A pretty messy cockpit on Rein Taaramae’s (Cofidis) Look 596 TT bike(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Another shot of the customisation of Larsson’s cockpit(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Taaramae was using a massive 56 FSA chainring(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
There’s plenty of up/down and setback adjustment on Jack Bobridge’s (Belkin) Bianchi Pico Carbon (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Hesjedal wore Castelli’s Aero Speed Gloves – which are more like mitts(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream) is back racing after the shortest of breaks following the Giro and he continues with his Berner oversized pulley jockey wheels(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Rotor Flow cranks with and Rotor NoQ aero chainrings (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Prologo Zero TT saddles are a popular choice among the pros(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Scott Thwaites (NetApp-Endura) pauses for a moment after the finish before riding off (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
A Specialized Sitero on Tanel Kangert’s (Astana) Specialized Shiv; his team-mate Jakob Fuglsang had one too(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Jerome Coppel (Cofidis) may have put the whole SRM away, but there is another way - Howard tapes over distracting numbers(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Howard rides in a fairly high position (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Orica-GreenEdge are happy with the old style Di2 batteries on custom mounts. Here’s Leigh Howard’s bike(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Plenty of negative setback on Kozontchuk’s (Katusha) bike(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Campagnolo might have updated (and elongated) its EPS battery, but still the best place to put it is at the bottom of the downtube on some bikes(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Markel Irizar (Trek Factory Racing) aboard this hypnotic Bontrager disc wheel(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ.fr) wearing an Alpina TT helmet. The brand – well known in the snow sports arena – started sponsoring FDR.fr at the beginning of the year (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Kozontchuk’s TT bike still has an old generation Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 crankset – probably because of SRM compatibility(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
A Prologo Zero TT CPC saddle on Durasek’s bike 17(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
A pristine block and chain on Kristijan Durasek’s(Lampre-Merida) Merida Warp TT bike(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Team Sky are running FMB tyres and what looks like 54/42 of chain rings (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
There’s still a lot of first generation Shimano Di2 on the peloton’s TT bikes, such as this battery on Ralf Matzka’s (Netapp-Endura)Fuji (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Neatly placed grip tape and custom brake levers of Pate’s Bolide (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
The cover over the front of the stem on the Bolide houses a fair amount of cabling (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Pate’s Pinarello Bolide languishes in the sun after his ride. His Criterium really starts tomorrow working for his leader, Chris Froome. (Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Garmin mounted neatly with a K-Edge CNC aluminium mount(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Danny Pate’s custom cockpit features a world of grip tape(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Coppel was interested in his data – but not during the race and his SRM was mounted beneath the saddle(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Coppel (Cofidis) is an Osymetric ring user 7(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
A custom touch – the Swedish flag – on Larsson’s Prologo saddle(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Larsson’s Scott Plasma 3 and DT Swiss set up at the finish – which was into a block headwind after the turn(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Cofidis are using TriRig Omega brakes on their Look 596 TT bikes.(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
TT Specialist Gustav Larsson (IAM Cycling) had one of the most exotic set ups at the time trial – a straight and a curved extension bar and some seriously deep pads(Image credit: Sam Dansie)
Chris Froome (Team Sky) triumphed in the opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné - a 10.4km time trial characterised by a block headwind in the final third after riders crossed the River Saône in Lyon, France.
It was a tough day for most of the riders. Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing) laid down the early marker to beat - 13:22 - that lasted for most of the afternoon. The Luxembourger's time stood until Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), the second last rider off, breached it. Then moments later, it was Froome - the last rider off - who took an extra eight seconds from the Spaniard. Afterwards he said he received intelligence that he would need to hold something back for the tough final. "Good advice" he called it in the winner’s press conference. He said the team will discuss whether they try to defend the jersey on Monday’s lumpy stage starting in Tarare.
Cyclingnews was on hand to watch the riders come home and check out the gear they used to tackle the short urban course in Lyon. Bikes were fitted with large chainrings for the flattish course and a couple of the riders we saw had developed some nicely customised set-ups.
Sam started as a trainee reporter on daily newspapers in the UK before moving to South Africa where he contributed to national cycling magazine Ride for three years. After moving back to the UK he joined Procycling as a staff writer in November 2010.
