"No need to worry," was Pavel Sivakov's straightforward message after Team Ineos' leading riders struggled in the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné in the High Alps to Saint Martin de Belleville.

Team leader Egan Bernal fell short of his personal best and was nine seconds behind his GC rival. Geraint Thomas finished 5 minutes behind, and Chris Froome finished 25 minutes behind the GC favorites, who were again led by stage winner Davide Formolo (UAE Emirates) and Primoz Roglic of Jumbo Visma.

"I've trained big and now I'm racing. 'It's still a long way to the Tour de France. I don't need to stress or worry."

The Russian revealed that Bernal was below par on the stage, which included the dreaded climb of the Madeleine Pass. Egan said he wasn't feeling well today, so I stayed with him and tried to bring him into the final."

"The sprint started at the finish and I didn't realize he had fallen off the bike. The sprint started at the finish and I didn't realize he had fallen off the bike. Maybe I should have waited for him and paced myself until the final. But that's the way it goes. Egan had a hard day in the final, but no problem. He is here after two hard races.

Sivakov was visibly frustrated by his inability to keep up with the pace of the GC contenders on Thursday's second stage, the Col de Porte, but was very pleased with his own performance.

"I made a little mistake with my hydration on Thursday when it was a little cloudy and I thought the temperature wasn't that high," he said.