Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) bounced back from a series of disappointments by winning the queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné following an exciting duel with archrival Romain Bardet (Ag2r). After Bardet had attacked his compatriots several times on the final climb, the FDJ leader won the two-rider sprint. There was almost ceasefire among the GC riders, with Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) beating Chris Froome (Sky) in the sprint for third after the pair had attacked inside the final kilometre.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Thibaut Pinot: I couldn’t leave the race in anonymity

It is now a rule: Thibaut Pinot never leaves a race without some kind of success. After a difficult start, the leader of the FDJ team won Saturday's queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphine after a long breakaway that allowed him to take the mountains jersey.

 

Lacking pace in the prologue of Les Gets, distanced Friday in Vaujany, Pinotwas a little sad, no longer used not to influence the race, but he did not accept to 'leave this race in anonymity.' So after a breakaway with teammate Jérémy Roy, he beat Romain Bardet in a sprint.

 

"Thibaut makes me proud,” said sports director Yvon Madiot. “Physically, he is not as expected. Sometimes it creates pressure. Yesterday he was a little in doubt but the original goal was to leave the Dauphiné with a good feeling. This is an important victory for him and for us.”

 

"Today was complicated,” Pinot said. “I didn’t have the win in mind because I was not on a very big day. I fought not to leave the Critérium du Dauphiné without a result, without certainty. I had to go on the attack because it was not possible to leave the Critérium du Dauphiné in anonymity. Frankly, I thought I was better this week. 

 

”This morning I was a bit stressed in the bus because it was absolutely necessary that I got into the first breakaway. The tactic was to do it with a teammates, and it was again Jérémy Roy who was there. It's my luck because we already knew how to do it. Especially when I won in Porrentruy.

 

”My palmares show that I can take an opportunity when it arises. I have had some lean years but since last year I have won a lot. I love these summit finishes, I train for that and that's why I like cycling.

 

”Ten kilometers from the finish, the peloton got closer so Bardet attacked and it was a good job for his part. I was on my limit but we were all tired. In the first kilometers of the climbs, I have always struggled to find the rhythm. It's a weakness I would like to erase. I have to adapt to the ascent. After his attack, Romain waited for me because I was only 5 seconds behind and we were at the same level but it hurt my legs.

 

”Three kilometers from the finish, he attacked again and it surprised me. I would have worked with him until the final straight. I was on the limit and I was not impressive. I was more tired than him because I had escaped from the start. 

 

 

“I really thought we would work together to the finish. I could get the stage win and he could get the GC. But he decided to attack, he probably wanted to win everything.  But AG2R was impressive. With that kind of attack you can turn a race around and it's beautiful to watch.

 

”When you can win the Criterium du Dauphine, everything must be focused on that and I would have helped if he had not attacked. He wanted to win, it's not the tactic I would have used. It was a great sprint and I'm happy to have played with him for the win in a beautiful stage of the Dauphine. I like the stages where it is hard all day, where you end up completely cooked.

 

“It was not the plan to lose time yesterday. I was thoroughly on my limit. But it was a blessing in disguise to be a little further behind. I believed in myself. For me it was really the day where I had to attack. 

 

”In addition to the win, I take the polka dot jersey but it will be hard to score points tomorrow because now I am high in the GC. It's going to limit me, but either way, the goal is reached. I'll recover because I have sore legs. The polka dot jersey is good to have and I'd like to stay in the Top 10.

 

”This stage win gives me reason for choosing this race. The FDJ team gives me carte blanche to choose my program and I wanted to get back to the Critérium du Dauphiné because I had not had too much luck the two times I had done it. At Vaujany, I thought it was definitely not for me but today I am happy to break the curse. Now the goal is met. I prefer to win than to finish 6th overall because does not make me happy. The polka dot jersey is not to be underestimated but it will be harder to attack tomorrow.

 

“I find it hard to realize what's happening because I only got good feelings at the end. I was struggling all day. Had I been told in the climb to La Madeleine that I was going to win, I wouldn't have believed it. I was feeling average like the previous days so I didn't expect to do well here.

