Prologue agony in Dauphiné

No, no one crashed. And neither is it the most important race of the year. But still: only two Euskaltel riders were to be found inside the top 100 on today's Critérium du Dauphiné prologue.

In what is quickly becoming a habit, Gorka Verdugo was the strongest orange-clad rider in 58th, no more than 18 seconds down on victor Luke Durbridge. Not too shabby in other words. Team captain Samuel Sánchez took it easy over the 5,7km in Grenoble it seems by posting the 117th best time, a full 30 seconds off the pace. Not surprisingly, Euskaltel placed next to last in the team standings - only Lampre did worse.

Prologue results:

• (1, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge), 6:38)
• 58, Gorka Verdugo, 0:18
• 98, Peio Bilbao, 0:28
• 108, Egoi Martínez, 0:30
• 110, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 117, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 122, Alan Pérez, 0:32
• 149, Ricardo García, 0:37
• 169, Mikel Landa, 0:48 

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com