 The race 's only individual time trial of an extensive length was held as an out @-@ and @-@ back loop around Villars @-@ les @-@ Dombes in the Ain department . The parcours of the 32 @.@ 5 km ( 20 @.@ 2 mi ) -long stage was almost entirely flat . The stage finished at the Parc des Oiseaux , one of the largest ornithological parks in Europe . Race organisers had expected the quickest times for the course to be around forty minutes . Several of the general classification leaders regarded the time trial as a test for an individual time trial of similar length due to be held in July , at the Tour de France . As is customary in time trial stages , cyclists set off in reverse order from where they were ranked in the general classification at the end of the previous stage . Thus , Larry Warbasse of the BMC Racing Team , who was in 172nd place of the 176 starters , trailing overall leader David Veilleux by thirty @-@ five minutes and fourteen seconds , was the first rider to set off on the stage . 
