REPORT - CRITÉRIUM DU DAUPHINÉ
STAGE 2: CHÂTEL - OYONNAX
Good Morning Ladies and Gentleman,
Thank you for joining in on racing today. We are heading onto Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 2. This stage goes from Châtel to Oyonnax and has 182km filled with lots of action. The course is rated hilly, but I think it prefers punchy climbers as in the end you need to be on top to not lose time. We cannot be sure if we will see a big battle between the favourites, but there will be somebody trying to gain time on those and on the riders that survived the breakaway yesterday. The riders will start on a descend and go all the way to Annamas. Then they ride over Côte de Mornex, which will not decide things today because of the long descend afterwards. But the action is going to start then. Riding over Côte de Mons , Côte de Lancrans and Côte de Communnal, we reach Côte du Bugnon and Col du Sentier, both almost 1000m high. Because of the following descend into Oyonnax, there should be a bigger group coming to the final together.
The weather is as good as yesterday. Blue sky and round about 20 degrees. The cyclists start their day and head out onto the course.
170km to go
It takes some time until the first attacks start, but Hardy (COF) is opening today’s fight for the win.
166km to go, E1 – 1:00 – Peloton
Bak (LTB) and Vachon (BSE) go after him and quickly catch up. The escapees are opening a gap pretty easily now with Movistar cooling things down.
114km to go, E1 – 7:00 - Peloton
As there is nothing more to talk about than the breakaway steadily increasing its lead, we have nothing big to report on. The leaders are cooperating well and now taking on the first climb of today after a rather relaxing ride. They go onto Côte de Mornex and contest the first KoM after the first half. All of those three should not have a chance in the GC as none of them is known as a good climber. Furthermore, Bak is 7:26 behind on place 127 with Hardy and Vachon following in 132nd and 139th on 8:10.
108km to go, E1 – 7:25 – Peloton
The mountain sprint is not contested at all. This Cat. 2 climb gives Bak 3, Vachon 2 and Hardy 1 point. Back in the peloton there are several teams at the front but at a very slow pace. Movistar is really present and showing Amador’s yellow jersey.
85km to go, E1 – 6:20 – Peloton
Entering the descend now, Garmin-Sharp and Omega Pharma – Quick Step are laying down a much higher pace, so the lead decreases now. All riders are still together in the pack after the climb. But the upcoming ones should definitely sort things out.
62km to go, E1 – 4:48 – Peloton
The leaders are now ascending Côte de Mons with a heavily decreased lead. Will they maintain it over these mountains? I do not think so, but you can never be sure as we saw yesterday. Unfortunately there are almost no spectators on the road, but we will surely see more of them on the deciding climbs later on.
58km to go, E1 – 4:08 – Peloton
The next KoM sprint goes over uncontested, but now it is Hardy taking 3 maximum points in front of Bak (2) and Vachon (1). In the peloton it is now Movistar chasing heavily. As they own the yellow jersey they are forced to do the work, but would not it be easier to save some strength for the upcoming climbs?
44km to go, E1 – 2:41 – Peloton
Shortly before the pack goes over Côte de Lancrans, Barguil (ARG), Gasparotto (AST), Voeckler (EUC) and Gesink (BEL) attack. But they are surely not going for the points here, they are looking out for the stage win. The lead did not sprint for the points again with Vachon beating Bak and Hardy.
42km to go, E1 – 2:29 – E2 – 0:23 – Peloton
There are more riders trying to bridge the gap. Chavanel (OPQ) and Moser (CAN) go for it now. If those six late-attackers join up, they could really be a threat to the pack. We still owe you who took the last points on the KoM. The full results of this Cat. 3 climb are: Vachon 4, Bak 3, Hardy 2, Gasparotto 1.
41km to go
All those guys are now looking to join up. Klöden (RLT) and Riblon (ALM) now also went for it. All that attacks were harmful to the gap to the front riders, which now dropped down to just more than two minutes.
39km to go, E1 - 1:44 – E2 – 0:41 – Peloton
That is a super-high pace now. The eight attackers are now riding the hill together with Movistar really chasing behind. But those riders are only a minor threat to the GC as they are all 3:24 in arrears, except for Moser who already lost 5:24. But, well, you could say that about anybody, so it is surely the right decision.
37km to go, E1 – 1:33 – E2 – 0:38 – Peloton
Even more riders are making a move. It is Gilbert (BMC), Martin (GRS) and Kwiatkowski (OPQ). Though those three are also 3:24 back as most of the good climbers and puncheurs. With those three really good puncheurs, that could be point where the stage is decided. Especially Kwiatkowski is good to watch as he has a teammate in the chasing group in Chavanel.
35km to go, E1 – 1:26 – E2 – 0:23 – E3 – 0:23 – Peloton
The intermediate sprint goes to Hardy in front of Vachon and Bak. You can see the chasing groups coming near behind, today is not a day for the break for sure.
32km to go, E1 – 1:09 – E2 – 0:39 – Peloton
The pack has not dropped many riders until now but we are beginning the climb up to Côte du Bugnon, where things are really heating up! From the chasing group Moser attacks as the others are left behind. Because nobody wants to chase here, they are most likely to be caught.
28km to go, E1 – 1:00 – E2 – 0:29 – Peloton
With 1km to go before the KoM for the pack, they have already caught the breakaway. From the chasers, only Kwiatkowski, Martin, Gilbert and Moser could keep up the high pace and the rest is now being caught under the high pace laid down by Kennaugh (SKY) for his captain. Somehow the field is still together, but strung out so much that you could easily allocate gaps if you would look for them.
