Going into today's queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné, Haimar Zubeldia was sitting in 7th overall but the Basque lost time and dropped to 13th. With his big goal of the Tour de France coming up in a few weeks, however, he was unfazed by the result.

Stage seven lived up to its expectations as the queen stage. With two hors catégorie climbs packed into the final 30 kilometers, and the top three GC separated by seconds, it was the pivotal moment for the eight-day race.

Trek Factory Racing, for the first time in the past three days missed out on the breakaway revelry, and did not join the merrymaking at the front; instead, it became a day of survival for four of the team’s five riders. For Haimar Zubeldia, it was a stage to muster his best effort possible. In the end he finished in 21st place and dropped to 13thoverall (+3’41”).

“The GC from 7th to 15th was close going into today," he said. "The last climb was very hard. It was steep in the middle and I suffered in this moment. After, I went my own tempo.

"But I am happy because I went like I expected. Yes I lost my 7th overall, but it showed me that I am in good progression for the Tour [de France] and that is my biggest goal. I am the strongest climber here for the team, but my role is different in the Tour [de France]. I am good in three-week races, I am always steady, and better in the last week. But it’s still a month away so I need to go slowly, recover, do some work – but today showed me that I will be ready.”

The breakaway that formed during the 160-kilometer stage seven at the Critérium du Dauphiné originated as five riders in the early going, and after 53 kilometers were pedaled, it swelled to 14.  With nine riders joining the leading party the day developed into two races: the 14-man breakaway battled for the prized stage win, while behind the festivities erupted to determine the overall victor.

On the final Montée de Finhaut-Émosson (10.2kms at 8%) both battles ended with equally ‘edge-of -seat’ thrills.  After finishing a frustrating second from the breakaway yesterday, Lieuwe Westra (Astana) put in an exhillarting come-from-behind effort and stole the win from what appeared to be an assured 1-2 Katusha finish.

In the GC battle everything seemed under Sky control. Until Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) cracked their armor with a blistering attack that Chris Froome did not, or could not, respond to.  Under the flamme rouge Froome finally set off in pursuit, but it was too late: At the line Contador had enough time to claim the leader’s jersey; Froome, for the first time in the race, was in debt by eight seconds.

Everything is set for a similar exciting day tomorrow. The eighth and final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné will be a scrap to the bitter end with a category one climb to the ski resort of Courchevel to end it all.

Haimar Zubeldia will try and better his result of today. He still has an outside chance to sneak into the top 10 GC.

“Tomorrow again it will be a nice race," he said. "The last climb is not as hard as today, but the Sky team will for sure do something.  For me it’s the last day and I know theCourchevel climb well. I hope to go better than today. I will do my best.”