Key moments

16:32 - GC top 5

1. Bradley Wiggins

2. Cadel Evans, at 0.01

3. Andriy Grivko, at 0.02

4. Carlos Barredo, st

5. Tony Martin, at 0.04

16:30 - Wiggins in the lead

As the bunch crossed the line four seconds behind Cadel Evans, Bradley Wiggins who preceded the Australian by five seconds on GC is awarded the yellow jersey.

16:28 - Top 5

Top 5 of stage 1:

1. Cadel Evans

2. Jérôme Coppel

3. Andrey Kaschechkin

4. Nacer Bouhanni

5. Tony Gallopin

16:27 - Durbridge loses yellow jersey

Luke Durbridge came in a second group. He’s no longer the race leader.

16:26 - Evans wins!

Cadel Evans wins stage 1 in a three-man sprint.

16:26 - Durbridge at the back

Durbridge is 15 seconds behind the main peloton.

16:25 - 5 seconds with 1km to go

The trio has 5 seconds lead under the red flame.

16:21 - Three riders away

Cadel Evans, Andrey Kashechkin and Jérôme Coppel have taken a significant advantage in the downhill over the peloton with 4km to go.

16:20 - No more breakaway

The peloton has caught all the attackers with 7km to go.

16:19 - Schleck one minute behind

Andy Schleck has been dropped for good. He passed at the top of the côte de la Sizeranne one minute down.

16:18 - KOM result with 9km to go

Result of the KOM price with 9km to go:

1. Irizar, 9 points

2. Vanmarcke, 3 points, at 0.12

3. Edet, 2 points, st

4. Rolland, 1 point, at 0.17

16:17 - S. Sanchez at 18 minutes

18 minutes is the latest time gap between the peloton at Samuel Sanchez at the back.

16:15 - Irizar insists

Markel Irizar insists alone at the front at the top of the climb. Vanmarcke and Edet are between him and the chasing peloton still led by Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

16:14 - Vinokourov also at the back

Alexandre Vinokourov who finished third in the Dauphiné last year is off the back with Andy Schleck.

16:14 - Andy Schleck loses contact

Andy Schleck loses contact with the peloton in the 3rd category côte de la Sizeranne!

16:11 - Mechanical for Degenkolb

Degenkolb has a mechanical and gets a wheel change from his team-mate Doi who was in the break all day.

16:10 - One minute

With 12km to go, the gap is one minutes. Doi and Bernaudeau are dropped from the front group.

16:06 - Sprinters to watch

The sprinters to watch for today might be: Gerald Ciolek (OQP), Michael Matthews (RAB), Juan José Haedo (SAX), Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ), Sébastien Hinault (ALM), Borut Bozic (AST), Tony Gallopin (RNT), Leigh Howard (OGE), Koldo Fernandez (GRM), Davide Cimolai (LAM), while the hot favorite remains John Degenkolb (ARG) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) must never be forgotten even though he rode as a domestique all day.

16:05 - Gap going down quickly

With 15km to go, the time gap is down to 1.15. A bunch gallop in Saint-Vallier is quite likely to happen now.

16:03 - One climb to go

There’s only one climb remaining for today: the 3rd category côte de la Sizeranne, with 9km to go. It’ll be interesting to see which sprinters survive a very likely acceleration at this point of the race.

16:02 - S. Sanchez at 15 minutes

Samuel Sanchez keeps riding hard, now 15 minutes behind the peloton.

15:58 - Irizar dreams of yellow...

The determination of RadioShack’s Markel Irizar in the front group is obvious. The Spaniard is the highest ranked of the breakaway riders on GC, only nine seconds down. He dreams of wearing the yellow and blue leader’s jersey, shall the group stay away.

15:56 - Omega and Rabobank in the chase

The two teams pacing the bunch are now Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Rabobank. It gives an indication on their intentions for their sprinters Gerald Ciolek and Michael Matthews, but the gap is still over two minutes with 22km to go.

15:53 - Gerrans back in the bunch

Gerrans who is sixth on GC is back in the bunch after crashing with the help of his team-mate Simon Clarke and followed by his former team-mate at Crédit Agricole Cyril Lemoine.

15:52 - Average speed

After four hours of racing, the average speed is 39.3km/h.

15:49 - Dan Martin is down

Dan Martin has caused a crash with 28km to go. His move put Australian champion Simon Gerrans and Dutch champion Pim Lightart down as well. Martin is the last one to get back on his bike but he looks like suffering from a shoulder.

15:45 - S. Sanchez at 13 minutes

Samuel Sanchez keeps riding with his two team-mates behind the peloton. He’s now at 13 minutes but he doesn’t seem threatened by the time cut as it should exceed 25 minutes.

