Key moments

17:10 - Vinokourov in the lead

Alexandre Vinokourov is the new leader of the Dauphiné after stage 1.

17:08 - Top 5

1. Jurgen Van den Broeck

2. Joaquim Rodriguez, at 0.05

3. Cadel Evans, at 0.07

4. Alexandre Vinokourov, st

5. Nicolas Roche, st

17:07 - Vandenbroeck is a winner

Vandenbroeck wins stage 1.

17:06 - Rodriguez attacks

Attack by Joaquim Rodriguez behind Vandenbroeck.

17:04 - Vandenbroeck alone

Jurgen Vandenbroeck is alone in the lead with 1.5km to go.

17:02 - Gesink and S. Sanchez give up

Voeckler is caught and his team-mate Christophe Kern attacks while two favourites, Gesink and Samuel Sanchez don’t try to follow the main group. Vandenbroeck stays in the lead.

17:01 - Martin gets dropped

The winner of Paris-Nice Tony Martin is dropped from the group of the favourites.

17:00 - Voeckler insists

Threatened by the bunch led by RadioShack’s Ben Herman, Voeckler attacks with 4km to go. Vandenbroeck comes accross but Sivtsov gives up.

16:57 - Boom off the back

Lars Boom will lose his yellow jersey. He’s getting dropped from the group of the favourites.

16:56 - Three in the lead

Sivtsov, Vandenbroeck and Voeckler have eight seconds lead over the front part of the bunch while many riders are getting dropped, including Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ).

16:54 - Voeckler goes

With 6km to go, Voeckler attacks behind Sivtsov and Vandenbroeck.

16:52 - Sivtsov accelerates

Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC) accelerates, Vandenbroeck (Omega) follows him

16:49 - Voeckler at the front

Riders from BMC, Rabobank and Saxo Bank lead the bunch and French champion Thomas Voeckler is right behind them, ready to strike.

16:48 - Another race starts

At the bottom of the cat. 2 climb to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, another race begins for the protagonists of the general classification of the Dauphiné.

16:47 - Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme caught

Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme who took off after 22 kilometres of racing get caught with ten kilometres to go.

16:42 - HTC comes to the front

HTC-Highroad comes to the front of the bunch. It inspires Astana and BMC to move up as well. The fight is on.

16:36 - Tjallingii rides hard

Maarten Tjallingii who came third in Paris-Roubaix this year is pacing hard at the front of the bunch for the Rabobank team with 16km to go. Gap: 46 seconds.

16:35 - Down to one minute

The advantage of the three leaders is down to one minute with 20km to go.

16:34 - 39.5km in the third hour

The breakaway riders have covered 39.5 kilometres in the third hour of racing. The average speed of the day so far is 39.9km/h.

16:29 - Bernaudeau predicts the end of the breakaway

At the microphone of Francetelevisions, Europcar’s team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau said: "We’ll try to win today’s stage with Thomas Voeckler, we have Cyril (Gautier) and Pierre (Rolland) to lead him out in the final climb. For Vincent Jérôme who is in the break, there’s no chance to make it with 1.20 advantage twenty kilometres away from the bottom of the Chartreuse. The team of the yellowjersey is riding for Robert Gesink."

16:15 - Approaching Saint-Laurent-du-Pont

Twelve kilometres from the finish at Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, the riders will pass Saint-Laurent-du-Pont where Slovenian rider Grega Bole from the Lampre team won stage 1 of the Dauphiné last year ahead of Peter Velits and Geraint Thomas. Velits doesn’t take part in the Dauphiné this year but Bole and Thomas probably know that today’s finale doesn’t suit their characteristics. It’s a different story.

15:43 - 35km to go

Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme have 1.50 lead with 35km to go.

15:40 - Time gap: three minutes

At km 82, the time gap is three minutes. The Rabobank team of race leader Lars Boom remains the only one pacing the bunch.

