Crit. International day 1

True to form, day one of the Critérium International consisted of an early morning road stage and an afternoon individual time trial. Ahead of tomorrow's decider to the top of the Ospedale, Igor Antón looks to be Euskaltel's sole hope of GC glory.

The 89,5km road stage in Porto-Vecchio saw Florian Vachon come out tops in a crash-marred field sprint. Surprisingly, only Antón was in that first group. Potential overall candidates Astarloza, Verdugo and Martínez all ceded 49 seconds and with it any hopes of glory in the general classification. Alán Pérez placed 108th in his season debut.

Stage 1 results:

• (1, Florian Vachon, Bretagne-Schuller)
• 20, Igor Antón, s.t.
• 45, Mikel Astarloza, 0:49
• 66, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 70, Egoi Martínez, s.t.
• 71, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 108, Alán Pérez, 6:06
• 110, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 116, Romain Sicard, s.t.

Astarloza was as anticipated the team's top finisher in the 6,5km TT. The Pasajes native finished up 24th at 13 seconds, while Antón ended up half a minute in arrears. Of note was young Peio Bilbao's ride to 44th - despite being a young, Basque specialist climber, the 22-year-old time and again shows he's got a talent in the discipline.

Stage 2 results:

• (1, Cadel Evans, BMC)
• 24, Mikel Astarloza, 0:13
• 44, Peio Bilbao, 0:20
• 46, Gorka Verdugo, 0:21
• 47, Romain Sicard, 0:22
• 72, Igor Antón, 0:30
• 81, Egoi Martínez, 0:33
• 96, Mikel Landa, 0:41
• 120, Alán Pérez, 1:21

Tomorrow's queen-stage to the feared Col de l'Ospedale will separate the overall candidates, and at just 30 seconds from overall leader Evans, Antón is one of approximately 40 riders still in with a chance to grab the coveted title.

General classification:

• (1, Cadel Evans, BMC)
• 33, Igor Antón, 0:30
• 55, Mikel Astarloza, 1:02
• 62, Peio Bilbao, 1:09
• 64, Gorka Verdugo, 1:10
• 76, Egoi Martínez, 1:22
• 100, Romain Sicard, 6:28
• 109, Mikel Landa, 6:47
• 118, Alán Pérez, 7:27