15:43 - Fifth KOM win for Bernaudeau

Giovanni Bernaudeau continues his winning streak at the top of the climbs. Result at côte des Potences, cat. 4:

1. Bernaudeau, 3 points

2. Edet, 2

3. Tjallingii, 1

15:38 - Serious chase by BMC

With 37km to go at the top of côte des Potence, the gap is reduced to 2.15 under the action of the BMC Racing Team chasing hard. Does that mean Belgian champion Philippe Gilbert is up for a stage win? He’s still in search of his first victory in the 2012 season.

15:31 - Polka dot jersey virtually on Bernaudeau’s back

Providing that he completes today’s stage inside the time cut, Giovanni Bernaudeau (EUC) will receive the first polka dot jersey of the Dauphiné in Saint-Vallier. He has scored 20 points so far while Nicolas Edet (COF) has collected 13. With two climbs to go, seven points are up for grab but Bernaudeau has the advantage to have passed first at the top of the only category 2 climb of today. That would determine the leader of the KOM classification in case of equal points for both riders.

15:26 - KOM: Bernaudeau again

Giovanni Bernaudeau has passed one more climb in first position: the 4th category côte des Escoffiers at km 142:

1. Bernaudeau, 3 points

2. Edet, 2

3. Doi, 1

15:24 - Eritrean rider taking gap down

With 55km to go, the advantage of the six breakaway riders has been reduced to 3.05 under the action of Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot from Orica-GreenEdge riding in defense of Luke Durbridge’s yellow jersey.

15:18 - Ambitious Japanese!

Recently crowned Japanese national champion, Argos-Shimano’s Yukihiro Doi is very active in the breakaway today. Simultaneously, his compatriot Masakazu Ito from continental team Aisan has won stage 1 of the Tour of Singkarak in Indonesia today. Doi was the first Japanese to ride - and finish - the Vuelta last year. He’s in contention for a spot in the Argos-Shimano team on the start line of the Tour de France this year.

14:55 - S. Sanchez at ten minutes

Samuel Sanchez is courageously continuing the race despite the pain: he’s located ten minutes behind the peloton.

14:53 - Average speed on the rise

In the third hour of racing, the six breakaway riders have covered 41.1km. The average speed after three hours is 38.5km/h.

14:50 - 4.05 at km 112

Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra-EUC), Markel Irizar (Spa-RNT), Nicolas Edet (Fra-COF), Maarten Tjallingii (Ned-RAB), Sep Vanmarcke (Bel-GRM) and Yukihiro Doi (Jap-ARG) have an advantage of 4.05 at km 112. Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) wearing the white jersey of best young rider leads the chase, so it looks like he’s really racing only at the service of Bradley Wiggins and not targeting a stage win that he could probably get today at Saint-Vallier. 

14:44 - News about Samuel Sanchez... not good

The medical department of ASO informed letour.fr of the state of Euskaltel’s Samuel Sanchez who is struggling more than six minutes behind the peloton: suspicion of broken ribs. "He’ll be taken directly to hospital for X-rays after the end of the stage, shall he be able to finish, but he looks like suffering quite a lot", the doctor said.

14:20 - 4.50 at km 103

At km 103, which is 85km away from the finish, the six breakaway riders have 4.50 lead left. The peloton is led with determination by riders from Lotto-Belisol, Sky, Orica-GreenEdge and BMC.

14:18 - Result of the KOM at km 90.5

Result of the King of the Mountain price at the top of the third category côte de Chambaran at km 90.5:
1. Bernaudeau, 4 points
2. Edet, 3
3. Doi, 2
4. Irizar, 1

14:15 - Fedrigo is in pain

FDJ-BigMat team manager Marc Madiot witnessed Pierrick Fedrigo’s return to the peloton. "He hurt his kneecap", Madiot told letour.fr. "He called the race doctor to ease his pain." The situation seems more complicated for Samuel Sanchez who is located 6.45 behind the bunch.

14:04 - 6 minutes at km 85

At the exit of the feed zone at km 85, the peloton has a deficit of six minutes.

14:01 - Three teams combine efforts

Orica-GreenEdge of race leader Luke Durbridge, Team Sky of runner up Bradley Wiggins and BMC combine efforts at the head of the peloton.

13:56 - S. Sanchez in pain

Samuel Sanchez and his two team-mates struggle at the back. They’re losing time to the bunch: 4.15.

13:55 - Help for Sanchez

Samuel Sanchez is now escorted by two of his team-mates from Euskaltel who have waited for him. The trio is cruising three and half minutes behind the peloton.

13:54 - Average speed is stable

In the second hour of racing, the six breakaway riders have covered 37.4 kilometres. It makes an average speed of 37.2km/h after two hours.

13:50 - Km 69: 7.40

It took twenty kilometres to Fedrigo to come accross, as the bunch has increased its speed. At km 69, the advantage of the six leaders has been reduced to 7.40.

