Stage 8 of the Dauphine is a 133km ride featuring 3 Cat 1 climbs and an HC climb to the finish. So that means there is plenty of chance to gain and lose time in the GC and with places 3rd to 10th pretty closely clustered there could be changes. On top of that there more than enough mountain points to to take that jersey as Phinney leads with just 26 points. Although if the break doesn’t win the stage he has a good shot to take points at the end and hold that jersey as well.
Phinney also leads the stage favorites:
There is a short climb straight from the start and there are quickly 16 attackers with more trying to bridge across.
Phinney and Sicard (in green) have worked their way up front. The peloton hasn’t let the group immediately in front get a gap, maybe because it has Tvetcov (11th) and Henao Montoya (14th)
Aegon and UBS work to close down the second group but the first group now has a 52 second lead.
It contains: Brenes (23rd GC, 12 KOM pts) Anacona (30th) Brambilla (20th) Prado (30th) Rodrigues Brändle (15th at 10’03) Munoz Budyak Walsleben
A lot of strong climbers and Walsleben. Aker-Mot not with the best representative, if it were a cobbled TT they would have the favorite, but it definitely is not.
Evonik chase for a little while and then with 119k to go Tvetcov tries again, with 5 riders on his wheel and more attacking behind. They are 55 seconds behind the front group.
The peloton doesn’t want to let Tvetcov in the break and tracks him down. But they do let a different group of 9 riders get away. And Neilands comes to the front to chase. They new attackers have 34 seconds and the first group another minute.
Liepins takes over from Neilands and keeps them close and on a short ascent with 110k to go Tvetcov goes again. Will the peloton let him go this time?
They don’t want to, UBS and Aegon immediately chasing him, they don’t want a rider just a few spoints ahead in the GC in the break, he has only 13 seconds and he is using a lot of energy.
With 103km to go he is back in the peloton as Aegon make the catch. Meanwhile the 2nd group of 9 has almost caught the first. They need 27 seconds.
The second group includes: Smith (26th, 10 KOM pts) Sosnitskiy Kennaugh (18th, 22 KOM pts) Boily Hatsuyama Laengen (19th) Affonso Paulinho Bouchard
Another strong group of climbers and a 2nd representative for ISA – Hexacta, King Power, Generali, cycleYorkshire and Festina.
96km to go as the two groups come together. Their lead is 3’01. In the peloton Campenaerts is the first rider dropped.
Next is the first climb, the Col de l’Epine, 6.1km at 8.9%.
1.8 km to the top and Smith launches the first attack. The lead over the peloton has maxed out at about 4’30.
1.3 kms to go and a small group from the break, including both ISA-Hexacta riders plus Budyak and Bouchard makes the mistake of being caught behind Walsleben and is dropped.
Up front Brenes and Smith have an 11 second gap on the rest.
But by the top Prado, Kennaugh and Brambilla has bridged across while Smith fades. The break has split up into many pieces.
Kennaugh has the virtual KOM lead. He specializes in the mountain breakaway.
As the peloton reaches the top of the climb the lead is out to 6’55 and Aegon, Azteca and Bennelong are beginning to work. Two climbs plus a summit finish to go.
In the break there is a group of 9 at the front. 53 seconds behind is a group with Brändle, Munoz, Sosnitskiy, and Laengen. Then 28 seconds to the ISA-Hexacta group being paced by Affonso, they have dropped Walsleben who is another 1’07 back.
69km to go and the break has regrouped except for Walsleben who is 1’39 back and seems destined never to rejoin. They are starting the 2nd climb to the Col de Garnier, 10.4km at 8.4%. The lead is down to 4’53.
Aegon and UBS leading the peloton up the climb. Walsleben is almost caught and the lead is 4’01. 117 riders left, nobody important dropped.
2.5km to the top of the for the break and Prado launches the first attack.
Still 1.8 km to the top and Prado’s forcing begins to split the group.
Behind the peloton is down to 89, with 48th placed Madouas the most notable victim.
Inside 1k to the top as Brenes goes to the front, whittling the group down to 9. In most trouble at the back are Munoz, Laengen, and Affonso.
At the top Paulinho uses his punchy skillset to take first.
The full points go to: Paulinho (16 + 6 = 22) Brambilla (12 + 10 = 22) Smith (10 + 10 =22) Hatsuyama (8 + 2 = 10) Brenes (6 + 20 =26) Prado (4 + 16 = 20) Boily (2 + 4 = 6)
The way they are splitting the points is playing into Phinney’s hands for the KOM.
