Cycling: Patrick Bevin finishes fifth in prologue at Criterium du Dauphine

Patrick Bevin on the time trial bike. Photo / Getty

Kiwi cyclist Patrick Bevin has an outside chance to pull on the leader's jersey at a major World Tour race for the second time this season.

Bevin has finished in fifth in the opening prologue at the Criterium du Dauphine, just five seconds behind stage winner Michal Kwiatkowski.

Bevin's result came due to a strong finish on the 6.6 kilometre course. Through the intermediate checkpoint at 3.47 kilometres, Bevin had the 16th best time, but stormed home in the second half of the course to add another top five finish to his CV.

As a result of his excellent ride, Bevin could be in the mix to hold the leader's yellow jersey. The next two stages are undulating, but don't possess any major climbs, so the Kiwi rider should be able to stay in the peloton.

His path to pulling on the yellow jersey is blocked though by the daunting figure of Kwiatkowski, who, unless disaster strikes, will easily keep the race lead in the opening stages. However, Bevin could pounce on stage three, where his BMC team will be one of the favourites in the 35 kilometre team time trial.

It was through the team time trial that Bevin got to wear the leader's jersey at the Tirreno Adriatico, and while BMC's time trialling unit isn't as strong this time around, they are always one of the strongest squads in the format.

Unfortunately for Bevin, Kwiatkowski's Team Sky are just as handy, with the third-placed Gianni Moscon, Geraint Thomas, Dylan Van Baarle, Jonathan Castroviejo and Kwiatkowski all excellent time trialists, who may combine to keep Bevin just short of top spot.

Even if briefly holding the leader's jersey isn't in Bevin's overall plans, the result continues his impressive season on the time trial bike. The 27-year-old finished second in his two most recent time trials - finishing nine seconds behind Primoz Roglic at the Tour of the Basque Country, and just seven seconds behind Tejay Van Garderen at last month's Tour of California.

Throw in a ninth-placed finish overall at the Tour de Yorkshire (Arguably a more ridiculous use of the "de" than the Tour de Korea), and Bevin seems not far away from turning the close calls into his first stage win since 2016.

Promising Kiwi rider Dion Smith - fresh off finishing third overall at the Baloise Belgium Tour - is also racing at the Dauphine, and crossed the line in 84th in the prologue, 32 seconds off the lead. His role in the race will be to support his team leaders, while also spending time in the breakaway.

Smith is a chance to ride at the Tour de France for the second straight year, with his Wanty-Groupe Gobert sports director saying that for Smith, the Dauphine is "an entry exam for Le Tour."