Brajkovic takes stage and overall lead at the Critérium du Dauphiné

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 Janez Brajkovic (Team RadioShack) powered to victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné's 49km individual time trial and took over the general classification lead from former teammate Alberto Contador (Astana).

Despite having to get a bike change 15km into the stage, the Slovenian time trial champion set the fastest time at both intermediate splits and stopped the clock in 1:01:51, besting runner-up David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) by 26 seconds and third-placed Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) by 43 seconds.

American Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) put in a good effort in the longest time trial of his career to finish fourth, 53 seconds back, while Denis Menchov (Rabobank) slotted in for fifth place, 55 seconds down on Brajkovic.

"I knew my condition was really at top level for the moment, so I dreamed a bit of a victory, but after I saw the course this morning, the dream was far away," said Brajkovic, the 2004 U23 time trial world champion. "There was a lot of wind and the roads were so bad. I really thought I would be too light for this job. On the other hand, I like long distance time trials. I need a long warm-up period.

"A pity I lost some 30 seconds because of my bike change. Fortunately Alain Gallopin kept motivating me. My team director was a superb coach. He was incredible and yelled me to the victory."

"At the top of the Côte de la Roque-sur-Pernes Jani had to change his bike because one of the two aero extensions came loose," said Gallopin. "That situation was too dangerous. He was in the lead at that moment and lost his morale. We presumed Contador would not have his best fitness level yet so this was our chance to take the stage victory and the jersey.

"I told Jani not to panic and to stay calm. I convinced him to use a lower gear than he normally does. This is a big success for Jani and the team. Jani deserves this. He is obsessed about training. Sometimes he does too much and misses some freshness at the races. Let's hope this can be a new start for Jani's career."

Alberto Contador, who started the day with only a five-second lead over Brajkovic on general classification, passed through the first time check 31 seconds behind the Slovenian and steadily lost time throughout the course to finish in sixth place, 1:46 off the pace. The reigning Tour de France champion played down his result on a parcours characterized by rough roads and windy conditions.

"I couldn't get into the right rhythm. I tried to take the pace, especially at first," said Contador. "It was an extremely rough road and although I thought to push a little at the end, it was a not super day".

Contador reiterated that he's treating the Critérium du Dauphiné as training for the Tour de France and that he chose not to take any risks on the corners once he knew he was well off the pace of Brajkovic. "As I said since the first day, the goal here is to get ready for the Tour and, as in previous years, the way I have been preparing is ideal. The fight for the general classification is for other riders, in my case I will dedicate myself to see a little from behind, as a spectator".

Brajkovic's effort moved him from third to first on general classification. Millar, runner-up on the stage, is also second place on general classification, 36 seconds back, while Van Garderen dropped from second to third and trails Brajkovic by 50 seconds. Contador dropped from first to fourth, 1:41 behind Brajkovic.

Millar said he was actually pleased with the result, saying he aimed for the win but finished with too much energy left. "I felt good out there on the road and finished strong and fresh, which perhaps wasn't the ideal way to finish a 49km TT! But a good sign considering the mountainous days ahead.

"The TT itself was demanding, [with] horrible bumpy roads into a block headwind, it felt so slow and I was very surprised when I came through the first time check so fast. I maybe relaxed a bit too much after that for the final part of the climb, but that meant I was very fast in the final."

The technical nature of the course may have led Contador to ease up and avoid too many risks, but Millar took the oppositie approach. "I almost crashed twice, my wife was in the following car and wasn't too impressed with my death defying antics," he said."Tomorrow I'll give everything and after that we'll decide how we'll tackle the rest of the race."

The peloton tackles the Critérium du Dauphiné's longest stage tomorrow, 210km from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Risoul, and with it the first taste of the mountains. The stage gradually gains in elevation for the entire day, culminating with the only classified climb, the 12.4km, category 1 climb to the finish in Risoul.

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