13:41 - Fedrigo back in the bunch, not S. Sanchez

Pierrick Fedrigo is back in the peloton but Samuel Sanchez who crashed with him at km 47 is timed 3.45 behind.

13:40 - Six leaders

The six breakaway riders are still Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra-EUC), Markel Irizar (Spa-RNT), Nicolas Edet (Fra-COF), Maarten Tjallingii (Ned-RAB), Sep Vanmarcke (Bel-GRM) and Yukihiro Doi (Jap-ARG). After passing the first two climbs of the day in first position, Bernaudeau virtually leads the King of the Mountains classification.

13:36 - New gap: 9.20

At Commelle, km 57, the time gap is 9.20. The bunch is speeding up since crosswinds from the right handside have replaced the headwind they faced from the start.

13:28 - S. Sanchez 1.30 behind

Samuel Sanchez is located 1.30 behind the main bunch that has been split in two but is compact again.

13:23 - New gap: 11 minutes

After the climb, the time gap is down to 11 minutes. S. Sanchez and Fedrigo are trying to get back into the bunch after crashing.

13:22 - S. Sanchez and Fedrigo caught in a crash

Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (EUS) and Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ) have been involved in a crash with no apparent consequence.

13:20 - The gap is decreasing a little bit

A maximum time gap so far has been recorded at km 45: it was 13.10. It’s decreasing a little bit.

13:12 - Result of the KOM at km 50.5

Result of the King of the Mountain price at the top of the côte de la Poulardière at km 50.5:
1. Bernaudeau, 3 points
2. Vanmarcke, 2
3. Edet, 1

Peloton at 12.40

13:08 - Lotto at the command of the bunch

Two riders of the Lotto-Belisol team are seen at the command of the bunch but the gap keeps increasing: 11.20.

13:01 - Grivko? Remember 2006...

Ukraine’s Andriy Grivko doesn’t know the French geography at perfection but he’s familiar to the Drôme province where today’s stage of the Dauphiné finishes in Saint-Vallier! Remember the famous breakaway in stage 13 of the 2006 Tour de France that reached Montélimar half an hour before the peloton? Eventual winner Oscar Pereiro was part of it, but also stage winner Jens Voigt, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, Italy’s Manuel Quinziato... and a neo pro riding for Milram: Grivko, who finished fifth in the capital of the Nougat.

12:59 - Grivko talked to letour.fr

Prior to the start in Seyssins, Andriy Grivko talked to letour.fr. As a result of his third place in the prologue, he wears the green jersey. “I’m a happy man”, he said. “Maybe I wasn’t thinking of making the top three yesterday, but I was motivated to perform well. I knew after the Tour of Belgium that I was in good form. I’m not far from getting the yellow jersey, let’s try! If not today, I might give it a go tomorrow, but Carlos Barredo is just behind me in the ranking and I’m sure he wants to become the race leader as well. It’s quite difficult to move up on GC though because there aren’t time bonuses. Doing well in the next time trial on Thursday is another big goal and we have something else in mind at Astana: our captain Jani Brajkovic won the Dauphiné two years ago and we’ll help him to try and do it again.”

12:57 - More than ten minutes

A time gap of 10.15 has been recorded at km 35.

12:55 - One hour of racing

In the first hour, the breakaway riders have covered 37 kilometres. It confirms that the cyclists face a headwind at the beginning of today’s stage.

12:44 - Nine minutes...

At km 33, the time gap is nine minutes!

12:32 - Result of the KOM at km 27

Result of the King of the Mountain price at the col de Parménie at km 27:
1. Bernaudeau, 10 points
2. Vanmarcke, 9
3. Edet, 8
4. Doi, 7
5. Tjallingii, 6
6. Irizar, 5

Gap to the bunch: 6.40

12:31 - It’s up to five minutes

New time gap at km 23: 5 minutes.

12:26 - On the web...

Runner up Bradley Wiggins commented about his prologue on his team website teamsky.com: “I’m happy enough to finish second but it’s about the whole week. I couldn’t have asked for better today,” he said.
“It’s always the same with prologues. With riders going three hours apart there’s always different conditions. The wind changed massively today. Some guys had disadvantages on the course elsewhere at the start and also advantages. That changed and you can’t really compare rides. At the end of the day the result is the result and that’s just the pick of prologues.
“I’m just pleased it stayed dry really because it’s never nice riding a prologue in the rain. It was perfect. I stayed safe and I’m where I want to be at the moment and I’m just trying to enjoy it.
“We’re getting close now. It’s always nice when the goal is coming up. We’ve done all the work now and it’s been a long process. We’re four weeks away from the Tour now so there’s not much training to do. It’s nice that that’s all done and we can race now.”

12:23 - Time gap: 3.35

The six breakaway riders have a gap of 3.35 over the peloton at the bottom of the col de Parménie at km 21.

