"It's not just two teams," insisted Geraint Thomas just before he raced the opening stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné in Clermont-Ferrand.

But while that is undoubtedly true, a repeat of the duel between Jumbo Visma and Team Ineos that ignited the Tour de Ain is expected to continue this week in the five-day Criterium du Dauphiné.

Indeed, Milan-San Remo winner Wout Van Aert won the uphill finish of the first stage to give Jumbo-Visma an early lead. Egan Bernal was third. Geraint Thomas finished in the same time, but Chris Froome slowed down with 3.8 km to go, finishing 5:23 behind.

The Dutch team won two stages and the GC with Primoz Roglic taking the overall win and bragging rights in the Tour de l'Ain. 2019 Tour de France winner Eoghan Bernal was second overall and his Ineos team was in the Jura mountains, where the Jumbo-Visma stronghold The team was unable to escape from.

However, the riders from both of these teams, as well as many others, downplayed the importance of the Tour de Ain, with most of them repeating that the Tour, especially its toughest stages, were still weeks away.

Roglic admitted that he would love to win the Dauphiné, but that it was only a stepping stone to the much larger goal of the yellow jersey.

"Ineos has a lot of good players, but there are many other strong teams.

"There are still things to improve on. After the Tour de Ain we have new riders and we have to work together as a group," the Slovenian rider said.

"The road to the Tour is still long.

Bernal took exactly the same view, preferring to focus on his team's performance rather than thinking about comparisons with other teams.

"I think the most important goal for us is to ride as a team and get the real feeling we need for the Tour, we want to be high up in the GC and we will go for that, but above all we will go for the Tour de France," the Colombian rider said.

Tom Dumoulin brushed off suggestions that the Dutch team overpowered in the Tour de Ain.

"I don't think we overdid it. I think Ineos saved themselves. This race has improved and the Tour de France has also improved.

"This team is by far the strongest team I've ever been a part of, and the guys here and the guys in the Tour are great," Dumoulin continued, adding that he and his teammates still have things to improve.

"We are here to finalize our tactics and to get in shape. But at the same time I want to try to win the championship."

Asked what improvements he could make after last week's underwhelming performance, Dumoulin pointed to his form.

"I was good in the Tour de l'Ain, especially on the last day; I was a bit off on the second day, so I want to improve my consistency here with the Tour in mind."

Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France champion, is also looking to improve and will go into the Dauphiné better rested, but admitted he still lacks confidence in his form.

"I did a big block of training, maybe a little too much.

"It wasn't my best race because of the heat. But if I work on my legs in this race and get some rest, I think I'll be fine for the Tour."

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to the Tour.

Then came the showdown between Ineos and Jumbo.

"Obviously we have to watch out for Jumbo, but there are a lot of other good teams and riders.

"I'm not going to be drawn into just racing against them. It's nice to race hard for five days, but we don't want to come out of it completely. But we are all experienced professionals and know how to get through it the best way possible. But it's going to be a tough race, that's for sure.