It came down to a photo finish between Jakob Fuglsang from Astana Pro and Richie Porte from BMC Racing Team in stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphine from Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes to La Motte-Servolex today.
The Dane was confirmed the winner by the slimmest of margins, with Christopher Froome completing the podium.
It came down to a photo finish between Jakob Fuglsang and Richie Porte in stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphine today, with Christopher Froome completing the podium. Photo: Facebook.com/CriteriumDuDauphine
While the race itself only covered 147km, it was a tough test for riders, who were constantly topping up their drinks in the hot summer weather.
Fuglsang has been very close to a WorldTour win on a number of occasions. He memorably missed out on a win at the Tour de France in 2013, when he was beaten in the sprint by Dan Martin.
“It’s been a lot of bad luck for our team this year and finally it seems that everything comes together and we start to become really competitive and it comes just before the Tour,” he said at the finish.
“To come to the Dauphine like this and on the first hard stage to be there in the front with two of the other favourites for the Tour. For the Dauphine it is really nice and for me to win for the first time for Astana is a huge relief.”
Stage six results
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | 3:41:48 |
| 2. | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | " |
| 3. | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | " |
| 4. | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | " |
| 5. | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:50 |
| 6. | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | " |
| 7. | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | " |
| 8. | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:06 |
| 9. | Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | " |
| 10. | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:14 |
General classification
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | 20:52:34 |
| 2. | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | +39" |
| 3. | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | +1:15' |
| 4. | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | +1:20' |
| 5. | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | +1:24' |
| 6. | Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | +1:47' |
| 7. | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | +2:14' |
| 8. | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | +2:30' |
| 9. | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | +2:49' |
| 10. | Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal | +3:16' |
