Chris Froome (Sky) continued his recent dominance of the Criterium du Dauphiné by taking a magnificent victory in the first big mountain stage of the race. After a second attack, he made race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) crack and only former teammate Richie Porte (BMC) could follow the Brit. Froome beat his rival in a 2-rider sprint to move into the overall lead on the eve of the queen stage.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Chris Froome: Contador always comes back stronger after an off-day

Chris Froome launched a stinging attack to take victory on stage five and move into the overall lead at the Criterium du Dauphine.

 

The Brit benefited from another attacking performance from Team Sky, before accelerating hard on the final climb to Vaujany with 2.5 kilometres to go.

 

With just friend and former teammate Richie Porte remaining on his wheel, Froome dug deep in the final metres to edge clear by one second, taking a superb victory and with it the yellow and blue leader's jersey.

 

Continuing the offensive tactics that have characterised the team's Dauphine thus far, Wout Poels twice put himself up the road early, before Mikel Landa ensured the peloton blew apart late on with a powerful move.

 

Leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) became isolated as his team-mates looked to haul back the Basque star, placing an elite front group on the limit. Froome weathered the storm of a stinging Dan Martin (Etixx - Quick-Step) attack, before launching his own move with 2.5km to race.

 

Only Porte (BMC Racing) and Contador could follow, with the Spaniard eventually slipping back, finishing 21 seconds down to relinquish his jersey. Froome now leads the race by seven seconds heading into the weekend's final pair of stages.

 

The 140km test featured a rapid-fire sequence of categorised climbs, with Team Sky supporting Froome throughout the day. Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe and Salvatore Puccio drilled it on the lead-in to the final climb, with Sergio Henao also following moves on the steeper slopes.

 

After the stage Froome was quick to pay tribute to the efforts of his teammates, telling TeamSky.com: "It's an amazing feeling to be able to finish it off today for the guys after they rode their hearts out all stage like that. The guys rode a really aggressive race to put Tinkoff under pressure and then in the final they lit it up into the final climb which worked out perfectly.

 

"It wasn't a really long climb at 4km but it was steep. I thought 'I'm going to give this a nudge here and see what the response is'. I heard on the radio pretty quickly that Alberto was distanced. I had my old teammate Richie for company so the two of us worked worked well. It was in both of our interests to work together and get as much time as we could on the stage.

 

“It's an amazing feeling. It's always good to win a race before the Tour de France. The team rode very well day to take me to the final climb in the best position. They set it up perfectly for me. Richie [Porte] was able to follow me.

 

“I didn't expect to gain time on Alberto Contador on such a short climb but I know from past experiences that he never gives up. We'll see what he's got tomorrow. There's still a hard stage to come tomorrow so I haven't won the Dauphiné yet.

 

"Maybe I was in difficulty there on the climb early on. Who knows? I was riding at the pace that I felt was best. It gives me confidence winning a stage like that but we’ve still got a month to go to the Tour.

 

"Today being the first real uphill finish, it was the first real opportunity to leave everything out on the road and see where everyone is in terms of condition.

 

"It's a really nice feeling to be back in yellow and to win a stage like that. Tomorrow is another hard day but in terms of the Tour we've still got some time before the Tour. As I've said the last few days, I'm happy with how I’m feeling.

 

"Alberto's obviously in great shape. He was a bit off the pace today but if I've learnt anything about racing against Alberto it's that he comes back stronger after he's had an off-day.

 

"We saw in the prologue that he's incredibly strong and he won that quite convincingly. You can never say that it's over with him. 

 

”Today was the first real summit finish and it was an opportunity to give everything to see on the road where we were, both me and my rivals. There is not much difference compared to what we saw in the prologue.Today Richie Porte has shown to be in excellent condition. I was fine with a very strong team. It gives me more motivation to see how strong they are. I had to win for them. It's a good feeling to win and to regain the yellow jersey but there are two difficult days. And there is time before the Tour.

 

“I was focused on my performance and I'm just happy to have completed the work of the team.

“It's funny for Richie and me to ride against each other but today he and I had the same interest like we had when we were teammates. We have finished first and second before and I hope it will happen again because we are friends. We continue to train together, we are still friends and hopefully that will not change.
 

