Netherlands’ Koen Bouwman took his maiden win when he sprinted to victory on stage three of the Criterium du Dauphine in Tullins, France today.
The 23-year-old, who rides for LottoNl-Jumbo, finished the 184km stage in 4:06:06 to beat Evaldas Siskevicius of Delko Marseille Provence KTM and Frederik Backaert of Wanty – Groupe Gobert.
Riders made their way from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins on stage three of the Criterium du Dauphine today. Photo: facebook.com/CriteriumDuDauphine/
Bouwman sat halfway down the front group before launching his sprint at the 200m mark. Despite a concerted effort from Siskevicius, Bouwman took the win by a clear margin.
“I still can’t believe. I know that my girlfriend, my parents and all my friends are looking on television and this is my first pro win, and it’s in the Dauphine too, which is a really big race,” said the Dutchman.
Bouwman said he had always intended to go in the break.
“I’m not a rider who can go with the best climbers or best sprinters. Today we had a really strong breakaway, with everyone pulling very hard.
“Then, in the end, with 20km to go we believed we could make it. I told my teammate Alexey (Vermeulen) that I felt really strong and so he pushed really hard on the front.
“In the end I made it, and so I’m really happy. It was perfect.”
Lotto Soudal’s Thomas de Gendt leads the general classification with an overall time of 12:37:04. He is followed by Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Emirates).
Stage three results
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Koen Bouwman - LottoNl-Jumbo | 4:06:06 |
| 2. | Evaldas Siskevicius - Delko Marseille Provence KTM | " |
| 3. | Frederik Backaert - Wanty - Groupe Gobert | " |
| 4. | Bryan Nauleau - Direct Energie | " |
| 5. | Alexey Vermeulen - LottoNl-Jumbo | " |
| 6. | Quentin Pacher - Delko Marseille Provence KTM | " |
| 7. | Arnaud Demare - FDJ | +11" |
| 8. | Bryan Coquard - Direct Energie | " |
| 9. | Pascal Ackermann - Bora-Hansgrohe | " |
| 10. | Phil Bauhaus - Sunweb | " |
General classification
| Rider | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thomas de Gendt - Lotto Soudal | 12:37:04 |
| 2. | Axel Domont - AG2R La Mondiale | +48" |
| 3. | Diego Ulissi - UAE Team Emirates | +1:03' |
| 4. | Pierre Roger Latour - AG2R La Mondiale | +1:07' |
| 5. | Emanuel Buchmann - Bora-Hansgrohe | " |
| 6. | Sonny Colbrelli - Bahrain-Merida | +1:09' |
| 7. | Ben Swift - UAE Team Emirates | " |
| 8. | Alejandro Valverde - Movistar Team | " |
| 9. | Tony Gallopin - Lotto Soudal | " |
| 10. | Guillaume Martin - Wanty - Groupe Gobert | " |
