Chris Froome set himself up for an overall win at the Criterium du Dauphiné when he finished third in today's time trial to move himself into 3rd on GC, 5 seconds off the lead of Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp). More surprisingly, the Briton put no less than 2.45 into his Tour rival Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) who finished a disappointing 61st but the Sky captain refuses to write off the multiple grand tour champion, suggesting that his poor performance could be a deliberate choice.

Chris Froome lined up at the Criterium du Dauphiné as the overwhelming favourite and had the firm objective of continuing the Sky success in the race that saw Bradley Wiggins win the two most recent editions. After quietly following wheels during the first three stages, today's time trial showed that he is up for the challenge as he finished 3rd to move himself into 2nd overall.

Froome is known as one of the best time triallists in the world and he once again underlined that status by putting in a splendid performance on the flat 32,5km course. Passing all intermediate checks in third position, he kept the speed allt he way to the finish to move ahead of all of his GC rivals except new leader Rohan Dennis.

Unsurprisingly, the Briton was happy with his performance.

"Of course, it’s a good result for me", he told France Télévisions. "Today it was a good exercise and a good test for the form. I had good legs."

While his strong showing was expected, it was far less predicted that he would put no less than 2.45 into his main Tour rival Alberto Contador. The Spaniard has not been up to his former standard after coming back from suspension but today's 61st place is by far his most disappointing performance.

However, Froome knows that no one knows how to win a Grand Tour like Contador who has come out triumphant in the Giro once, the Tour twice and the Vuelta twice (and has furthermore been disqualified from his wins in the 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro due to a positive test for clembuterol). Hence, he refuses to write off the man that beat him in last year's Vuelta, instead suggesting that his weak performance could be part of a pre-race plan.

"I don’t know what is Alberto’s strategy," he said. "Maybe he keeps some energy for the mountains."

Comments from Contador himself did, however, nothing to suggest that Froome's suggestion was correct. Instead, the Spaniard claimed to be hampered by his allergies.

"There were some difficult moments for me, because of the allergies," he told CyclingNews. "Finishing so far behind? It's not very important, of course if I finish in front of him (Froome, ed.), it’s better, but I know that the Dauphiné is the Dauphiné and the Tour is the Tour. These allergies should have finished by then. It’s also good that the time trial is a long way into the race, so I'll continue to work hard."

Sports director happy about team performance

Froome was not the only Sky rider to perform well in today's stage. Teammates Edvald Boasson Hagen, Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas finished 6th, 7th and 10th respectively, and the four riders have now moved into the top 6 on GC. Unsurprisingly, the British team now finds itself in the well-known position of leading the teams classification, 9 seconds ahead of Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

Sports director Nicolas Portal was especially delighted by the results as it will only contribute to a growing confidence in the team prior to the major goal at the Tour.

"It was a really good performance from the team today," he confirmed. "On the GC we have four guys in the top six which is a really impressive result. It's a good thing before the first summit finish and it's good for the morale following the training camp. Obviously we'll see what happens during the mountain stages but this just makes everyone all the more motivated."

Many will expect Sky to take control in tomorrow's mountain stage with Garmin maybe a little bit uncertain over Dennis' ability to hold onto his lead. However, Portal refused to give anything away about the team's tactics.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow with Garmin and how they set about defending the jersey," he said. It will be interesting the mountains but obviously we'll do everything we can to improve our position on the GC."

Starting at 12.45 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.