“I do not know if Aru can be a rival. It must be remembered that in Astana, they have a different approach. In races preceding a Grand Tour, even early in a Grand Tour, he or Nibali are never at the top but they are still strong in the third week. It's different but effective.

 

“After the race, I'll check a few stages of the Tour and have a training camp before relaxing a little at home. I would have been happy to compete at the national championships, especially the time trial but I can not lose two days of training to travel.

”I feel much more relaxed at this time of the season compared to when I won the Tour in 2013 and 2015. I opted for a lighter race program and I have had constant progress at each of my races. I've always felt good, I never panicked.”

 

Sport Director Nico Portal was thrilled to see Froome take the win, with victory a great marker and confidence boost in the build-up to the Tour de France.

 

"Chris is where he needs to be. He knows and we know that he is still not 100 percent yet - that's the same of all of our guys and probably most of the other GC contenders. The guys have worked hard, everything is on track and to take a stage victory in this manner is really encouraging. For the riders and staff it's a big boost a couple of weeks before July.

 

"The plan today firstly was to not lose any time. It was the first of the real mountain stages with a proper summit finish.  We knew we didn't need to ride but if there was any opportunity to take something we were ready to ride at the bottom of the climb. We then wanted to either follow the moves or even go on the attack ourselves which we were able to do. And you saw the rest!"

 

Sick Michal Kwiatkowski abandons the Dauphiné

Sadly Team Sky only finished with eight riders after Michal Kwiatkowski was forced to abandon the race.

 

Sports director Nicolas Portal gave TeamSky.com an update on Kwiatkowski who will now rest up and recover after leaving the race due to illness.

 

"Michal has not been feeling well during the race," he added. "There's nothing wrong with his form, and when you have 150 guys on the front over the first climb it's not normal to see an ex-world champion suffering. We know he will be back strong for the upcoming races. He's a great punchy rider and he will have wanted to show what he can do on the climbs, but when he is not feeling himself the best thing was to ensure he didn't push too hard."

 

Richie Porte: This was probably better than expected

Stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné saw the General Classification contenders come out to play, with Richie Porte going head to head with Chris Froome (Team Sky) on the final climb.

 

Porte and Froome attacked to distance themselves from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) in the final three kilometers, with Froome just distancing himself in the final 200 meters, to take the stage win, one second in front of Porte.

 

Porte's second place result has bumped him back up to second place overall, seven seconds behind new race leader Froome.

  

Porte said:

 

"The team was really good around me today so I'm happy with how things are. To be honest it was probably better than expected. It was a really hard day. Today showed that I'm in a good place. To ride away with Froomey like is a good sign. For the moment I'll enjoy this, it's a good result.

 

"I knew it was hard from six to two kilometers but when Froomey attacked like that and you see guys crack, it gives you a bit more inspiration to keep pushing on. We still put good time into the other guys, so I'm happy with that. Both Froomey and I are in good form for July, we're both going so well. It's a little bit different to be riding for yourself and I'm quite enjoying it and the team supported me perfectly.

 

"I was being told not to work with him by the team. In the heat of the moment, and we had a good gap, so I did collaborate with him. Gor me, it was better when we worked together to the line. We still put good time into the other rivals.

 

"Obviously Contador didn't have a good day but there's still two more days to come, and it's still not July. With Albert,o you have to give him respect and he will come out tomorrow absolutely swinging. For the moment, I’ll enjoy this, it’s a good result and it gives me faith in the work I’m doing. The goal now is to recover as best as possible for the Queen Stage tomorrow.

 

“Tomorrow we'll see what everyone wants to do. Tinkoff controlled that well today but I think Sky has the team to attack like that and it's set Froome up really well, and I benefited from that too.”

 

Sports director Valerio Piva added:

 

"It was the first of three important uphill finishes so to see Richie take second place, it's a good result. He was strong and the team was around him the whole day. It was a very hard day and very fast, and there were a lot of attacks throughout the stage. We had two guys in the 25-rider breakaway, Greg Van Avermaet and Rohan Dennis, and then when they were caught we were there to keep Richie in a good position. In the end Froome showed that he is strong, Richie showed he is also strong, so I'm optimistic for the next two days."