 

”I don't know what happened in the finale. [Hadn't Bardet attacked], we could have done better, especially for Romain on GC but it's good to see two Frenchmen at the front. I'm happy, we've had our revenge after last year at the Tour de France in Mende [when Stephen Cummings overtook the two Frenchmen at the eleventh hour].”

 

"I needed to attack today. I didn't want to be an anonymous rider on the Dauphine because of my bad start. My goal is now accomplished because I won a stage and I'd rather do that than finish seventh overall and come away with nothing else."

 

"Bardet attacked with 10 to go and I had to give it everything to match him. I certainly wasn't bluffing. Then he went again with three kilometres and I had to fight again. This was really a mental victory for me.  Today was a perfect stage for me with the long climbs. I looked at the stage in the road book.

 

"I will try again and go for the stage win. I have the mountains jersey on my shoulders and it will be hard to defend but I'll try and recover for one more day.

 

“Then I will focus on the time trial of the French Championships. The morale is good.”

 

Disappointed Romain Bardet: It was difficult to think both about the stage and the GC

The team was great,” Romain Bardet said. “These are beautiful moments. We had three riders in the breakaway and I attacked 1km from top of the Col de la Madeleine. I had the desire to turn this Dauphiné around. On the final climb, I though both about the overall and the stage win and that was hard to do. We rode fast. Thibault Pinot had no reason to work as he wanted the stage win. I had to do the job on the final climb which complicated the task.   The sensations are improving day by day. The day is positive. It is in this way that I take pleasure on the bike, by attacking. I will have my revenge.

 

"It was exceptional. Two years ago we did the same in the Dauphine with Jean-Christophe Peraud and Alexis Gougeard and today it was with Ben, Mickaël and Jan. It was incredible. They gave it all from me and I tried to give my best on the last climb."

 

"There was no tactic. I've not won yet this year but I wanted to take a win here, especially at the Dauphine, but when you have the win in mind it's hard to think about the overall. I didn't have a choice and that's maybe why I don't have the win or the GC.

 

"That was normal from Pinot. He was far down on the overall classification so he didn't have to do the same work at the head of the race. I had the race on my shoulders and I tried to do my best but it wasn't enough to win or take the yellow jersey.

 

"I was aiming for the stage. I admit that I did not ride very well the final. It's always difficult when you think about both the stage and the GC. It is a rather delicate position.

 

"The team did an incredible job, fantastic. I would have liked to win for them. In the end I lost time because I wanted to win the stage. I am really very disappointed.”

 

"From the moment the break was formed, it worked well The guys really did a great job to the bottom of the climb,” insisted sports director Julien Jurdie.

 

" We were trying to make it a bit hard when Romain attacked. That was a little unexpected,”  Mikael Chérel told L’Equipe. 

 

"Romain had great feelings, he wanted to attack from the distance , added Julien Jurdie. “We tried to hold him back a little. But his temperament was different and he went as he is used to.  Romain has perhaps made ​​a little mistake. He attacked with 3km to go, something we had not requested. And he paid for that because from there, Thibaut didn’t work and it was quite logical. We had asked him to attack at 1300 meters to go on the hardest percentages.  To attack so early is the mistake that was made ​​today. "

 

"With a great rider like Pinot glued to the wheel, it becomes difficult," noted Jan Bakelants.

 

Dan Martin: I am ready to fight for the podium

With one day to go, the 29-year-old is just nine seconds off the podium. Stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphiné took the peloton from La Rochette and Méribel, over 141 kilometers, and it was nervous and action-packed, even more than the previous one, as everything was still open in the general classification, six riders being inside of less than one minute. Among them, Daniel Martin (4th) and Julian Alaphilippe (5th), who was also leading the white jersey rankings on the day he turned 24.

