While both Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) were expected to line up at the Criterium du Dauphine with all guns blazing, the disposition of the third Tour de France winner candidate, Vincenzo Nibali was somewhat questionable following his winless spring. The letter issued by Astana manager Alexandre Vinokourov criticizing performances of the 29-year old Italian and strong suggestions about an internal split within the Kazakh team added even more fuel to the discussion about his future, however, the former Vuelta a Espana and Giro d’Italia champion hit back at his critics with splendid opening of the French stage event.

 

Despite all the controversies around Vinokourov’s letter revealed by Gazzetta dello Sport, it apparently fulfilled his own expectations as his Tour de France key rider showed up at the Criterium du Dauphine highly motivated following his very demanding training block at high altitude, held in Tenerife.

 

While Nibali refused to comments on the revelations from the Italian press, his trainer Paolo Slongo revealed details of the recently concluded training camp held by Astana on Mount Teide.

 

"The key aspects of the training were strength work in the gym, time trial bike, pedaling cadence and racing weight," Slongo told Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Ciro Scognamiglio.

 

"It won't be a problem if there's a gap between (Vincenzo) and his rivals in the finale of stages. I love to work gradually and his 'high-end' work has not yet been polished as it should be," Slongo said.

 

By saying this, Slongo suggested that Nibali was yet to reach his top disposition and thus he didn’t expect him to match Froome and Contador at the Criterium du Dauphine mountaintop finishes. However, provided with an opportunity to face his biggest rivals in the same event for the first time this season, the 29-year old Italia rode a very decent time trial in the opening prologue yesterday, finishing eight – thirteen seconds down on Froome and five on Contador, on a route which certainly didn’t suit his characteristics.

 

While Nibali admitted that he was looking forward to competing with Tour de France title main contenders in the same event, at the same time he confirmed that he didn’t expect himself to match them just yet following the demanding training camp.

 

"I haven't raced against Chris and Alberto in the same race this year," he pointed out.

 

"I'll be looking for some answers and will have to use the signals I get as best as I can. It's important to remember that in 2012 I lost nine minutes to the winner of the stage to Morzine (Nairo Quintana) but then I finished on the podium at the Tour de France. I think I worked well at altitude."