REPORT - CRITÉRIUM DU DAUPHINÉ
STAGE 5: GRÉSY-SUR-AIX - VALMOREL
A warm welcome to the fifth stage of Critérium du Dauphiné.
Today’s course is what can be called the first real test for the strong climbers and probably also the first of three decisive mountain stages for the GC which has been shaped up by the Time Trial and its gaps already. The stage is one for the mountain goats with a super-hard climb in the end, the Monteé de Valmorel that goes up to 1369m. On top of that, there is a HC-KoM sprint just before the finish. But there are also climbs earlier in the race: Côte de Trévignin after 20km raced and Col du Frêne after 67km will make the first half of the race hard with then a flat section to come and rather little Côte de la Croix with roughly 30km to go. Right after a short section then the final climb begins and will take everything from the riders with its 15km of steep slopes to the finish.
The wheather is good again for the fifth time in a row now. Hopefully it will go on like that. We have perfect racing conditions. The peloton is on the way and after only 2 of 139km, the first guys go. It is De Clercq (LTB) with Mourey (FDJ) and Serpa (LAM) following. So we see some decent climbers trying their luck already. It looks like that attack is their only chance for a good result as they will not stand a chance against the big guys for the GC.
115km to go, E1 – 4:00 – Peloton
The break is entering Monteé de Valmorel and has a good gap onto the peloton where nobody else tried to attack. After some days with a hard start the riders will be satisfied that they do not have to ride that hard in the beginning. Instead Movistar is well in control of the peloton setting a calm tempo for race leader Amador. Will he be able to maintain his advantage on the better climbers today?
110km to go, E1 – 4:37 – Peloton
The guys up front are working well together and do not even contest the KoM sprint, so it is won by Serpa. He takes 4 points, Mourey 3 and De Clercq 2.
105km to go, E1 – 4:00 – E2 – 0:47 – E3 – 0:12 – Peloton
That came unexpected! For what reason ever, now even more riders decided they would try their luck and join the breakaway some timer later. This will certainly cost them much energy, but who knows, maybe that could be a winning move in the end? Kruijswijk (BEL) takes the last point on the top with Barguil (ARG) behind. Visible in the background are Nieve (EUS) and Vachon (BSE) who attacked just a bit later but are struggling to open a gap onto the peloton somehow. By the way, in front De Clercq is the best placed rider with 6:04 behind, Kruijswijk is also just a bit better placed being 5:20 in arrears.
80km to go, E1 – 2:16 – E2 – 1:01 – E3 – 2:57 – Peloton
The peloton did not chase anymore, so Nieve and Vachon are creating quite a gap on it, but they are not able to join Barguil and Kruijswijk. Those guys are certainly stronger. Serpa, De Clercq and Barguil in the front are losing time on the two chasing duos, but not as much as we could have thought. We are now on the foot of Col du Frêne with Nieve and Vachon.
70km to go, E1 – 1:26 – E2 – 0:55 – E3 – 3:11 – Peloton
Mourey wins the sprint without anybody sprinting in front of De Clercq and Serpa. Both groups behind are constantly gaining time, but the question is if all that effort has any sense as in the peloton many teams share the pacemaking and therefore set an incredible pace, which hurts the breakaway riders especially on the flat. We see Movistar, Katusha, Garmin, RadioShack and Vacansoleil all working.
50km to go, E1 – 0:37 – E2 – 0:47 – E3 – 2:23 – Peloton
Nice shot by our TV cameras, on that long flat road, we are able to see all escapees at once. However, while Kruijswijk and Barguil are not able to close in on the front trio, Nieve and Vachon seem unable to catch those both. Riding in three groups is a total waste of energy, but however, all of that riding in front could be a waste of energy in the end, as in the peloton the tempo is enormous and the gaps are much smaller now.
30km to go, E1 – 1:21 – E2 – 1:16 – Peloton
The sprint is not contested as well, so De Clercq wins it in front of Serpa and Mourey. More importantly, you should have noticed that Barguil and Kruijswijk have joined those three. That happened just some moments ago. When that happened, Nieve and Vachon had to understand that their effort will not pay out, so they stopped riding and are now waiting for the peloton to catch them. Especially Nieve could have had a chance in the final climb but after this waste of energy he will rather die there. The peloton is still riding hard, this is certainly no day for a breakaway win by the looks of things.
29km to go, E1 – 1:24 – E2 – 1:06 – Peloton
What an incredible move! Barguil and Kruijwijk are both attacking after their strong effort. Surely we thought the other three guys should have more energy left but those both attack now at the beginning of Côte de la Croix.
25km to go, E1 – 2:07 – Nieve – 0:57 – Peloton
Right in this moment, the front group is back together. On the descend, the three earliest breakaway riders closed the gap again. Behind, Nieve was climbing fast but now he is still in no-man’s-land. The peloton has been riding the climb extremely hard with some gaps opening but everything is coming together again. Still, numerous weaker riders were left behind and form the Gruppeto now.
20km to go, E1 – 2:08 – Peloton
And the pack now catched Nieve. Many teams are relaying, so the gap is pretty small and surely the winner will come out of the peloton today. Some teams working right now are FDJ, RadioShack, Vacansoleil, BMC, Astana and Garmin.
15km to go, E1 – 1:07 – Peloton
One last look at a big pack as the breakaway enters the Monteé de Valmorel. The gap is dropping massively because of the hard pacing. But some weird things are going on here (hello, AI). The guy at the front is Jordan Lewis (BMC). I don’t really understand why van Garderen lets his super-domestique work here on the flat before the climb, though nearly all teammates are somewhere at the front, which are all significantly weaker climbers. Furthermore, Vacansoleil is really working hard today, but the question is: Whom are they working for? Do they really believe in De Gendt for the final climb that much? I am at least not sure about this.
