Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) once again proved that he is a formidable time triallist by finishing 5th in today's stage 4 race against the clock at the Criterium du Dauphiné. The performance moved him into 3rd on GC but the Pole remains cautious as the race is his first after a long break.

Michal Kwiatkowski has been one of the big revelations during the early part of the 2013 season. Long known as a formidable time triallist, the young Pole has emerged as a strong climber, finishing 2nd in the Volta ao Algarve and 4th in the Tirreno-Adriatico in the first part of the year.

He went on to take hugely impressive 4th and 5th places in the Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne respectively but since then the cycling world has seen nothing from the young talent. Enjoying a break from competition after a hard spring season, he recharged his batteries and only returned to competitive action at this week's Criterium du Dauphiné.

Kwiatkowski appears to have trained well in between his races as he has been a prominent figure in the early stages. Having worked hard for Gianni Meersman on Monday and Tuesday, he finished 5th in today's time trial to move himself into third overall, 26 seconds behind overall leader Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp).

The Pole was actually on his way to an even better performance and was only beaten by his stage-winning teammate at the first intermediate check. However, he faded a little bit towards the end and had to be content with a top 5 finish.

"I think I went much faster in the first part than in the second part because I wanted to catch Capecchi and Santaromita," he said. "That was my goal, to see where they were. In the middle of the TT I caught them. In the second part I maybe lost some time, but finally with 5km to go I gave it all. I am happy about my race."

However, he remains cautious about his overall opportunities as his limited racing makes it hard for him to know exactly where he stands.

"Prior to this race I trained a lot for the time trial, and I had a good feeling," he said. "The result is not important now. This is the first race after such a long period without racing and so it makes me happy that I have such a good feeling about my position and everything and that I had no problems during the course. The 3rd position in the GC is a good result so far, but now we will go into the mountains and the GC will probably change. We will see day by day."

Kwiatkowski faces his next big test in tomorrow's mountain stage which finishes at the top of an HC climb in Valmorel. Starting at 12.45, you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.