As UBS and Aegon lead the 70-rider peloton across the summit with Carboni, Badilatti, Dekker, and Reichenbach on the front, the lead is back to 5’49.
In the break the 7 riders who took KOM points plus Kennaugh are at the front. 30 seconds back to Brändle, Budyak, and Bouchard. Another 1’07 to Rodrigues then 26 seconds to Anacona, who is having to bridge on his own this time and he isn’t great downhill. Sosnitskiy is another 25 seconds back and then the last 3, another 1’31 back. They have less than 2 minutes on the peloton.
The first 3 chasers have rejoin the front. The now 11-strong break starts the Col de Marcieu, 43km to go in the stage and the race. The climb is 11.1kms at an average of 6.2% with a short downhill at 3k from the top and then some very tough grades to the top.
Rodrigues still 51 seconds behind, then 9 seconds to Anacona. The rest look like they are done and Munoz and Affonso are already back in the peloton which is at 4’14.
7.4km to the top the leading group has just 3’23 on the peloton. Rodrigues and Anacona are 2’38 back, the rest have been caught.
5km to the top for the peloton, which is down to 40 riders, and the lead is under 3 minutes. Aegon still driving the pace. Rodrigues and Anacona have been caught and spat out the back along with Laengen (19th), Bibby (25th) and Foliforov (27th). Laengen’s breakaway adventure going to hurt him rather than help him.
Out of the descent and into the steepest part of the climb, Prado attacks the break.
The peloton has dropped another 9 riders including 21st placed Powless.
Prado only succeeds in tiring himself out and Kennaugh goes to the front.
At the top Bouchard emerges to give us a 3rd different climb winner. Both King Power riders, Budyak and Hatsuyama are dropped.
Phinney will need to win the stage to take the KOM jersey back from Kennaugh (assuming the latter doesn’t score).
Bayly leads the peloton over the summit. There are 31 riders left. The lead has grown back to 5’18 as the break accelerated for the KOM.
The 7 riders who scored in the KOM have 32 seconds over Hatsuyama and Smith with another 40 seconds to the other two.
Daredevil descender Cink makes an appearance in 2nd wheel, Moser helping with the chase. 22km to go for the peloton and they have cut the lead to 4’44. Chaves, 22nd on the GC has been dropped.
When the peloton starts the climb the lead is down to 4’02. The last two never caught back up and are now falling back towards the peloton.
Carboni who has done much of the work for Aegon, is dropped. Cink leading at the moment. Isostar have barely touched the front. The lead is 3’47 and the peloton has 15km to ride.
12 kms to go for the break and Brenes and Brambilla attack.
Zardini brings back Budyak and Brändle. The latter has some work to do to protect his 15th place.
Up front the Smith has been dropped, no stage win for King Power today. The two leaders have 41 seconds on the now 6 chasers and 3’36 on the peloton.
10k for the two leaders, they will be glad to see that. They have 57 seconds on the chasers and now just over 4 minutes on the peloton, as Zardini is fading, and nobody is replacing him.
9.6 km for the peloton and Chiarello gets bored as the gap expands to over 5 minutes. He is 5th on GC they will have to chase.
Hatsuyama has been dropped from the chasing group up front.
Novak goes to the front for Isostar.
Chiarello’s lead grows to 40 seconds and while Isostar seem willing to chase steadily, Sicard is not. Barguil follows him. Phinney started to follow but then decided to let his team work. Smith is in between Sicard and Chiarello.
Phinney’s call is a good one and with 7.7km to go the counter-attack is blunted. Chiarello still has 24 seconds. But all this action has resulted in his teammate, Tvetcov, being dropped from the peloton, along with Brändle.
At the front of the race the two leaders have 28 seconds over the chase group and 3’42 over the peloton.
The 18 riders in the Yellow Jersey group include the top 14 on GC, less Chiarello and Tvetcov, plus Novak and Kozhatayev for Isostar plus Alarcon (16th), Elissonde (46th), Mamykin (75th), and Teuns (52nd)
5.8 km to go and the front 7 are back together.
Their lead is back to 3’56 as the Yellow Jersey group hesitates, but that doesn’t last long and Olivier attacks. He needs to pay back the team for their work.
Olivier drags Sicard and Barguil up to Chiarello. The gap is 47 seconds as Phinney counter-attacks pulling out Alarcon.
Now the race is on, Barguil and Chiarello are dropped and Sicard launches a counter attack. The breakaway’s lead is quickly down to 1’56 over these two. Behind Haig and Eastman have set off in pursuit of Alarcon.
Under 5km to go for Sicard. 1’30 to the leaders. With him is Olivier.
