Dauphiné prologue

The Dauphiné kicked off today with a 5,4km prologue in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and true to form Euskaltel didn't manage to mix it up with the very best. They weren't too far off, though, with Verdugo and Sánchez both getting their race off to a good start by finishing 16 seconds down in 22nd and 24th respectively. Those rides bode well for the remaining stages, of which four could be classed as 'mountainous'. The other guys finished well down the standings, so not much to write about there. Good to see Pello Bilbao placing (just) inside the top 100 to get his first World Tour race off to a decent start. Full results:

• 22, Verdugo, 0:16
• 24, Sánchez, s.t.
• 68, Urtasun, 0:25
• 82, Martínez, 0:29
• 99, Bilbao, 0:33
• 109, Txurruka, 0:35
• 160, Landa, 0:49
• 166, Velasco, 0:57