Wout van Aert wins first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine

Wout van Aert [Jumbo-Visma] won a fascinating first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in France on Wednesday, to underline his red-hot form, as Chris Froome [Team Ineos] sat up on the final climb of the day to drop out of general classification contention.

Froome has won this race on three occasions, in 2013, 2015 and 2016, going on to win the Tour de France each time. But he will not be winning this week. The 35 year-old dropped off the back of the bunch with around 4km of Wednesday’s opening stage remaining and finished more than five minutes down on the leaders.

Froome is still building his form as he returns from a career-threatening crash at last year’s Dauphine and it is unclear whether he sat up as part of a prearranged plan. The four-times Tour winner is hoping to prove his worth to Ineos’s Tour selection group this week.

With such a condensed season due to coronavirus, the Dauphine is being used by all the big guns to prepare for cycling’s biggest race which begins on Aug 29. The final 20km of Wednesday’s stage was like a who’s who of men’s road cycling, with all of the major Tour contenders - Egan Bernal [Ineos], Primoz Roglic [Jumbo-Visma], Tom Dumoulin [Jumbo-Visma], Thibaut Pinot [FDJ], Geraint Thomas [Team Ineos] and Tadej Pogacar [UAE Team Emirates] - present and correct.

Jumbo-Visma, who dominated last weekend’s Tour de l’Ain, were once again in control, shutting down various attacks in the final kilometres and setting up Van Aert who, fresh from his victories at Strade-Bianche and Milan-San Remo, was irrepressible on the uphill finish into Saint-Christo-du-Jarez.

The Belgian took the win from Daryl Impey [Mitchelton-Scott] with 2019 Tour de France champion Egan Bernal [Team Ineos] third. Bernal’s four bonus seconds puts him in a healthy position in the general classification. Ineos team mates Thomas, Michal Kwiatkowski and Pavel Sivakov all finished safely in the bunch.

Froome, who is joining Israel Start-Up Nation at the end of the season, will be boosted by news that Michael Woods has become that team’s latest high-profile signing. The Canadian, who has spent five years in the EF/Slipstream setup, will be one of Froome’s key lieutenants in the mountains next year as they look to provide him with a grand tour-winning support team.

Meanwhile, cycling’s governing body the UCI is looking for a new venue for this year’s road world championships after next month’s event in Aigle-Martigny was cancelled.

The event was due to begin on September 20, just as the Tour finishes, but the Swiss government has extended its restrictions on gatherings of more than 1,000 people to October 1 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"The UCI would like to clarify that it will work towards finding an alternative project to ensure the 2020 edition of the event can take place, with the priority being in Europe and at the dates initially scheduled," the governing body said in a statement.