12km to go, E1 – 0:48 – Peloton
When we entered the climb, first the pace dropped a bit, but now we have big attacks coming in. It is Sánchez (EUS) trying its luck. Roche (TST), Hinault (ALM) and Froome (SKY) are following his attack, but everything behind is also accelerating if he is able to. The race is really heating up now and that should also be the end for the breakaway I think.
9km to go, E1 – 0:27 – E2 – 0:23 – Peloton
The pack is falling into pieces because of the high speed and everybody is trying to get into the group of favourites that is building up. The yellow jersey of Amador (MOV) is already struggling a bit, but we knew that beforehand. Serpa and De Clercq used their last energy probably to get clear of Barguil, Kruijswijk and Mourey, but all of them should not have a chance against fast-approaching Froome, Spilak (KAT), Kwiatkowski (OPQ), Hinault, Sánchez, Roche, Peraud (ALM), Kim (EUC), Kangert (AST), etc. Some good climbers are already done for the day because of bad positioning. Those are f.e. Mollema (BEL), Danielso (GRS), Meyer (OGE) and… you won’t believe it: Contador (TST). That is really bad news for those teams.
6km to go, E1 – 0:25 – E2 – 0:35 – Favourites group – 0:35 – Yellow jersey group
Thanks to the superb AI the break is of course riding faster than the fresh favourites now. That group consists of 9 riders, whom are all strong climbers. We have all the guys that I mentioned earlier in there. The 35-man yellow jersey group behind is fighting to come back with different guys chasing that missed the cut, such as De Gendt (VCD) or Pinot (FDJ). All in all, that climb is rather boring as it lacks big attacks until now. We still wait for the big battle.
4km to go, E1 – 1:10 – Peloton
Nobody in the favourites group was willing to work, so the pack catched those guys again. The breakaway is taking big advantage through that and increases its lead. All five guys have joined up again. Will they compete for the stage win in the end? But at the moment, Kwiatkowski attacks and tries to go solo.
3500m to go, E1 – 0:44 – Kwiatkowski – 0:20 – Froome – 0:10 – Peloton
Froome in his points leader jersey jumped after Kwiatkowski immediately but already has a gap to close. Behind, many riders are struggling, but the breakaway is still doing incredibly well.
2700m to go, E1 – 0:32 – E2 – 0:26 – Peloton
Froome and Kwiatkowski have catched the breakaway, so it is over for those guys now. Froome immediately took to the front and is bringing Kwiatkowski in trouble now by upping the pace as he is still positioned behind the former breakaway riders. Spilak, Hinault and Kangert have made a move away from the peloton, but Kim is laying down a hard pace there, so there is nothing decided yet.
1500m to go
The situation has not really changed despite the fact that now there are riders all over the place. At the front, Froome is still pacing, but somehow Mourey, Serpa and Barguil are able to hang on – and Kwiatkowski of course (yes, thanks to AI, they are holding on after riding 100km on the flat). Then follow Spilak, Kangert and Hinault with some seconds only. Kim then is pulling a group of about 15 guys while the yellow jersey is struggling at the end of the next group that is led by van Garderen.
700m to go
The last part of the climb now is the easiest one with slopes all under 5%. So Froome feels confident to start his sprint early and it looks like this means the stage win for him. The former breakaway riders behind are showing a strong performance: Mourey, Serpa and Barguil will fight with Kwiatkowski for the next places. Behind, Spilak and Kangert have dropped Hinault while Kim is coming close to him with Martin (GRS), Schleck (RLT), Peraud, Sánchez, Peeters (EUC), De la Montagne (COF) and Trofimov (KAT) in that group. So we see many names that have left it late, but this looks as it was not the worst move at all. A bad day for Saxo-Tinkoff though as their new leaders Rogers and Roche are both dropped. Same goes for BMC where van Garderen does not profit from Lewis’ work, but will van Garderen maybe come back for 11th? We will see. The yellow jersey is almost two minutes behind Froome, so maybe we will also see a new GC leader after the stage.
Finish line
Froome is sprinting all the way to the finish and wins the stage after a heavy effort. Most noticeable are Mourey and Serpa taking the other podium places with Kwiatkowski coming in fourth. Still, they have a 9s gap to Froome. Kruijswijk was able to rejoin them on the last part of the climb for sixth (of course, AI, he was not exhausted, no, he even gained time on Froome on the last section. But hey, it was not that steep, so, that looks realistic). With a gap of already 45s Spilak, De Clercq and Kangert come in. 55s behind, Hinault could hold on to a Top10 position.
Finish line
What does that mean for the GC? Amador came in 35th with a gap to Froome of 2:03. So he is still in the yellow jersey, but the gap onto Froome is down to 32s. Kwiatkowski is in third, but has already a gap of 1:55. Then Kim follows only 11s after him. Kangert in fifth only has a small gap onto the next guys as all of the next places are not decided yet because of the tiny gaps here. However, that stage was a big decider for sure.
Great ride from Mourey, really impressive performance. Pinot did ok but that Top5 GC is long long long gone now, not that it was ever remotely possible.
Hinault showing signs of life which is promising. Hopefully he can keep it up over the next few stages
Somehow managed to resist the temptation of a rage post but I do have to pass some comment on the stage...
OK Contador had a bad day but losing 7 MINUTES to Froome on a single climb is just ridiculous. Even more so being outclimbed by Juan Antonio Flecha and Zdenek Stybar, those distinguished and renowned grand tour winners... What can I say?
So our top 5 goal looks... umm... distant unless any of the following options happen:
1) Rogers finds some Sky form and somehow gains a minute over Kangert etc
2) Contador consumes a whole cow within 24 hours
3) The rest of the field spontaneously combust
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