Behind him it looks like this:
Tvetcov is 2’13 behind the A4 group and losing ground on the GC.
They have thrown a punch at Phinney and he has responded, his group rejoins Sicard. They can see the breakaway group. Behind Haig has caught Alarcon.
Eastman and Amador have dropped Quintana who is back with the next group on the road. There is still a lot of mountain left.
The Yellow Jersey group takes a pause allowing Haig and Alarcon to make it a group of 7.
2.5km to climb for the leaders, their lead has stabilized at around 1’20. Boily is dropped.
The slowing has allowed Eastman and Amador to rejoin the Yellow Jersey group. The next group is 1 minute behind with Henao Montoya and Faglum Karlsson. Quintana has been dropped and is another 53 seconds behind, he will have hoped to gain ground today, instead he is at risk of losing it. He is riding with Wirtgen who was always going to lose some ground today.
Paulinho is dropped at the front and Eastman is dropped by the Yellow Jersey group just as he catches on, he needs to finish within 38 seconds of Chiarello to hold 4th, if he loses much more than that he could drop 3 or 4 positions. The Yellow Jersey group is 49 seconds behind the breakaway remnants with just over 2k to go.
Chiarello is the next one dropped, the gap between him and Eastman is 34 seconds. The Brazilian can't afford to lose too much time to the remaining riders in the Yellow Jersey group or he too will drop down the GC.
1.5km to go and the dream is over for the break. 13 riders on the front.
Paulinho hanging in there with: Brenes Brambilla Prado Kennaugh Bouchard Amador Haig Alarcon Phinney Barguil Sicard Olivier
Kennaugh still has a shot at the KOM jersey if he can stay near the front.
Sicard is strong today and is continuing to drive the pace only Phinney able to stay with him. Haig also moving around the tired breakaway riders but the other GC guys are struggling. Brambilla strongest from the break.
Under the 1k banner and Phinney attacks, he is looking finish in style.
500 meters and he has 27 seconds, the grades here are over 13%. Prado has joined the chasing trio.
Further down the mountain Faglum Karlsson has been riding steadily and has almost caught Eastman. The Swede will pass Wirtgen in the GC but needs to limit his losses to Barguil and Olivier. Eastman and Chiarello are still fighting it out for 4th but if they lose too much more they could be fighting for 7th instead.
Phinney is relentless, his lead is 52 seconds as he crosses the line, all that time was gained in the last k, he wins the stage, the GC and the points. We will have to wait and see on the KOM.
Prado is strongest of the rest, in the end only Phinney was able to stop him from another great breakaway win. He get 2nd ahead of Sicard, Brambilla and Haig who all finish at 1’06. No change in the GC podium today. The two breakaway riders make big gains in the GC.
Next group coming to the line. Kennaugh needs to finish 7th to deny Phinney the KOM. He needs to make up some ground quickly.
It is isn’t going to happen, Phinney wins he KOM as well, by 2 points. Amador and Bouchard take 6th and 7th at 2’01 and get gap of 10 seconds on, Barguil, Alarcon, Kennaugh, Brenes and Olivier in 8th through 12th.
Amador started the day just 1 second behind Olivier so he will pass him. But both of them and Barguil, could pass Eastman, Chiarello, Wirtgen and Faglum Karlsson as only 1’21 coverd them all at the start of the day. They will definitely catch Wirtgen as he is well back.
Next home in 13th is Paulinho at 2’39.
Faglum Karlsson takes 14th and loses 3’10 and drops to 9th. Chiarello gets the same time but that is a 59 second loss and he drops behind all 3 of the aforementioned riders.
Boily comes in at 3’29.
Eastman finishes 17th and loses 3’54. That is 6 seconds too many vs the Brazilian and also means he drops behind the same 3, so he drops from 4th to 8th on the last day. Chiarello gets 7th.
A great day for Amador as he repays the team for their work by moving from 9th to 4th. Olivier from 8th to 5th and Barguil from 10th to 6th.
The big losers on the day were Quintana who drops from 12th to 17th, and was by far the weakest of the top GC riders, and Tvetcov who drops from 11th to 20th. Although that may be more a case of him exceeding expectations through 7 stages. Being in the break worked well for some and not others. Brändle loses 9 GC slots while Laengen drops from 19th to 47th on GC as he loses 17 minutes on the stage.
Wirtgen finishes 22nd losing 6’26 and drops to 12th on the GC but easily holds on to the White Jersey. Isostar also take the team jersey by 5’01 from Moser.
Congrats to them and Taylor Phinney on a dominant performance.
Criterium du Dauphine Libere 
