June 9/10 11:35 am - Criterium du Dauphine: Stage 3

Posted by Editoress on 06/9/10
 

Team RadioShack’s Jani Brajkovic powered to the victory in the 3rd stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné (France), an individual time trial from Monteux to Sorgues over 49 kilometer (30.4 mi). The Slovenian time trial champion was impressive. He completed the course in 1:01:51 with an average speed of 47.53 K/h (29.53 mi/h). David Millar finished 2nd, 26 seconds behind Brajkovic, Edvald Boasson Hagen 3rd, losing 43 seconds, and Tejay Van Garderen 4th. Spanish champion and race leader Alberto Contador was sixth, coming in at 1:46 back.  Brajkovic's performance moved him from third to first on general classification.

“I knew my condition was really at top level for the moment, so I dreamed a bit of a victory, but after I saw the course this morning, the dream was far away,” commented Brajkovic. “There was a lot of wind and the roads were so bad. I really thought I would be too light for this job. On the other hand, I like long distance time trials. I need a long warm-up period. A pity I lost some 30 seconds because of my bike change.  Fortunately Alain Gallopin kept motivating me. My Team Director was a superb coach. He was incredible and yelled me to the victory.”

“At the top of the Côte de la Roque-sur-Pernes Jani had to change his bike because one of the two aero extensions came loose.  That situation was too dangerous,” explained Gallopin.   “He was in the lead at that moment and lost his morale.  We presumed Contador would not have his best fitness level yet so this was our chance to take the stage victory and the jersey. I told Jani not to panic and to stay calm.  I convinced him to use a lower gear than he normally does. This is a big success for Jani and the Team. Jani deserves this. He is obsessed about training. Sometimes he does too much and misses some freshness at the races. Let’s hope this can be a new start for Jani’s career.”

Jani Brajkovic, U23 time trial world champion in 2004 and three-time military world champion will defend his yellow jersey. “I have no idea where I can end up in this race, but I will try anyway. Already tomorrow we will know more,” concluded Brajkovic.  Earlier this year he has appeared five times  in the  top ten overall classifications of stage races: Tours of Sardinia, Catalunya, Castilla y León, Romandy and California.

Team RadioShack press release