12:22 - In the first climb

The riders have started the first climb of the 64th Critérium du Dauphiné: the col de Parménie.

12:18 - In the press today

In Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, Vincenzo Nibali made positive comments about his prologue in Grenoble. He finished only nine seconds down on Bradley Wiggins and five seconds on Cadel Evans who are his biggest rivals for the Tour de France. “A prologue is always a violent effort that doesn’t suit my characteristics”, the “shark” declared. “This was a course for track riders and Wiggins took much more risk than me.” The 5.7km race against the clock gave him confirmation that he likes his new time trial position: “The position we found with [coach] Paolo Slongo is perfect, so we won’t modify it in any way now.” He already set his sights on the coming time trial from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse on Thursday. “This will be the second time only that I’ll ride such a long time trial (53.5km)”, he said. “Last time it was at the 2008 Tour de France (Cérilly-Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53km). That’s where I’ll have to understand the gap between me and the best time triallists because 80% of my rivals from the Tour de France will be here. However, I’m not in my best shape yet. If I was, it would be too early. My only goal is the Tour de France.” The Italian made an interesting comment about one of his rivals, Andy Schleck, who finished 102nd in the prologue in Grenoble: “He looks a bit behind. He hasn’t won anything yet this year and I believe he’s going to suffer a bit.”

12:12 - Three minutes lead

The deficit of the peloton at km 17 is three minutes to the six leaders: Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra-EUC), Markel Irizar (Spa-RNT), Nicolas Edet (Fra-COF), Maarten Tjallingii (Ned-RAB), Sep Vanmarcke (Bel-GRM) and Yukihiro Doi (Jap-ARG).

12:11 - Correction: Edet in the lead

The Cofidis rider in the lead group is Nicolas Edet and not Luis Angel Maté.

12:08 - Six riders in the lead

The chasers have rejoined the escapees at km 12. There are now six riders in the lead: Bernaudeau (EUC), Irizar (RNT), Edet (COF), Tjallingii (RAB), Vanmarcke (GRM) and Doi (ARG).

12:06 - 38 riders in contention for the white jersey

The organization of the Dauphiné has recorded 38 riders eligible for the white jersey (under 26). Prologue winner Luke Durbridge, 21, is the youngest of them. He was born on September 9, 1991. His team Orica-GreenEdge has the highest number of young riders: 4. The three others are Leigh Howard, Travis Meyer and Daniel Teklehaimanot.

12:05 - Almost two minutes gap

Before reaching the tenth kilometre of racing, the four escapees have 1.50 lead over the peloton led by Orica-GreenEdge.

12:02 - Four riders in the lead

Four riders have broken clear after four kilometres: Bernaudeau (EUC), Irizar (RNT), Maté (COF) and Tjallingii (RAB). They have 20 seconds advantage over two chasers: Vanmarcke (GRM) and Doi (ARG), and 50 seconds over the peloton.

12:00 - Six climbs on the day’s menu

It’s not exactly a flat stage today! Six climbs count for the King of the Mountains price:
- col de Parménie, cat. 2, at km 27
- côte de la Poulardière, cat. 4, at km 50.5
- côte de Chambaran, cat. 3, at km 90.5
- côte des Escoffiers, cat. 4, at km 142
- côte des Potences, cat. 4, at km 149.5
- côte de la Sizeranne, cat. 3, at km 178

 

11:52 - Wind direction

The riders are set to face a head wind or three-quarters head wind for the first 50km of racing until the côte de la Poulardière.

11:52 - Start proper given

The start proper has been given at 11.50.

11:47 - Wiggins isn’t green...

Bradley Wiggins is second on points classification behind Luke Durbridge but a rule in place since last year states that a national champion doesn’t wear a distinctive jersey unless he leads the classification. Therefore, the green jersey is on the back of Andriy Grivko who came third in the prologue yesterday.

11:44 - Jerseys holders

Winner of the prologue, Australian champion for time trial Luke Durbridge (OGE) is of course holding the yellow jersey today.
The green jersey for the points leader is on the back of Ukraine’s Andriy Grivko (AST).
Durbridge is also the best young rider, therefore the white jersey is worn by Edvald Boasson Hagen (SKY) who is the next on line in the ranking of the U26 category.
There’s no polka dot jersey in the bunch today since yesterday’s prologue was dead flat.
Orica-GreenEdge leads the teams’ classification with only one second advantage over Team Sky.

11:38 - No more rain in the starting area

The 175 riders are in the neutral zone. Everyone started. It was raining in the region of Grenoble until 9.30am but it’s now dry, cloudy and windy.

11:35 - Welcome to stage 1

Welcome to the live coverage of stage 1 of the Dauphiné from Seyssins in the outskirts of Grenoble to Saint-Vallier in the Rhône valley.

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