Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) tried to counter a decisive attack by final stage winner Primoz Roglic in the last kilometer of the second stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné on Thursday.

"Roglic looked untouchable, but I wasn't too far behind," said the Italian.

"When he attacked I was a bit behind him. I will find out by getting a better position from now on."

"I'm still happy with my performance. In the last few kilometers I was back in the last couple of guys in the pack."

"But I found myself in a group of riders who have strong teams around them and who are used to competing against other riders. If I can show that I'm good enough to be there, though, it will make it a little easier to push myself." [27-year-old Cofidis finished third in the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge in early August and was fourth in the final stage of the Tour de l'Ain last week, behind Roglic, Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic).

He also finished fourth in the "queen stage" of the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina earlier in the season and took a surprising 12th place overall in last year's Tour de France while riding for the Belgian professional team Wanty Gobert.

"Guillaume showed how comfortable he is on terrain like this," Cofidis sport director Gen-Luc Johnrond said on the team's website.

"He also benefited from the hard work of his teammates and gave back to them.

"Guillaume was smart enough to wait until the very end of the stage to go on the offensive.

"We have to make sure the Cofidis jersey is respected by the top group in the peloton. But I'm very happy with today's result."