Going into the queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné, Alberto Contador had made it clear that Chris Froome was currently a step above the rest and that it would be hard to win the race overall. Today he turned things around when he dropped the Tour de France champion and moved into a race lead he had never expected to take.

Today’s battle between Alberto Contador and Chris Froome had been forecasted leading up to the hardest stage of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné with two HC climbs on the last 30 kilometers of the stage. And it turned out to be a precise prediction. With 2 kilometers to go, in the wake of many kilometers of hard tempo set by Team Sky, Alberto Contador launched a late attack. The Tinkoff-Saxo captain quickly opened a significant gap and took 20 seconds on Froome on the line.
 
“I didn’t get the stage win today, since we had given the breakaway a big advantage. But I managed to take 20 seconds on Froome and even more time on some of my other rivals, which means that I’ll be in the yellow jersey with just one stage to go. Even more important, I saw that I am getting better every day and that I’m progressing ahead of the Tour. Sky set a hard tempo in the finale but I had great support from my teammates until the last climb, where I was strong enough to make a decisive move on my own”, explains a happy Alberto Contador.

“The truth is that I knew little about the final climb but I was told that the last five kilometers were very hard. I was well escorted by five of my team-mates. At 2km to go, I was close to my limit but I tried my luck with attacking.

"It's an incredible surprise that I managed to take the yellow jersey. This is an incredible race. It has gone beyond my expectations so far but the Dauphiné is not over yet. Tomorrow it's a complicated stage with an uphill finish. Team Sky is very strong.

"Whatever happens, I'm happy with how my legs are getting better and better every day. This is a preparation race. The most important for me is to be at 100% of my capacities on July 5.”
 
The overall lead in Critérium du Dauphiné comes as a surprise to the team. The main ambition before the race was to build race shape ahead of Tour de France, but instead Alberto Contador now has the lead with just one stage left.
 
“After 8 weeks without racing, Alberto’s success so far in Dauphiné of course comes as a bit of a surprise, but at the same time we knew that he was strong and that the team was ready to support him. It’s an important result today due to two things; we are close to a big overall victory and Alberto was confirmed in that he’s on the right way in his preparations ahead of the Tour”, says Philippe Mauduit after the stage.
 
Tomorrow will present the riders with the last stage of Critérium du Dauphiné – yet another hard mountain parcours finishing on Courchevel with two first category climbs in the finale. Tinkoff-Saxo will be ready to defend the lead and secure the overall victory.
 
“Of course we will defend Alberto’s lead. We are very close to a big result. Dauphiné is an important race. It will definitely not be easy, as Team Sky will do their best to take back the jersey. But we are motivated and Alberto is enjoying racing”, concludes Philippe Mauduit.