 

Inside the final kilometer of the stage, just as Thibaut Pinot was outsprinting Romain Bardet to take the win, Dan Martin surged ahead from the reduced yellow jersey group and only Chris Froome had a reaction, following the Etixx – Quick-Step rider, who finished third and grabbed four bonus seconds, which leave him in contention for a podium finish in the 68th edition of the Dauphiné, a feat no other Irish rider achieved in the French race. Just a few seconds behind, teammate Julian Alaphilippe rolled over the line in 9th place and made sure of keeping the white jersey.

 

"The day was very hard, and became even more difficult once Contador went full gas on La Madeleine. Not many were left in the peloton after cresting the top, but luckily we had Tony [Martin] in the valley, who gave us a hand behind the escapees. Sky's tempo was hard on Méribel, so I just waited for the right moment to attack. It was the right decision to go inside the last kilometer, as I got a gap on Contador and the others and gained a few seconds. It's a pity that Barded jumped in the top 3 overall, but I'm ready to fight on Sunday, when I'll start with confidence what should be another aggressive stage. We will see what the day will bring", said Dan Martin, who is lying in fourth position, just nine seconds off the podium.

 

Chris Froome: We were definitely under pressure

Chris Froome extended his race lead at the Criterium du Dauphine with a rousing late attack on the queen stage.

 

The Brit accelerated hard inside the flamme rouge on the steep run into Meribel, distancing his key rivals to open out his advantage in the yellow and blue jersey to 21 seconds with one stage to go.

 

Froome crossed the line fourth after Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) fought it out as the only two survivors from a multitude of breakaway riders. Pinot edged out his compatriot who, at just a minute and 34 back, had become a danger man in the closing stages.

 

Bardet now sits in joint second place with Richie Porte (BMC Racing), who Froome was able to distance along with Alberto Contador in the final metres.

 

"I'm super happy with that, it was such a hard day out there," Froome told TeamSky.com after the stage. "The team were absolutely incredible today - they rode from start to finish. Each and every one of my team-mates emptied themselves. It was really touch and go whether we were going to hold onto the jersey or not and I can say with confidence that there's no way that I'd still be in yellow this evening if they hadn't ridden the way they did.

 

"Dan Martin kicked in the last kilometre to try and go for third place and I followed the best I could. I was quite surprised to get a gap to some of my main rivals Alberto and Richie. I'm definitely glad to have a few extra seconds heading into the final stage tomorrow."

 

Team Sky were equal to the task and put in an marvellously composed performance on a day that saw them placed under pressure from the stage's halfway point onwards.

 

Contador (Tinkoff) hit out with a long-range move on the Col de la Madeleine, dragging Fabio Aru (Astana) and a group of riders away, building up a gap of 30 seconds.

 

Team Sky didn't panic and, with six riders on the front in support of Froome, they set about pegging the dangerous move, eventually reeling in the Spaniard before a reduced peloton crested the hors-categorie summit.

 

Wout Poels, Mikel Landa, Sergio Henao and Froome rode together over the Montee des Frasses, and then upped the tempo to thin out the bunch and neutralise the threat of Bardet up the road.

 

Froome did the rest, jumping on an acceleration from Dan Martin (Etixx - Quick-Step) to finish 1:07 back on Pinot, but more importantly padding out his advantage ahead of the final stage.

 

“I've been put under pressure but the guys were super controlled,” he added. “I really owe it all to my team-mates today, each of everyone of them emptied themselves for me to keep this jersey.

 

“The pressure started when Alberto [Contador] attacked on the Madeleine. We had to pull him back otherwise we'd be in trouble. And then even in the finale with [Romain] Bardet up front. At one stage he was going to get the yellow so my guys had to get that gap down.

 

”Then Dan Martin went to the line for third place. I just did everything I could to try and follow him. I was surprised to see there was a bit of a gap to Richie and Alberto. I definitely needed those extra seconds ahead of tomorrow.

 

”It would be amazing to win the Dauphiné for the third time tomorrow, especially in the build up to the Tour de France. But I don't take anything for granted. If tomorrow is anything like today, it's gonna be a really tough stage tomorrow again.