 

Adam Yates proves his class with third place in Dauphiné mountains

British climber Adam Yates produced a fantastic performance in the mountains on stage five of the Criterium du Dauphine, taking third place for ORICA-GreenEDGEand moving up to sixth on the general classification.

 

2015 Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian winner Yates rode intelligently throughout today’s stage before following the attacks on the last climb. Eventually sprinting past Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) to take a thoroughly well deserved third place.

 

Attacks began to fly in the final kilometres towards the summit finish in Vaujany as Christopher Froome (Team-Sky) went clear with Contador unable to follow.

 

Froome went on to win the stage and moved into the race lead with two more days in the mountains to come. Yates moved up to sixth overall 52seconds down on Froome.

 

Sport director Laurenzo Lapage praised the mature performance by Yates and the team.

 

“What a day,” said Lapage. “The stage began so fast today, the speed didn’t let up for 140kilometres and there was no moment to take a breath. The whole team were fantastic, the work ethic and the intelligence from our guys was faultless.

 

“Adam (Yates) was fantastic in the finale, climbing with and then beating some of the world’s best is a really positive sign for the next two days and also for the big races we have coming up.”

 

22-Year old Australian Jack Haig also performed superbly against the world’s best climbers in support of Yates today. Pushing on as riders were dropped on the final climb, Haig crossed the line in 20th place to seal a great day in the mountains for the young guns of ORICA-GreenEDGE.

 

“I have to say that Jack (Haig) was also very impressive,” continued Lapage. “Finishing in the top twenty on a stage like today against that field is really a special result for him.

 

“Jack is certainly one to watch in the future and he stepped up to another level on that last climb.

 

“Tomorrow will be even tougher, the first climb comes after only six kilometres followed by the Col de la Madeleine. We had that in our minds today and the guys conserved as much energy as possible for these next two stages.”

 

Daniel Martin: I tried to catch them by surprise.

The first real mountain stage of the French race was scheduled on Friday afternoon, and Etixx – Quick-Step was again up there with the best once things became hectic, on the final ascent of the day. First to move from the reduced bunch was Mikel Landa (Team Sky), before Dan Martin accelerated and forced an important selection, once Maxime Bouet finished his job at the head of the peloton. Teammate Julian Alaphilippe, race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Richie Porte (BMC) and Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) were the ones to have a reaction and join the double Monument winner on the grueling 12% ramps. With around two kilometers left, Froome moved to the front of that group and attacked the others, Porte being the only one to get himself glued to last year's winner's wheel.

 

While the two were heading to the finish line, where the Brit took the win and with it the yellow jersey, Dan Martin was putting in a huge effort not far behind, to limit the losses. The 29-year-old Irishman went full tilt in the closing part and completed the 140-km long stage between La Ravoire and Vaujany in fourth, 19 seconds adrift, an impressive result considering it came less than a week after he returned to competition, following the break he took right after Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Besides him, also Alaphilippe finished in the top 10 for Etixx – Quick-Step on Friday, and retained the white jersey, which he will now wear for the sixth day in a row.

 

Fourth on the stage and fourth also in the general classification, after moving up a spot, Dan Martin displayed his trademark aggressive tactic and went to the offensive on the last of the five climbs, and that paid off in the end, as he rolled over the line two seconds ahead of Contador and proved that he's on the right track for July's Tour de France:

 

"You couldn't see it on TV, but the opening 80 kilometers were really crazy and demanding, always up and down, and at a fast pace. Tony [Martin] and Maxime did a great job to bring us in a good position at the foot of the climb, and from that point on it was all about giving your all. I tried to attack and take the others by surprise, hoping they will hesitate to follow me and so I'll get a gap, but they closed down my move immediately."

 

On Saturday, the queen-stage of the race awaits the peloton, and it's very likely that the fireworks will begin before the finish in Méribel, but  Martin is confident he can be again in the mix with the best:

 

"Considering that Dauphiné is my first race since April, I'm satisfied with how I felt and the result I got. During my six-week break, I didn't train specifically on the climbs, so to come today in the top 5 it's really great. I know there's still room to improve and I am sure we can continue to score other nice results in the race. Tomorrow we have five climbs in the menu, including the leg-sapping Col de la Madeleine, and I'm sure things will become very interesting before the last climb."

