Remco Evenepoel was intended to test himself in the finale of the Stage 3 of Critérium du Dauphiné, officially on the wheel of Primoê Rogliê with a shallow ascent towards the finish at Les Estables

But the slow puncture meant that the duel did not materialize. Rather than a win in the final, Evenepoel was happy to manage the situation and go home at the Main Peloton, three seconds down to the winner Derek Gee of the day.

"Eventually I had a small flat tire – not a full flat, but a slow punk," Evenepoel explained afterwards. "It was pretty hard to keep it going in the last 3k, but it was hard because otherwise I'd lost a lot of time. I had to work hard, but I could stay in the group.

Critérium du Dauphiné indicated that Evenepoel had returned to the competition after fracturing his collarbone in a mass crash at Itzulia Basque Country, downplaying expectations before the race began and claiming that he had little ambition beyond improving his condition before the Tour de France debut.

In Col de la Loge on Monday, Evenepoel preferred not to try to chase stage victories, but another approach, at least until he felt the tires starting to shrink

"I really wanted to go for it today, but if I felt I had a slow puncture, it was a game over." It was a bar," Evenepoel said. "I feel good and I wanted to go for it. The last k was not really easy, so we said we were going to try it out in the race. It was a finish that should have suited me, but the tires made a different decision. Now it's time to focus on tomorrow."

Evenepoel is facing the first real inspection of his form in the 34.4km time trial from Saint-Germain-Laval to Neulise on Wednesday. The course offers a very useful test before the two time trials on the tour, but as a world champion of discipline, Evenepoel is the reason for the victory of the stage

"I think it's a very tough time trial," Evenepoel said, adding that he has not played a time trial all week. There is a warm-down on the bike. "At first it pans almost flat, then on TT about 15km, actually starts to roll up a bit like today.

"It's a pretty long TT, so you have to pace it well and make sure you have something for the last part. That's what I like. I was already looking forward to this during altitude camp."

Evenepoel won his first time trial at Volta ao Algarve, but the crash denied him on the first day of Itzulia Basque Country and took 4th place in the short test that Roglić won.

Their duel on Wednesday saw at least both men as pivotal to their hopes of defeating Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in the Tour de France time trial.

This year's Tour de France will feature a 25km personal time trial to Gevrey-Chambertin in the opening week. The race concludes with a tough 34km test from Monaco to Nice that incorporates the climbs of La Turbie and Col D'Èze.

"If there's one stage I'm interested in this week, it's Wednesday, and I just want to see how my shoulders go through," Evenepoel told RTBF.1 "Then I'll see how my legs work. If I get a good result, I will be able to leave this Dauphine feeling good. It will be an important day. We will look at what our rivals are doing, aiming for the podium. So much better if it ends with a victory."

In the overall standings, Evenepoel is 33rd overall, 13 seconds behind yellow jersey Gee and 6 seconds behind Rogliß.

Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Tom Steel reflected Evenepoel's ideas, arguing that the Dauphine was not a goal in itself, but a means to an end.

"The most important thing is that he feels better every day and has a good feeling at the end of the Dauphine," Steele told RTBF.

"After the time trial, we will see where we are. A time trial of that distance is always a good test. He is very motivated for that, especially with a rainbow jersey on his back. He is going to do everything to be the best.”