 

"It wasn't a surprise for me [that Contador attacked]. We discussed it as a team in the morning and we thought chances are, he's most probably going to attack on the Madeleine, being the longest climb of the day. It's not something new for Alberto to try a long attack like this - something to surprise everyone - so we were ready for it and I think my teammates responded extremely well to it from the beginning of the stage right until the end of the stage. I had my teammates with me and the only reason I'm still in yellow is because of the hard work they did. I'm extremely grateful for that.

 

"There was a bit of confusion on the road with the time gaps. One stage I think it was just under two minutes and then 5kms later we were told it was just over three minutes so there was a bit of confusion on the road. There was definitely concern. It seemed at one point we wouldn't bring the time gaps down to be able to catch Bardet and he was obviously the big GC threat in front and with three minutes coming into the last climb, we had a lot of work to do to reduce that time advantage. I can only thank my teammates: Mikel Landa, Sergio Henao, they did a great a job in the final but all my teammates did a fantastic job today."

 

"I still believe I can get better before the Tour. I feel as I'm still following a progression towards being ready for July. I still don't feel 100 per cent yet. I hope I can get better.

 

"You can't put a number on it. I just don't feel as if I'm at my best yet."

 

Strong Louis Meintjes beats Contador in Dauphiné queen stage.

Lampre-Merida's African duo Grmay-Meintjes delivered a very interesting performance.

 

Once again, Tsgabu Grmay was one of the riders who attacked in the early kilometers: the Ethiopian champion escaped from the bunch after 12km.

 

Grmay was 5th at the summit of the Col de la Madeleine, but he was dropped on the penultimate climb.

 

Meintjes was in the GC group. The South African rider set a regular pace which allowed him to be constantly with the top climbers and he had enough energy to react to the attack from Daniel Martin in the last kilometer: Froome followed Martin and a few meters behind Meintjes was with Contador. He overtook the Spanish rider, obtaining the 5th place at 1'15".

 

Meintjes is 9th in the generall classification at 1'35".

 

Alberto Contador: Froome was on the limit and I saw good things today

On a day where Alberto Contador showed he had the legs to attack on the Madeleine, he finished the day taking sixth today before the test of tomorrow’s final stage.

 

The pace in the first attack was so hard it fell apart shortly after going up the road – setting the tone for the day ahead of the riders – before a group of twenty-four escaped – a group that featured Robert Kiserlovski and Roman Kreuziger.

As the peloton hit the bottom of the day’s biggest climb, the Col de la Madeleine, Alberto Contador went on the attack, taking a small group with him that included Jesper Hansen, quickly gaining twenty-five seconds on the yellow jersey. While this attack was caught shortly before the summit, it was clear that the Tinkoff leader was confident in his abilities on the race’s hardest day. A kilometre from the summit, Contador attacked again, and while this attack was also caught, the Spanish rider was taking the race to his rivals.

 

While Contador had two teammates further up the road in the break, the gap was ultimately too big to bridge across, as Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, explained from the finish.

 

“We wanted to make it a hard day, so we succeeded there. We wanted people in the break to put pressure on, then Alberto went on the attack on the Madeleine too. In the later stages though, he decided to stay in the bunch, as the gap on the break was too big to bridge to and the bunch wasn’t catching it quickly enough.”

 

While the Tinkoff leader had lost time on the GC, the race was an essential part of preparations for the Tour, De Jongh explained.

 

“Alberto wasn’t able to follow in the end. After all the work he put in on the Madeleine, he just ran out of legs, but we’re happy with performance of the team – it was another good day of racing and shows our preparation for the Tour is going in the right direction.”

 

The Dauphiné’s final stage is in no way a procession to the finish – the race will be on until the final kilometre. The 151km route from Le Pont-de-Claix to Superdévoluy takes in six categorised climbs. While the parcours is more gentle than today’s tough Queen Stage, the positioning of these climbs has the potential to have far more impact on the outcome of the day – and the race. Starting with two climbs, riders will see who has the legs to take control at the end of the day, while the first category Col du Noyer may be the perfect place to launch an attack, with only the third category ascent into Superdévoluy to come after.