15:39 - Second stage finish in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse

Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse hosted a stage finish of the Dauphiné 23 years ago. In 1988, it was the last stage of the 40th edition and it was an individual time trial starting from Grenoble and going uphill to the charming village of the Chartreuse. Colombian climber Lucho Herrera won both stage and overall classification. It might have inspired his compatriot Leonardo Duque who is in the breakaway today.

15:35 - Ten points for Duque

Leonardo Duque has accumulated a total of ten points at the top of the first three climbs of the day. It doesn’t mean that he will wear the polka dot jersey in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse because the final second category climb allocates ten points to the winner.

15:34 - A much slower second hour of racing

The three escapees have covered 33.7 kilometres in the second hour of racing. It makes an average speed of 40.1km/h after two hours.

15:32 - Duque again

Result of the cat. 4 côte de la Bauche, km 79:

1. Leonardo Duque, 3 points

2. Sven Vandousselaere, 2 points

3. Vincent Jérôme, 1 point

Peloton at 3.30.

15:15 - Four minutes...

The time gap at km 74 is precisely four minutes. Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme keep the same rhythm over the peloton still led by the Rabobank team.

15:12 - Gap stabilised at 3.35

The gap between Vandousselaere, Jérôme and Duque, and the bunch is stabilised at 3.35 at km 66.

15:00 - Approaching Les Echelles

Soon after half way, the riders visit Les Echelles (km 69) where Pierre-Raymond Villemiane won the 1980 French championship. He was a domestique of Bernard Hinault in the Renault-Gitane team.

14:55 - Brajkovic thinks of the Tour de France

A disappointing performance at the prologue yesterday was the one of Dauphiné defending champion Janez Brajkovic who finished third behind Alberto Contador and Tejay van Garderen at the equivalent race one year ago in Evian. He finished 17th in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. “I didn’t want to take any risk in this prologue”, the Slovenian told sports newspaper L’Equipe. “I felt good but I didn’t want to give everything like last year. I was already thinking of the Tour de France.”

14:50 - Under four minutes lead

The time gap decreases: it’s 3.55 at km 56.

14:47 - Duque strikes again

Result of the KOM at côte de Montagnole (cat. 3, km 53.5):

1. Leonardo Duque, 4 points

2. Sven Vandousselaere, 3 points

3. Vincent Jérôme, 2 points

4. Grisha Niermann, 1 point, at 4.05

14:44 - Duque strikes

14:35 - En route to the famous côte de Montagnole

The second climb of the day is the côte de Montagnole (cat. 3, km 53.5). The hill is located in Chambéry and the nearby town of Jacob-Bellecombette. It’s famous in the history of cycling because it was part of the course of the 1989 world championship won by Greg LeMond ahead of Dimitri Konyshev and Sean Kelly but this time, the peloton will use it the other way round. They’ll pass in front of the house of Gilles Delion who was a member of the French team that year and attended the prologue of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne yesterday as an anonymous cyclo-tourist. “Cycling remains my passion”, the winner of the 1990 Tour of Lombardy told letour.fr on the phone last night. In 1989, the world championship was broadcasted by La 5 and commented by Christian Prudhomme.

14:28 - Cruising at 46.5km/h

The three breakaway riders have covered 46.5 kilometres in the first hour. The riders have enjoyed a tail wind in the valley going from Albertville in direction to Chambéry.

14:22 - Duque grabs the first mountain price

Result of the first KOM price at the côte de Saint-André, km 39:

1. Leonardo Duque, 3 points

2. Sven Vandousselaere, 2 points

3. Vincent Jérôme, 1 point

At the top of the climb, the peloton is 5.35 behind.

 

14:20 - Rabobank does the job

The pace of the bunch is now set by the Rabobank team of race leader Lars Boom.

14:18 - 5.10 at the bottom of the first climb

The advantage of the three escapees is 5.10 at km 33 at the bottom of the first climb of the day, the cat. 4 côte de Saint-André.