 

"After the TT I knew I was in good condition on the climb so, it's nice to be able to race against those guys. When Chris went, it was like – whoa! His one-minute power is crazy, normally that's my kind of thing but I couldn’t follow it,” he told Cyclingnews and Cyclingpro.net.

 

"I haven't been doing any explosiveness at all. Maybe I got a little over excited when I attacked but I'm still trying to gauge whether the other riders might just let me go.

"I don't know whether Chris, Alberto and Richie were just watching each other, so I thought I gave it a good crack. The team put me in a great position at the bottom of the climb. It was just such an explosive effort the whole climb it was a long, hard, flat out the whole way up.

 

"Froome went pretty hard. We all tried to follow. But I settled into a rhythm and expected them to stop and look at each other, but Chris and Richie both wanted to make time on Alberto. So it was an unusual climb, a different climb for a race like this. It was really explosive. But, I'm happy.

 

 

“I wanted to keep going to get the best possible result. On the line, Yates beat me by nothing (and took 4 bonus seconds) but I was on my limit. I could not do anything more.

 

“I always stayed in front, in the top positions. I was in my rhythm and I felt good.

 

"I'm not going to give up a GC, but I'm also too close on GC for the others to let me go for a stage, so we'll just get through it and hopefully the weather's going to be good tomorrow and we'll see how it goes.”

Julian Alaphilippe: Froome’s attack was very impressive

Julian Alaphilippe finished 10th.

 

"I was just behind Christopher Froome and he asked me for going to the left but I saw him doing a very impressive attack. He was so impressive that I couldn't follow but I'm glad I managed to retain the white jersey,” he said.

 

Alberto Contador: I’ve always said that I need more speed in my legs

Responding well to the early attacks on the steep and changing ascent, Alberto Contador worked with other GC contenders to take fifth on the stage. He let go of the yellow jersey after holding it from the start of the race in Les Gets, five days ago.

 

From the finish, Contador saw the day’s outcome as an integral part of his preparation for the Tour de France.

 

“In the final I tried to follow Chris and Richie but it came down to having the legs, which I always said before the race was what I was here to test. I’m happy because this time it was not me in the jersey and I think that day by day we will go better - tomorrow’s another day.

 

"I need more speed in my legs, I know. I've said that before the race. I'm happy because the time gap wasn't big and day-by-day we'll go better.”

Looking back over the way the day turned out, Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, was pleased with how the team worked to support their leader.

 

“Alberto didn’t have the legs we hoped for in the final, but the team did a great job today keeping control and protecting him. There was a big breakaway and we pulled that back in, which was good. Over the whole stage there was pressure to defend the jersey, which made things harder. We didn’t want to give it away too easily.”

 

Continuing, De Jongh highlighted how well the whole team was coming together ahead of the Tour.

 

“We got the big group back, so it was less dangerous - the boys did an amazing job today. We had a really good day with the team and some showed they’re really ready for the Tour. Alberto is in a good place, and he needed some more action before the tour so this is exactly the preparation we needed. We hoped for a better result but we’re not too unhappy with how the day went.”

 

Tomorrow is the Dauphiné’s Queen Stage, and it’s going to be a spectacular day’s racing. The route from La Rochette to Meribel covers 141km and five incredibly tough categorised climbs, including the Hors Catégorie Col de la Madeleine. While the 19.2km, 7.9% climb is the hardest climb of the day, it may be too far from the stage finish, coming at the halfway point, to decide the outcome of the stage. What it will do however, is show who has the form to contest the stage win and compete for the GC.

 

The Queen Stage will be an excellent opportunity to test his legs and help fine-tune his performance, Contador explained from the finish.

 

“We will see what happens tomorrow. I’m sure that day by day I will go better. Anything can happen. The only thing that’s important for me is that I’m ready for the Tour de France. It’s the last race before the Tour and I want to be 100%. We’ll see how my legs feel here and we’ll do some work after the race ends. I'll get speed in my legs here and then go and do motor-pacing after. I didn't do that for this race because the last week of the Tour de France is very hard and the most important thing is to recover for tomorrow."

 

With Contador going into tomorrow’s stage without the yellow jersey, the pressure was off Contador and the team, De Jongh explained.