 

Ahead of the final day, the race was far from over, said De Jongh.

 

“We’ll be racing until the very end. The team put a lot of pressure on Sky and the other GC riders today, and it should be another day like this tomorrow – it will be an interesting day. If someone has good legs there’s a good chance of an attack on the final climb before the finish. It suits attacks on the GC for sure.”

 

"It was good because we climbed a lot today and I needed that for my body," Contador told Cyclingnews and Biciciclismo. "You know, I'm going okay but I continue to need that extra speed in my legs and I'll get that after the Dauphine with a bit more training.

 

"On the Madeleine I just wanted to put some pressure on other teams and the feelings that I got were good. Day by day I'm getting better and I have confidence because in the other years when I'm here and finishing high up I go well in the Tour. I still think I'm going to have a good Tour de France.

 

"I needed to attack Team Sky. They have a strong team. Okay I was at my limit there at the top and they saved the day in the final but everyone has a bad day now and then, and if you don't try then you never know. Look at today, Richie had a bad day. Okay he was there until the last moment but with each day is harder and now I'll just recover.

 

"Tomorrow I'll give it the maximum and if I see a good moment then I will try. Froome had a hard day. We put him at the limit. I saw good things today."

 

Adam Yates: Hopefully I can attack in the final stage

Adam Yates fought well amongst the race favourites again on today’s Queen Stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, producing another top ten finish for ORICA-GreenEDGE with only one more day to go.

 

The mountainous parcours made life difficult for the whole field as the race split early on. 23-year old Yates displayed intelligence and maturity yet again as he stuck near race leader Christopher Froome (Team-Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff).

 

Eventually crossing the line in eighth place with the lead group and moving to 7th on the general classification going into tomorrow’s final stage with a chance of winning the races best young riders jersey.

 

Daryl Impey worked hard for the team in the breakaway, part of a group of riders that went clear on the first climb and staying out front for over 100kilometres.

 

Sport director Laurenzo Lapage was happy with how the day went for ORICA-GreenEDGE and praised the efforts of the team.

 

“I’m very content with the how we performed today,” said Lapage. “It was a very tough stage filled with tension due to the attacks on the Col de la Madeleine.

 

”The whole team rode very well, Daryl (Impey) put in a big shift with his efforts in the breakaway and the performance of Adam (Yates) in the finale speaks for itself.”

 

“Adam had good legs again today,” explained Lapage. “The pace on the final climb was very high but it didn’t phase him and he was up there with the favourites until the bitter end.

 

”It all comes down to tomorrow now, we have a very good opportunity to finish in the top ten and maybe the young riders jersey. I have a lot of confidence in the guys so we will see.”

 

“Today we did, what, it says there 4400m climbing in 145km, so that’s 2000m more climbing than yesterday and a similar distance. It was much tougher out there,” Yates told CyclingWeekly.

 

“I never feel as good on them [long climbs]. Like yesterday, you’re six kilometres from the finish line and you do the first couple of kilometres and you’re near the top, so you’re not thinking about it. Whereas today, you do six kilometres and you’ve got another six kilometres to go.

 

“With the way the stage went, with Contador attacking all the time, it was real tough and the last climb I had nothing to really offer. I was just on the wheel trying to hold on to the finish.

 

“If you feel good you can do something but the past few days I’ve just been following. Hopefully, I feel better tomorrow and I can actually attack and try and gain some seconds back.

 

“Tomorrow [Sunday] is a little bit more suited to me, a bit more like yesterday, shorter, so we’ll give it a go.”

Fabio Aru: I enjoyed attacking in these beautiful mountains

“I’m following a precise training program to be as prepared as possible for the Tour de France,” said Fabio Aru after finishing today’s stage.

 

“I’ve tried to attack far from the finish line while climbing the Col de La Madeleine: firstly together with Contador and Rodriguez, later with my team mate Luis Leon Sanchez.