14:16 - Voeckler inspired by the course

French champion Thomas Voeckler is tipped as one of the favourites for today’s stage to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse. “I prefer this kind of finale than 50 kilometres all flat at the end”, the captain of Team Europcar told daily newspaper Sud-Ouest. “Now, all the riders who come here have qualities as aggressive climbers. So yes, it suits me, but it suits 80% of the riders lined up at the Dauphiné.” His team-mate Vincent Jérôme is one of them. He won the Tro Bro Leon in April and he’s in the break today.

14:13 - The time gap goes up

At Montmelian, km 31, the advantage of Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme is 4.30.

14:08 - 33 nationalities competing in the Dauphiné

In the peloton of 175 riders, 33 nationalities are represented. France leads the contingent with 40 men, Spain has 24, Belgium and Italy 14, Russia and the Netherlands 8, Germany 7, USA 6, Kazakhstan 5, Denmark, Slovenia and Poland 4, Australia, Great-Britain, Portugal, Switzerland and the Ukraine 3, Argentina, Austria, Colombia, Ireland and Lithuania 2, Belarus, Costa Rica, Estonia, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Luxemburg, Norway, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Sweden and Curaçao with one rider each.

14:06 - Approaching the first hill

The three breakaway riders have gone clear on the flat section of the stage. The first hill is the côte de Saint-André at km 39. Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme have 2.35 lead at km 27.

14:03 - 1.30 at km 25

The advantage of Vandousselaere, Duque and Jérôme is 1.30 at km 25.

14:01 - Three riders in the lead

At km 22, three riders go clear: Sven Vandousselaere (Omega), Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) and Vincent Jérôme (Europcar).

13:54 - Boasson Hagen fatalist

The daily newspaper Le Dauphiné noted that Edvald Boasson Hagen was the fastest of the riders who faced the rain during the prologue of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne he completed in 19th position fifteen seconds down on Lars Boom. “I wasn’t lucky with the weather conditions”, the Norwegian champion told Le Dauphiné. I didn’t reach my limits but I’m happy with my race. Everything is fine.”

13:46 - All together

After 18km, the peloton is all together despite many skirmishes, the latest one being initiated by a rider from Cofidis.

13:45 - Roy is caught

At km 11, Roy is caught. Teams Euskaltel and Saur-Sojasun haven’t given him the freedom he was hoping for.

13:37 - Jeremy Roy on the attack

Jeremy Roy told letour.fr last night that he would attack today and he did: after 8.5km, the FDJ rider goes on a solo move!

13:36 - Fast start

After three kilometres, the peloton remains all together but at a very high speed.

13:33 - Olympic champions honoured at the start

Olympic champions Samuel Sanchez, Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas have been awarded a medal by local authorities at the start because Albertville keeps the Olympic spirit running almost twenty years after the Games.

13:28 - The race is on

The start proper has been given at 13.31. 144 kilometres are to be covered with four climbs on the menu, including the uphill finish to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse.

13:22 - Boom in yellow, Vino in green, etc.

The distinctive jerseys are worn today by:
- Lars Boom, yellow-blue, as he leads the general classification after winning the prologue yesterday
- Alexandre Vinokourov, green, as he is second to Boom after scoring the second best time in the prologue
- John Degenkolb, white, as he was the best young rider in the classification of the prologue he concluded in fourth position
- Sébastien Hinault, polka dot, as he sprinted to set the fastest time at the top of the côte de Bondrieux, the only one of the prologue yesterday.

13:19 - Nice weather at the start

175 riders are lining up on the start line in Albertville, the hosting town of the 1992 winter Olympics. Weather is nice with a temperature of 19.6°C. The peloton is now in the 4.6km neutral zone that precedes the start proper.

13:17 - Welcome to the love coverage of stage 1

Stage 1 of the Criterium du Dauphiné is about to start - at 1.30pm local time. For the next four hours, we’ll update you with race facts and riders info.

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