 

“We can live with the result – there are still two very hard days to come in the mountains and not having to defend the jersey will make it easier. We’re expecting rain tomorrow, so that will bring an extra challenge to the day. We’re looking forward to the race.”

 

Romain Bardet: For a comeback race, it’s not bad

Romain Bardet finished sixth.

 

"It was a difficult climb, a short and rather explosive race,” he said. “I could not respond to the second attack from Froome. 
 

”Froome, Porte and Contador were above the rest today. Behind, I did what I could to limit the damage. I did my best. For a comebak race I'm pretty satisfied with my condition. I said after the second stage that was the GC was over but today it was too fast for me to win.”

 

Bauke Mollema: Tomorrow should suit me even better

The Critérium du Dauphiné jammed its last three days with mountains, slating the overall classification battle for the end of the eight-day event, and Friday's short but intense stage five kicked off the trio of decisive days.

 

Bauke Mollema passed the first big test with flying colors, finishing 8th on the stage to move up one spot to 9th overall, but with two harder days to come, the GC combat has just begun.

 

Ryder Hesjedal joined a dangerous 25-man breakaway midway through the 140-kilometer stage, a move that put pressure on Tinkoff, and they had to work hard to pull it back.  

 

With the dangerous breakaway quieted, a more reasonable five-rider breakaway formed. However, they, too, would have their lead eradicated when the GC fight ignited on the final uphill to the finish, a category-two rated climb. 

 

Bauke Mollema sparred his way to the final few kilometers of the final six-kilometer climb with the elite group of contenders until Chris Froome's (Sky) attack blew everything to smithereens. 

 

Only Richie Porte (BMC) could respond as Froome pedaled his way to the win, leaving race leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), and the rest of the contenders, in his wake. 

 

Mollema crossed the line with six others, 27 seconds behind Froome and Porte, and six seconds after Contador, for eighth place on the stage. 

 

"It was a short, explosive stage," said Mollema. "I think the first 80-90kms was full gas all the time, it was really hard. Also in the final, the climb was only five kilometes – not too long – but it was a steep one. It was a hard final.

 

"I felt okay, and I think I was in a place where I should be, with most of the GC guys and just a few guys in front. Overall, I think it was a good day, and tomorrow is a long uphill finish; lets see, because normally it suits me even better than these explosive climbs."

 

When Hesjedal jumped into the 25-rider move, he was the highest placed in GC from the group at 49 seconds and virtual leader on the road. With plenty of firepower in the leading group, Tinkoff decided the risk too much and worked hard to put an end to the threat.

 

Once back in the fold, Hesjedal continued with the peloton until the start of the final climb where he eased off the accelerator, leaving Mollema ahead to fight out the GC, and safe-guarding his energy for the last two days and another possible chance at a stage result.

 

"It was a strong breakaway and Ryder wanted to be there and it was good to have someone represented," explained director Alain Gallopin. "Ryder understands that to be top 10 GC here will be difficult and it's better to play for the stage win." 

 

"Bauke is in good position, but when you see the guys in front of him…" Gallopin continued, cautious about heaping too much pressure on Mollema in a star-studded field. "To finish between 5-10th will be good. We will have to see what happens tomorrow and then again after that. Top 5 would be very good - to be better than that will be difficult."

 

Strong Louis Meintjes moves into the top 10 at the Dauphiné

The first high mountain stage gave LAMPRE-MERIDA good feedbacks from their top climbers Meintjes (9th) and Conti (15th).

On the first climb,the team had Grmay in a break and the Ethiopian champion attacked a second time after the peloton had neutralized his first attempt. At the 25th kilometer, LAMPRE-MERIDA's African rider was leading the race together with his team mate Pibernik and 23 other riders. However, Grmay did not succeed in collecting enough points to take the polka dots jersey.

In the end, Meintjes who had been great in maintaining a good cadence, finished in 9th place at 27". Conti was in the third chasing group which reached the finish at 1'07". The Italian rider was 15th.

Thanks to the impressive performance, the South African rider is 10th in the general classification (+1'27") and Conti is 16th (+2'05").
 

Grmay is second in the KOM standings, 9 points behind leader Teklehaimanot.

Koshevoy did not finish the stage.

