Jakob Fuglsang, riding for Astana, won the final stage and, with the bonus time awarded, dethroned race leader Richie Porte of BMC Racing and made history by becoming the first Dane to win the overall classification of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Jakob Fulgsang won the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, taking the overall title on the final day. Photo: Facebook/criteriumdudauphine
In securing first, Fuglsang gained a ten seconds bonus, which took him to top spot of the overall standings. He seemed rather taken aback to have won the Dauphine.
“I don’t know what to say. We tried to keep our GC, that was the plan of the day, but it came down to a big, big, big fight and with me and Fabio (Aru) we played it really good, and then of course also we had a few things that played in our favour.
“(Christopher) Froome had to pull after Fabio and he went so hard. In the end, Daniel Martin attacked and I just followed.”
Martin attacked with 7km to go. Fuglsang bridged the gap quickly and went solo 5km before the end.
It was a thrilling duel between Fuglsang and Porte as the two men were separated by 1’15” on GC and the difference on the road was just over one minute up the final climb to Plateau de Solaison.
It was no longer a fight between Froome and Porte as the yellow-blue jersey holder rejoined and dropped his former team captain at Sky.
The Australian missed out on the Dauphiné overall victory but showed his physical superiority over Froome and Contador, his other former team captain at Saxo Bank, ahead of the Tour de France, while Dan Martin finished third for the second straight year.
The 69th Critérium du Dauphiné will leave an important footprint in the history of cycling.
Stage eight results
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 3:26:20 |
| 2. | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | +12" |
| 3. | Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team UAE Emirates | +27" |
| 4. | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | +44" |
| 5. | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | +1'01" |
| 6. | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | +1'02 " |
| 7. | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | +1'15" |
| 8. | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | +1'36" |
| 9. | Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal | +1'41" |
| 10. | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | +3'30" |
General classification
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 29:05:54 |
| 2. | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | +10" |
| 3. | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | +1':32" |
| 4. | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | +1':33" |
| 5. | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | +1':37" |
| 6. | Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale | +2':04" |
| 7. | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | +2':32" |
| 8. | Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE-Emirates | +3':12" |
| 9. | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | +4':08" |
| 10. | Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Lotto Soudal | +4':40" |
