Due to a knee injury, Leopold König has only done limited racing in the first part of the season but he is now back in action and gearing up for his leadership role at the Tour de France. Today he continued his steady progress by taking 16th in the first mountain stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné.

The second stage of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné, covering 156 kilometers, came down to a mountain top finish on the Col du Béal. Yesterday’s winner, Chris Froome (Sky), managed to win today’s stage as well. Once again, he relegated Alberto Contador (Tinkoff – Saxo) to second place. Wilco Keldermann (Belkin) took third place on the podium.

Team NetApp – Endura’s Leopold König crossed the finish line in 16th place, moving up into 13th place overall. Froome remains at the top of the general classification.

“The stage came off just as we had imagined. The plan called for the entire team to save energy and to work for Leo. On the final climb, the team supported Leo very well, and going up the mountain they put him in good position. Leo was feeling well, but unfortunately at the end he just couldn’t keep up with the best riders. Of course, we were hoping for a better result, but considering the events of the past months we’re totally satisfied with his development. We’ll take it from day to day and we’ll also look for opportunities to improve in terms of the results,” says Enrico Poitschke, Sport Director for Team NetApp – Endura, summing things up.

The first breakaway rider of the day took off right after the starting flag. A few kilometers later, a quartet joined him, and together the five riders set the tone for the stage until the final climb. The peloton, under the control of Team Sky, never let them build up a lead of more than four minutes. Going into the final 13-kilometer climb, the lead had been reduced to two minutes, and then, with just seven kilometers to go to the finish, the last breakaway rider was caught.

Launching attacks from the group of climbing specialists, the favorites gained some ground during the final part of the race. A small group of six riders distanced themselves from the chase riders, which included Leo König. The eventual winner of the day managed to increase his speed with attacks during the final kilometer, thereby distancing himself even more and securing the win without any threat from the others.

The third stage will be the longest section of this year’s Dauphiné. It will cover 194 kilometers from Ambert to Le Teil. The course profile is hilly for the first two-thirds of the race before flattening out during the last 40 kilometers to the finish.

“Tomorrow will be a very long day. Also, in the meantime, there are big gaps in terms of the general classification, and there’s a chance that a group will manage to hold on all the way to the final part of the stage. We’re keeping a lot of options open because we also have three fast riders in our ranks who can step in during a sprint," says Poitschke, looking ahead to tomorrow.