 

Diego Rosa gains confidence from strong ride in Dauphiné mountains

“We approached the last climb at a very high speed,” explained Diego Rosa after the finish of today’s stage at Critérium du Dauphiné. “I had quite good sensations from the legs and I kept the front positions of the bunch. Then when Froome attacked I prefered not to go in 'overdrive' and I continued very regularly, in a progression…

 

“At least I think that this tactic was the best one for me due to the fact that today was only the first of three very difficult mountain stages here at the Dauphiné. Now I’m seventh in the GC and I am only 1 minute and 8 seconds behind the GC Leader. I’m confident I can do pretty well in the next two stages, tomorrow and Sunday.

 

“Let’s see how the race will develop but I’m positive because I ride for a great Team and the next two stages are very suitable for my characteristics.”

 

Joaquim Rodriguez: I am not unhappy with things

It was a challenging day full of climbs for the 68th Critérium du Dauphiné on Friday, with seven rated climbs facing the peloton in France. Team KATUSHA’s leader Joaquim Rodriguez hoped for good results in today’s first of three mountain stages, and overall the Spanish climber was not disappointed.

 

”This was a crazy race. Tinkoff let the break go and were only caught on the last climb. We just kept going faster and faster. Then came the big acceleration from Froome. Like always, he was impressive and immediately opened up 50 meters. It was incredible force from Froome. I did what I could and I’m not unhappy with things. It’s been a long time without competition for me and I feel I’m at a good level with good feelings and good legs. I’m happy about the work of the team, too,” said Joaquim Rodriguez.

 

Rodriguez was 12th, in the group at 27-seconds behind the new race leader, Chris Froome. He moved into 12th place on the classification.

 

”Purito is OK. He was in the first main group, which shows his condition is good, plus he moved up in the GC. I hope he goes well tomorrow and keeps moving up,” said team director José Azevedo.

 

Daniel Navarro fights back from late puncture in Dauphiné mountains

The day starts with good news for Cofidis: Borut Bozic was on the start line! There was more fear than harm for the Slovenian who has recovered well from his impressive crash yesterday and this morning he was back on the bike to finish the Dauphiné. Christophe Laporte didn’t take the start due to toothache.

 

 

For the stage the team focused on Daniel Navarro who finished in the first big group 28 seconds behind Froome. He is now 8th in the overall standings.

 

"I had a puncture on the descent just before Vizille when the peloton was going very fast,” he said. “I got back but I was tired and it took me time to recover. There were 20 easy kilometers, with wide roads, so I could regain strength for the difficult finale. At the bottom, I was not very good, but with every kilometer my feelings improved and I finished the climb at a good pace, within a group that arrived for sixth place.  "

 

Emanuel Buchmann proves his potential on first mountain stage at the Dauphiné

For BORA – ARGON 18 the race developed well until the bottom of the final climb. The team had one rider in the leading group with Bartosz Huzarski and also Buchmann, Konrad, Voss and Benedetti in the peloton.

 

Emanuel Buchmann was the one with the best legs from the team in the finale. He could not follow Froome and decided to go at his own rhythm. He climbed at a constant pace. In the end he crossed the line in 17th place, 1:09 down on Froome. In the general classification he moved up to 19th position.

 

“The stage was extremely fast and really really hard. I went on the limit the whole day. Before the final climb the guys brought me up to a perfect position. When Froome attacked, the pace was too high for me, so I decided to go on my own rhythm. I am happy with my performance today and I did not lose a lot to Froome. The next days will be hard again and I will try to make a move somewhere,” Emanuel Buchmann said.

 

Jesus Herrada loses ground, Ruben Fernandez abandons

Stage five of the Critérium du Dauphiné, 140km between La Ravoire and Vaujany, started with bad news for the Movistar Team as Rubén Fernández was forced to abandon following a crash before the 'départ réel'. Initially hurt in his shoulder, further checkups in a medical center nearby following his crash revealed just a huge blow, yet with no broken bones, which will require some rest at the team hotel before he heads back home.

 

Far from backing off, the squad directed by José Luis Arrieta and José Luis Laguía tried to always keep the front, initially with Antonio Pedrero in a dangerous, 25-man attempt at the Col du Barrioz (Cat-1), then -once caught by an insistant Tinkoff train - with Colombian Dayer Quintana, who joined a quartet wich reached the foot of Vaujany (Cat-2), the day's decisive col, with a handful of seconds.