23km to go, E1 – 0:51 – E2 – 0:32 – Peloton
Somewhere the breakaway must have found some energy left, because they now climb pretty well as everybody is coming closer. Meanwhile the four chasers were joined by Astana-Duo Gasparotto, who attacked earlier on, and Iglinsky. The results from the last Cat. 3 KoM reach us, which we sadly missed. Those are: Vachon 4, Bak 3, Hardy 2, Kwiatkowski 1.
22km to go, E1 – 0:12 – Bak – 0:28 – E3 – 0:31 – Peloton
And we reach the top of Côte du Bugnon with Hardy passing the line in front of Vachon and Bak, who is already being dropped. But it looks light he could come back in the descend. Right behind, chasing group and peloton are continuing their fight.
20km to go, E1 – 1:00 – Peloton
On the downhill now and the chasers were caught. When the pace just has dropped down and the lead began to increase the gap while no one was chasing, Navarro (COF) attacks. It seems like he is willing to use Hardy as a help later on.
15km to go, E1 – 0:45 – E2 – 0:23 – Peloton
Some guys are really pacing in the downhill trying to escape again. It is Martin, Kwiatkowski and Gilbert again, who open up a small gap. This is all but good for the leaders whom will surely be caught in the now following climb up to the last mountain for today, the Col du Sentier.
12km to go, E1 – 1:15 – Peloton
And the gap grows again as the attackers were caught. Nobody is willing to set the pace in the pack, everybody is waiting for the other to make his move as things should be decided on this ultimate climb and nobody is willing to waste his energy. Will this provide the early breakaway the chance to stay in front and win? I called those guys caught, but maybe they are not at all.
10km to go, E1 – 0:24 – Navarro – 0:20 – Peloton
Now at the top we can say that they are caught. But it is still a strong achievement to be still at the front of the race and therefore compete for the win. When everybody started sprinting up that hill, they reeled in the break rather fast. Gilbert joined the break for a 4-man-group now with Bak staying inside surprisingly after his suffer on the last climb. Behind them is Navarro alone going over the top, but the peloton can still see all the riders in front. However, all the favourites came now to the front in the bunch and I am eager to see how things develop on the downhill into the finish.
6km to go, E1 – 0:28 – Navarro – 0:12 – Iglinsky – 0:10 – Peloton
The riders are now motoring down the descend giving it everything they have left. From that camera we can see that literally everybody could still win, though the pack now really has to get back the front group where the former breakaway riders have problem going with the pace of Gilbert. The rider between Navarro and the pack is Iglinsky, who has attacked another time but is now loosing ground again. The full result of the last KoM Cat. 2 by the way: Gilbert 10, Hardy 9, Vachon 8, Bak 7, Navarro 6, Martin 5.
1300m to go, Peloton altogether
Gilbert is already sprinting in front and will pass the flamme rouge immediately. Bak, Hardy and Vachon behind are all over the place and have certainly no power left for the sprint. Then it is Contador (TST), Pinot (FDJ), Stybar (OPQ), Amador (MOV), Froome (SKY), Slagter (BEL), Sánchez (EUS), Madrazo (MOV) and many others still hoping for the stage win. All in all, the sprint is very messy and we see no trains. Does anybody have a decent sprint left and can overtake Gilbert or is this going to be one of the rare victories for the rainbow jersey?
600m to go
That is an absolutely incredible finish! So much tension right now! We see Gilbert, Bak, Hardy and Vachon fading, but still in front. Then, Froome, Gasparotto and Mollema (BEL) are coming strong on the left-hand side with many others already done.
200m to go
Will Gilbert hold on to it? His chances are good. Froome, Gasparotto, Mollema and Contador are the guys behind. On the very left, Schröder (EUC) and Spilak (KAT) are really gaining with a superb acceleration, but it looks like they started their sprint to late.
Finish line
Yes, yes, he holds on to it! Phillippe Gilbert wins the second stage here after several strong attacks throughout the last climbs. He should really celebrate this win, because a victory wearing the rainbow jersey is something that happens not quite often, but maybe he is just to exhausted after all. Behind him, Gasparotto sprints to second, so we have two riders in front that attacked several times – a strong recovery by Gasparotto on the descend for sure. Froome is the third guy in podium with Mollema and Schröder following. Spilak, Contador, Kwiatkowski, Slagter and Sánchez complete the Top10 while 140 riders finish with the same time, so the GC stays pretty much the same. Only Gilbert, Gasparotto and Froome move up to 5, 6 and 7 because of the time bonifications.
Finish line
All in all, we can say, that it were the same guys all the way that made this stage interesting. It were not the great GC contenders as we saw it coming, but some really strong puncheurs that showed their strength and made the race worth watching. Thank you for following, the next stage is up to come!
Movistar Team did a great job to stop all attacks and defend the current GC gaps. Happy to see Amador wearing the leaders jersey for at least one other day.
On another note, again a very nice result of Schröder who could have podiumed if he had started his final jump earlier
Pinot lurking strongly at the moment. Hopefully he can continue as he is, which will move him upwards on the GC as the tougher stuff comes. Hopefully a few of the FDJ boys attack for breakaways to ease any responsibilities.
Equally Le Faucon is perched and ready to strike for ALM once the mountains rise upwards
Was going to ask to do the Luxembourg race, but I didn't as I have it as a win goal. A very hard goal for the team I have sent there, mainly because in PCM2011 a breakaway rider will likely take the GC and I probably have one of the GC favourites in Schleck so RadioShack won't be getting into too many breaks.
Nice to see Kloden attacking in the Dauphine. The best we could have hoped for.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
