Rabobank "more than satisfied"

Team Rabobank was "more than satisfied" with Denis Menchov's ride in Tuesday's Dauphine time trial. "Denis and I had agreed that he would really put himself to the test and that went better than expected," said team manager Erik Breukink. "The upward trend that began in Catalunya is still going on." The Russian finished fifth, not quite 40 seconds behind the winner.

"But I think it is weird to say things like 'Denis is at that and that percentage of his abilities.' You cannot determine that. He is just doing fine. He is certainly showing that here," Breukink continued, on the team's website, rabobank.nl. "The Tour de France is coming closer and his form is improving but that also goes for the competition, of course. No one is standing still and that makes it nice to see that Denis is able to compete with the specialists here."

The next big test comes in today's stage with its finish atop Mont Ventoux, a climb which Menchov has won twice. . "But just because he won there so impressively last year does not mean he will do it again this time. I do expect Denis to finish in the front, however," Breukink said.