MOUNTAINS FEATURED IN FINAL STAGES
On the first of two mountain stages, 2008 Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez took the winin a two-up sprint on the penultimate day at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Sanchez attacked on the second-to-last climb with Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) on the wheel. Sanchez, known for his stellar descending skills, pulled out 20 seconds on the alpine downhill as the duo worked hard to keep their advantage. Sanchez gave the appearance of struggling in the closing kilometers, which caused Fuglsang to attempt an attack at 2.2km but the Spanish champion actually had plenty of gas left in the tank and coming into the final corners inside the barriers, took the preferred line and easily beat the Danish rider with plenty of time to celebrate.
Team director Alain Gallopin checked in with racing action: “We had Tony and Laurent in the day long break of 22 riders. Sky let them go. It gave me hope, especially as Tony was really feeling good with super legs. At 40km from the finish they still had five minutes so it looked good, but then suddenly in the group no one wanted to work anymore. So strange.”
Stage 7 at 187.5km began in Le Pont-de-Claix and ended on Superdévoluy. The break with Tony and Laurent went clear before the climb of l’Alpe d’Huez and built a gap of more than five minutes. But without full cooperation of most in the group, attacks followed and many riders were re-absorbed into the peloton for the final climbs with Sanchez’ move the one that brought the victory to the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider.
Gallopin continued: “Also strange – Haimar was in the group of favorites but flatted 5km from the finish. He had to wait for one minute, thirty seconds before we could get there with the car to change it. Why is there a neutral service car in the race when they don’t help the riders in the front?” Haimar lost more than two minutes on the stage.
Froome stayed comfortably in the race lead, holding 51-seconds to teammate Richie Porte. Joining them on the podium is Australian Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff) who benefitted from the hard work of super domestique Alberto Contador on the final climb.
Ben Hermans had to abandon on his birthday. It was bad luck for Ben having a crash again. His hand was injured and it was impossible for him to continue.
The 2013 Critérium du Dauphiné comes to a close on Sunday in a final mountain stage. At 155.5km, the stage begins in Sisteron and ends in Risoul. The last climb is not particularly hard and shouldn’t pose any serious problems for race leader Froome.