Bob Jungels had a long day in the hot seat in today's first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné but was beaten into third by Chris Froome and Alberto Contador at the very end. Despite the initial disappointment, the Luxembourger was pleased with his ride but doesn't expect to focus on the overall standings in the mountainous race.

It was a long, trying wait for Bob Jungels. 

He was one of the first starters in the 10.4-kilometer time trial and when he blasted across the line he stopped the clock at 13’22. It was the fastest time. But it was still early. There were over 130 riders to come, including all the favorites that would start in the final positions.

However, as rider upon rider completed the course anticipation began to rise as no one would, or could, knock the young Luxembourger out of the virtual hot seat. It was not until pre-race favorite, and third to last starter, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) flew over the line that Jungels was finally ousted – and only by a mere second.

The final rider, Chris Froome (Team Sky) then bettered all times. Last year’s winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné proved he is the man to beat again as he posted the quickest time of 13’13”, pushing both Contador and Jungels down one spot into second and third respectively.  But Jungels was not complaining. 

“It’s my first since Liège, about six weeks," he said. "I took a good rest after the first period and when I started back I immediately felt another step, another progression. I have been working a lot in the mountains, long climbs and power work.

"Last week I really focused on this time trial so I rode my TT bike every day, doing short intervals to get the rhythm again. It’s very hard to prepare for a race right out of training but 10k is quite short, and it was a technical parcours so it really suited me.

“Usually I like the longer tt’s around 30k, but I am normally pretty good on the TT bike, and I did a lot of training so I felt quite comfortable and I could managed the corners really well in the downhill and this helped me a lot. I focused on this since a few weeks.

"I like to see the circuit the day before and then at night, in bed, I visualize it again in my head. This morning I did the warm up on the circuit, too. I knew it perfectly. I caught the rider in front of me and that is also motivating.

“It’s a little bit a pity after waiting so long but I can’t complain. To be on the podium with [Froome] and [Contador] is something special. I was lucky with the weather a little bit, but that’s how it is. To end up in a WorldTour race on the podium?  I am overwhelmed.”

The course included a one kilometer climb mid-way with a twisting, technical descent. The weather played a factor as the riders faced a stiff headwind for the second half, and as the day progressed, so did the strength of the wind.

“[Director] Alain [Gallopin] asked me what time I wanted to start and I went to check the forecast and saw that there would be more wind in the afternoon," Jungels said. "So I decided to start pretty early. And as we see now it was a good choice. 

"It’s maybe a little bit unfair to the big favorites who have to start at the end, but if you have the choice then you use it for sure. I did a good TT. I beat a lot of good guys. [Michal] Kwiatkowski started two places in front of me, and really I did not expect to beat him. In the end I did, I am super happy about that.”

The third place finish landed Bob Jungels, 21, the white jersey for the best young rider. It was a optimistic start in the eight-day race for Jungels, but he was cautious when talking about his overall chances.

“It’s something nice – it’s always good to have a jersey," he said. "I am not bad in the climbs, which I saw the last few weeks, but I won’t force myself to focus solely on the GC not with Froome, Contador and Nibali here. I can’t match them in the climbs. I will see tomorrow, as there is already an uphill finish. But the plan is to focus more on the stages. Those guys are here to gear up for winning the Tour de France. We'll see how it goes but my main goal of the year is later on with the Vuelta a Espana.”