Climber Robert Gesink has not had a perfect Criterium du Dauphiné so far, losing time on the hilly stages. But the Dutchman and his Rabobank team are not worried, with the Tour de France still the main objective for the summer. His time trial performance was also a bit below expectations, but riding the course of stage 20 of Tour de France may come in handy on July 23.
Gesink lost a lot of time to stage winner Tony Martin (HTC) over the 42.5 kilometers in Grenoble, but his management picked other contenders for comparison. "As a benchmark of today, this is of course not good," said directeur sportif Adri van Houwelingen on rabosports.nl. "But we are not unhappy with regards to the differences to potential Tour rivals."
Gesink lost 1'28 to Cadel Evans, 0'31 seconds to Alexander Vinokourov, and nine seconds to Jürgen van den Broeck. Tony Martin (2'48 faster) and Bradley Wiggins (2'37) were above the rest on the wet course in France.
The team was also happy that Gesink improved on his ride. "The second part was a bit better than the first. That is a sign that he kept reserves. He hoped the he didn't need to go deep."
Aside from winning the TT at the Tour of Oman, Gesink has had a few top ten results in time trials this year including his seventh at the Vuelta al País Vasco, for example. These show his improvements in the fight against the clock. Despite the 23rd place today, the Rabobank team is optimistic. "Robert isn't super yet, and that is ok. He can do better and he should become better over time." Timing is everything for a good Tour de France performance. Peaking too early can be counterproductive at times. "We are not worried and Robert isn't, either. It is coming along nicely."
Checking out the course was done a little differently this time. "For example, we didn't go out [on the course] very early," Van Houwelingen said. Gesink was not sitting high in the overall, so there was no pressure for him - maybe not enough pressure. "To do a good race, a little bit of pressure is necessary. But we are satisfied. With this time trial Robert can move forward."
The best part was that the same course is used in the Tour de France. The experience will come in handy for Gesink. Racers like Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank), who are not racing at the Dauphiné, are dependent on training there. Contador is currently in the process of checking the course out with some teammates.