A mountain top finish on the first day of a week-long stage race is uncommon, and such extreme heat in June is also rather out of the ordinary. Teammates Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang and Tanel Kangert all rode to the base of the final 13-km climb at the front, and in the final group of 20 riders on the last climb, Astana was clearly the strongest team remaining.

“In this heat today we went back to the car probably 8 or 9 times for bottles during the stage – plus we all took more at the feedzone – if you don’t drink enough the minimum that will happen to you is cramps – the max is you leave the race in an ambulance,” Dmitriy Gruzdev said to the Astana webpage.

Nibali held on to a group of five riders into the final kilometer, then rode his own pace to finish sixth on the day, 27 seconds behind race leader and stage winner Chris Froome - Fuglsang finished eighth, Kangert was tenth.

Nibali moves up from eighth to sixth overall, with a hot, challenging week ahead.

Monday’s stage shows how strong the contenders for next month’sTour de France are riding right now, while the remainder of the Criterium du Dauphine will show where the strength and condition are going.