 

4km from the end, over slopes ramping up to 12%, the group of favourites caught Quintana as the GC battle exploded. Froome (SKY) and Porte (BMC) set an immense pace in the favourites' group to make race leader Contador (TNK) crack, the Spaniard always on Daniel Martin's (EQS) wheel. Victory at the top of Vaujany was for Froome, new yellow jersey, as Jesús Herrada slips back to 15th, 1'56" from the Briton, with Dani Moreno and Dayer Quintana around the top-30.

 

The Queen stage on French soil comes tomorrow (La Rochette – Méribel, 141km), with five categorized climbs including the famous Col de la Madeleine (HC) halfway through the course. In turn, the Tour de Suisse will take its curtain up - with Winner Anacona, Jorge Arcas, Jonathan Castroviejo, Alex Dowsett, Gorka Izagirre, Ion Izagirre, Juanjo Lobato and Jasha Sütterlin in for the Movistar Team - with a lumpy, 6.4km prologue in Baar before some sprinter stages in the upcoming days.

 

Daniel Teklehaimanot back in the polka-dot jersey at the Dauphiné

With 7 categorised climbs included in today's 140km from La Ravoire to Vaujany, everything was geared toward an exciting stage and the racing did not disappoint. Constant attacking from the gun made it difficult for the break of the day to form. Eventually 4 riders went clear after around 20km of racing but there was a large group of nearly 25 riders chasing these 4 at 30 seconds, the peloton a further 30 seconds back. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka had Daniel Teklehaimanot, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Steve Cummings in the chase group.

 

Teklehaimanot was chasing King of the Mountains points today and with the help of his two teammates, the big chase group caught the 4 leaders just before the category 1 Col du Barrioz. Teklehaimanot was strong enough to go over the summit in first place, adding 10 points to his tally. The next climb was the category 2 Col des Ayes and nobody could stop the Eritrean from taking maximum points on the line there either. Teklehaimanot now just had to complete the stage in order to pull on the polka dot jersey.

 

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka had Igor Anton and Serge Pauwles riding among the main contenders up until 3km to go. Pauwels was the African Team’s best placed finisher on the day in 22nd. It worked out to be a fantastic day for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka though because Boasson Hagen retained his green sprint jersey and Teklehaimanot pulled on the polka dot jersey.
 

Daniel Teklehaimanot said:
 

“It was a really great day after yesterday, where Eddy won the stage. So I have a lot motivation to do something good and win the polka dot jersey again. It was a really hard start today but Eddy helped me to win the sprint in the first category climb and the second category that followed as well. He did a great job for me. It won't be easy to keep the jersey but it is my goal to win it. 

 

“I like the polka dot jersey a lot. So I'm really happy again today. I won the King of the Mountains competition last year. Of course it's my goal to win it again this year. Tomorrow it's very hilly. I'll try to keep the jersey but it won't be easy. What I and my team achieved last year gave us a lot of motivation to perform again this year at the Dauphiné and the Tour de France.”

 

Boasson Hagen added:

 

“I made the breakaway today for the only purpose of helping Daniel [Teklehaimanot] to make it. I managed to get him in the group and I led him out so he could take the King of the Mountains points. It's mission accomplished. As for my green jersey, I can't really do anything to defend it. It mostly depends on what other riders [like Julian Alaphilippe and Fabio Aru] who are better climbers than me manage to do at the front.”

 

George Bennett ready to give it another crack in Dauphiné queen stage

Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s youngsters survived the fifth stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. 21-year-old Alexey Vermeulen formed part of a breakaway, but was caught quickly. George Bennett finished 26th behind winner Chris Froome (Team Sky), who took the overall lead.

 

“George Bennett did a good job today,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman said. “He was able to follow the group with the top favourites for a long time, but had to let them go several kilometres before the top of the final climb. When you look at the riders around him and the high level they’re at, then I think he’s riding strongly. It’s great for him that he’s able to race like this and that Martijn Keizer and Victor Campenaerts supported him today.”

 

Zeeman was satisfied with the way his youngsters fought through the stage.

