Two stages down at the Critérium du Dauphiné and the majority of the leading GC contenders haven't put a foot wrong, and while the yellow jersey rests on the shoulders of Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), a cluster of overall contenders lie in wait with Wednesday's individual time trial expected to alter the standings head of the mountains.
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is the best placed GC rider at 1:09 with Chris Froome (Team Sky), Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac), Romain Bardet (AG2R), Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors), Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) all tied on the same time.
For Chaves, the Dauphiné is a somewhat of a voyage of discovery. The Colombian only returned to training in April after a lengthy knee injury and is tentatively making his way through the opening days before testing himself against the best in Wednesday's time trial. While the mountains that punctuate the final three days offer more favourable terrain on which his skillset can excel, the Orica rider is taking each stage as it comes.
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"Physically it's still hard to say," he said when asked how he feels after two days of racing.
"The first two stages were hard, but not super hard, and we have all arrived together. I think the first test will be the time trial to see the real feelings in the legs."
That said, Chaves' return to racing has not been easy. Although there has been relative calm across both of the race's opening stages, they still mark his first competitive outing since the Herald Sun Tour in February.
"My feelings have not changed too much from yesterday. I'm still a little scared in the bunch but we have time to habituate to that, we knew it would be like this. But I'm happy, like always, and I'm enjoying being back racing with the team."
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