 

“When we joined the breakaway we did some kilometers very regularly and the gap to the Leader’s group was increasing. Then they understood they could get the leadership on the GC with Bardet and the AG2R guys set a high speed on the Montée de Frasses climb and, in reason of the fact that I’m still working on my racing rythm, I missed something to stay on their wheels.

 

“I have to say it is ok so I did another important step in my training and I have also enjoyed attacking on these beautiful mountains.”

 

Richie Porte: I paid a little for my lack of racing

The queen stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné was every bit as thrilling as expected, with a showdown between the General Classification contenders playing out. Richie Porte spent the day in the Yellow Jersey group which, as the riders approached the final climb, was down to ten riders.

 

Porte held on to Yellow Jersey-holder Chris Froome’s wheel until the final 500 meters when Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) attacked and Froome followed. Porte crossed the line in tenth place and remains in second place on the General Classification.

 

Porte said:

 

“I was missing a bit at the end but it was just such a hard day. I haven’t done a lot of racing lately and I think I paid for that today. With all of the guys attacking so far out, it was just a hectic stage which is what I think you’re going to get with a short and sharp stage like this one.

 

”The guys were fantastic around me. It’s a credit to Ben Hermans to come back from the breakaway to help and all of the guys today were really good all day and stuck around me.

 

“It’s no surprise that everyone was going to go for it on the final climb. It’s good to get this one out of the way. Now we just have to finish it off tomorrow.

 

"Contador was incredible today. To attack at the bottom of the Hors Cat, he's obviously recovered from yesterday but I think they're all going to pay for it tomorrow because it's another hard stage.

 

"It was more the legs. It was no surprise that they're always going to go for it in the finish and I was struggling a bit. It was such a hard day. There was never an easy moment and it's good to get that one done.

 

"Froome can still have a bad day too, but as a unit they were incredible today, people were throwing everything at them and I think those guys are going to pay for it tomorrow because today was a hard day."

 

Sports director Valerio Piva added:

 

“Of course the objective for today was to try to win, and try not to lose any time with Richie. In the end we did a good race. We’re still there in second place on GC. We lost a little bit of time as Richie was in a little bit of difficulty in the final 500 meters.

 

”Bardet attacked and caught up some time, so we put Amael Moinard on the front to work control the gap and try and bring them he and Pinot back. We had Ben Hermans in the breakaway and he came back to help Richie when Damiano Caruso was dropped, so Richie had someone around him all day.

 

”He’s still there and he’s still in the position to get a good result. We’re at the top level and it comes down to a matter of seconds. Tomorrow we will see.”

 

George Bennett takes massive step with big ride in Dauphiné queen stage

George Bennett finished 11th in the penultimate stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s climber was part of an early breakaway of 25 riders, survived as one of the last riders in front and surcummed only with 1.5 kilometre to go. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) won the stage.

 

 “The first climb was immediately a very hard one and a strong group of riders broke away,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “25 riders were part of it, with George Bennett among them. They never got much space, because Team Sky set a high pace in the peloton. They went full gas in the break and in the peloton, as well. George was one of the best riders in the breakaway on the Col de la Madeleine. It became a knockout fight in the break and George fought well. It’s a pity that he got caught by the main group just before the finish, but this is a beautiful 11th place and he moves up to 15th in the general classification, as well.”

 

Bennett approached his performance in the sixth stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné as a new step in his development.

 

“I improved a lot during the last six, seven months and today, I was able to take a great step ahead,” the rider from New Zealand said. “I rode a very bad prologue last weekend and we’re still working hard to find out why that happened.

 

“Yesterday was a very hard day, as well and today, we had to deliver again immediately. I felt strong and on a first climb like this, it’s not a lottery to become part of the break. You have to be strong enough, and I was today.”

 

On Sunday, the Criterium du Dauphiné closes with another tough mountain stage.

 

“It would be perfect if I was able to improve my 15th place in the general classification tomorrow, but I need some luck to do that,” Bennett added. “I have to see how my legs go.”