 

“Alexey was part of the breakaway for a while, but they barely had space in front because Tinkoff set such a high pace behind. Dennis van Winden and Mike Teunissen had to give it all to finish the stage in time and they succeeded.”

 

On Saturday, the riders in the Criterium du Dauphiné face another mountainous stage.

 

“It’s immediately tough with a first category climb,” Zeeman added. “I’m expecting that the race is going to explode immediately. Halfway in the stage, the riders have to climb the Col de la Madeleine. George will have his chance to go for it another time.”

 

Enrico Gasparotto: I thought that it could be my lucky year

The team Wanty-Groupe Gobert was very active in the fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné between La Ravoire and Vaujany. The pro-continental team spent the whole day at the front of the race, first with Björn Thurau and then with Enrico Gasparotto. The Italian rider was caught with three kilometres to go. Guillaume Martin finished 28th only at 1’48’’ behind the winner Chris Froome (Team Sky).

 

“I didn’t feel so good in the first part of the stage. Finally I didn’t lose too much time,”  Guillaume Martin said.

 

There were many attacks straight from the start. German rider Björn Thurau and Andriy Grivko rejoined three riders at the front. Eventually a front group of 25 riders was formed. They got a top advantage of 1’15’’. At kilometre 51.5, the German rider crested the Col des Ayes (category 2) in second position. Grivko rode away on the descent of the Col des Mouilles while his former breakaway companions were brought back by the peloton at km 72.

 

“Nobody wanted to collaborate. It is a shame because I think we could do something better with the riders at the front. I’m disappointed,” Björn Thurau regrets.

 

Four riders – including the winner of the Amstel Gold Race Enrico Gasparotto – bridged the gap at kilometre 83 to make it a leading quintet. With 25 km to go, the leading group had 1’50’’ lead on the peloton which reduced the gap to one minute before the last climb of the day, Vaujany (category 2).

 

“We did a great job. The peloton controlled well. We needed one minute more to fight for victory,” Enrico Gasparotto thinks.

 

"I knew it was difficult because in a stage race the first uphill finish is always one for the overall contenders. I attacked when I saw that the peloton let a group go. I told myself that maybe it was my lucky year and that they would give us more of an advantage. However, we were always kapt at two minutes and then I tried to honor the WildCard we received for this Dauphiné.

 

"If I can recover well from today’s effort, I will definitely try again. I have nothing to lose. But the finales are difficult. Now we have to go to the end and honor the race until the end of this Dauphiné.”

 

The Italian rider attacked with 6 km to go and was caught at three kilometres from the finish by the big leaders. Chris Froome won the battle of the favourites.

 

French rider Guillaume Martin finished at less than two minutes from Chris Froome and took the 28th place of the stage.

 

“I just tried to stay in my rhythm. It was the good choice because I caught a few riders back. I finished the stage in a group with Thibaut Pinot and Fabio Aru. It is not so bad,” Guillaume Martin analysed.

 

Tomorrow the queen stage between La Rochette and Méribel takes place with the Col de la Madeleine and the uphill finish in Méribel.

 

“I will continue to ride at my own pace and try to get closer to the top 20 in the general classification,” Guillaume Martin concluded.

 

Thibaut Pinot: I am not a machine

Thibaut Pinot could only manage 27th.

 

"The legs did not work immediately,” he told L’Equipe. “I'm not worried. I still have one month to improve but I still hope that the form will be there. I'm not a machine. I have no excuses either. Since the Tour de Romandie, I have had trouble to get back on the road, but we still have a nice weekend. The bad weather pleases me. I'll try to go on the attack.”

 

A difficult day for Giant-Alpecin in Dauphiné mountains

It was a notable day for Giant-Alpecin, with Chad Haga unfortunately not starting in today’s stage due to fatigue.

 

For the team, Zico Waeytens and Koen de Kort were the first to finish in 63rd and 64th place, 7’58 behind the winner.

 

Coach Arthur van Dongen said: “Today was a really hard day with a lot of climbing. We had Lars [van der Haar] up the road in an early break but he wasn’t able to stay with the group. In the finale, Zico and Koen were in the main bunch when they started the final climb and in the end, all our guys managed to finish on time. Tomorrow is going to be tough again with the Col de Madeleine and the uphill finish in Méribel to overcome.”