off the yellow and blue jersey as the race heads into the mountains.
Edvald Boasson Hagen ended the day with the sixth fastest time, with a hugely consistent showing also placing Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas in seventh and tenth respectively behind stage winner Tony Martin (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step).
The stage proved to be a key test in the fight for overall honours at the race, with the general classification receiving a significant shake-up as Australian youngster Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) moved into the lead.
Froome sits just five seconds off Dennis, with Boasson Hagen, Porte and Thomas holding places fourth through sixth, 32, 33 and 55 seconds back respectively.
Race of truth
With the big names all looking to gauge their level ahead of the Tour de France the stage four time trial was seen as a significant indicator of form.
Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) was the quickest of the early runners before Jan Barta moved the benchmark along, the NetApp-Endura rider clocking a time of 38:30 out on course.
Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) was the next man into the hot seat but his time wouldn’t last as pre-stage favourite and time trial world champion Martin blasted through both checkpoints quickest. The German’s eventual time of 36:55 was 47 seconds faster than anyone else.
David Veilleux (Europcar) was the last man down the ramp and pushed hard to protect an overnight lead of 1:56. Despite his best efforts the Canadian fell to seventh on GC.
The stage saw one big name struggle significantly as Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) was only able to post a time 3:37 down on the winning effort. The Spaniard now trails Froome by 2:45 after starting the day level on time, with Porte also catching Contador for two minutes out on course.
Show of strength
Understandably Sports Director Nicolas Portal was happy with a stage which saw the team inherit the lead in the team classification with a collective show of strength.
"It was a really good performance from the team today," he confirmed. "On the GC we have four guys in the top six which is a really impressive result. It's a good thing before the first summit finish and it's good for the morale following the training camp.
"Obviously we'll see what happens during the mountain stages but this just makes everyone all the more motivated.
"We'll see what happens tomorrow with Garmin and how they set about defending the jersey. It will be interesting the mountains but obviously we'll do everything we can to improve our position on the GC."