 

Joaquim Rodriguez loses time, Jurgen Van den Broeck shows signs of imporvement

A second day in the high mountains provided plenty of racing action on Saturday’s stage 6 in the queen stage of climbing at the 68th Critérium du Dauphiné. Team KATUSHA’s Jurgen Van den Broeck put himself in a solid breakaway to try for the win, but two Frenchmen ended up fighting for the stage with Thibaut Pinot able to best fellow countryman Romain Bardet. The 141 km stage began in La Rochette and ended uphill in Méribel.

 

“It was very difficult in the beginning. I felt like I had bad legs, although they felt better later on. In the finale my legs felt the consequences of pushing a big gear. However It is a good sign that I am getting better as the days go by. I managed to stay in front among the others until near the end, so it was not so bad,” explained Jurgen Van den Broeck.

 

“I’m very happy with what I saw from Van den Broeck today.  He was there until 3 km to go. Regarding Purito (Rodriguez), he tried to go on the Madeleine in a counterattack with Alberto Contador and Fabio Aru. They were hoping to come back to the group with Van den Broeck and Pinot. Afterwards on the final climb of the Méribel he paid for his effort as the race never slowed down again. He was calm at this point as he looks forward to the Tour de France. We are still optimistic – this type of situation can lead to an opportunity to attack tomorrow,” said sports director José Azevedo.

 

“In thinking about my bad legs at the beginning, I have to say it feels this way maybe as I’m getting older? No, in my career I’ve always had this, plus when I’ve served as a leader I was used to saving my legs, not jumping away from the start. I went deep today but this will make me stronger. During the stage I did not really dream of a stage win. Honestly I expected Froome to come back much earlier, but apparently it was also hard to control from the back,” concluded Van den Broeck.

 

Stef Clement reaches another level of pain to earn Tour de France selection

"Respect."

 

It was the first word that came out of IAM sports director Lionel Marie’s mouth.

 

“I saw our riders go to the very ends of themselves,” the directeur sportif explained. “The vast majority of them are working for future goals because they have been delayed in their preparation. I have a unique opportunity to get to know these guys. Each rider, at his personal level, has done his share of the work. Jérôme Coppel and Stef Clement maintained their pace to the finish. Those two have pushed themselves to their absolute limits. And then on another level, Sondre Holst Enger has learned to manage his efforts in the grupetto. Finally, Clément Chevrier was not satisfied with his day. That’s a healthy reaction. Overall, this sixth stage has come to a satisfactory close because everyone has given his maximum.”

 

“It was one of my best days at the Dauphiné,” Coppel who comes from the Savoy region, explained. “I managed to get to the top of the Col de la Madeleine with the yellow jersey group. I am still missing a little of the condition needed to go even better. I was distanced with about ten kilometers to the finish. But if I can continue on this way, it is a good sign for the future. I am racing here at the Dauphiné primarily to find the rhythm of the competition, the right pedal stroke in the mountains. Throughout the day, the feelings were coming back. I am enjoying it.”

 

“Today, I experienced a new level of pain,” Clement confessed. “Alberto Contador attacked at the foot of the Col de la Madeleine. This acceleration led the Sky team to ride hard. At that time, I was already at my limit. I could not go faster. To sum it up, I was basically time trialing to the finish. However, I must get through this level of suffering in order to progress in my preparation. My objective is to be selected for the Tour de France. I have to earn my place. This Saturday, the goal was clear: keep fighting until I crossed the line. This is a race after all.”

 

Aleksejs Saramotins who was recovering from a respiratory infection that he contracted at the Tour of Belgium, left the French race on Saturday. By mutual agreement with the sports management and the team doctors, Saramotins will leave to recover in view of upcoming goals.

 

Emanuel Buchmann loses ground in Dauphiné queen satge

Bora-Argon 18 had Cesare Benedetti and Patrick Konrad in the break. On Madeleine, they set their own pace to be able to help Emanuel Buchmann if necessary.

 

On the descent, Buchman and Benedetti rejoined the peloton after having been dropped. The Italian rode a fabulous race today. After jumping into the early group he still managed to support Buchmann until the final climb of the day.

 

Buchmann was able to stay with the best until the last 10 kilometres. Then he had not got the strength to resist to the attacks. Like yesterday he went at his own rhythm. He finished the stage in 21st place and climbed up one spot in the GC to 18th.

 

“This was a real queen stage today. Because of the early attack from Contador, the race was brutal from the Madeleine. I was dropped on the top of the climb, but could come back on the descent. Benedetti did a great job to also get back again and helped me a lot until the final climb. In the last 10k I just could not follow anymore, I went at my own speed. But I am also today happy with my performance and I know I am still not in my top shape at the moment,” Emanuel Buchmann said.

 

Movistar aggressive in Dauphiné queen stage

The Movistar Team featured in all main attacks in the early part of the race. Marc Soler tested his legs in a 25-man attack through Champ-Laurent (Cat-1), quickly caught by Tinkoff. The Russian squad's subsequent attack with Contador on the Col de la Madeleine (HC) was joined by Aru (AST) and Dayer Quintana, caught near the top of the climb.

 

Jesús Herrada (23rd overall, 6’43” down) was the last of the telephone squad's members to lose contact with a selected group led by SKY on the Méribel finishing climb, where Froome saved his yellow jersey before tomorrow's Superdévoluy decider. Pinot (FDJ) won the stage as Bardet (ALM) held the virtual lead for a breathtaking final hour after a superb Madeleine descent.

 

Daniel Teklehaimanot loses mountains jersey at the Dauphiné

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka began the day with the hope of defending Daniel Teklehaimanot’s polka dot jersey. With these intentions in mind, the stage began with Teklahaimanot attacking from the gun.

 

Numerous other riders were keen on getting involved as well with eventually, a large group of 25 riders forming on the first category 1 climb of the day. Teklehaimanot was in the move along with teammate Serge Pauwels. Teklehaimanot took maximum points over the first climb of the day and then the Eritrean also crossed the summit of the category 2 Col du Grand Cherion next, in 1st position. This took Teklehaimanot’s points tally up to 37.

 

The next climb of the day was the 17km Col de la Madeleine and this is where things would really start to shake up. Attacks started to fly from the peloton, which was just over 2’00” down on the leaders at the start of the Madeleine. This meant the tempo in the break had to increase as well and Teklehaimaont was put into difficulty and subsequently dropped. Pinot went over the Madeleine first and picked up a handy 15 points with still 2 category 1 climbs to go.

 

Serge Pauwels was riding well in the front group and on the descent, the Belgian even managed to pull away from the rest of the leaders to lead the race solo just briefly.

 

Pauwels lost contact on the peultimate climb of the stage as Pinot crested in 1st place with Bardet in tow. Along with the stage win, Pinot also picked up another 10 mountain points to put him on 37 points, equal to Teklehaimanot but with the Frenchman taking over the jersey.

 

On the stage placings, Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka did not feature despite Pauwels and Teklehaimanot’s efforts in the break. Edvald Boasson Hagen did retain the Green points jersey though with just one more tough stage coming up tomorrow. As there are 6 categorised climbs to contend with during the final stage, the Polka Dot jersey competition will go down to the wire.

 

“Daniel and I got into the big breakaway which was a good situation for us because Daniel could try to get as many points as possible in the early climbs. He was first on two occasions and then on the Madeleine the race exploded and I tried to get away on the descent with a couple of guys. Unfortunately we didn’t get much of an advantage on the other guys in the break. Today was a really tough day which was great for the condition building toward the Tour de France, so I am happy with the day,” Serge Pauwels said.

 

Tough Dauphiné queen stage for Giant-Alpecin

With Team Giant-Alpecin sending a sprint oriented squad to the Critérium du Dauphiné, today was always going to be a challenging day for the riders. Roy Curvers was first across the line in 75th, followed by Koen de Kort, in 79th. The rest of the riders finished all on time.