Criterium du Dauphine 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE – Team Time Trial]

June 06, 2018

Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 – Stage 3 – Pont-de-Vaux – Louhans-Châteaurenaud (TTT) : 35 km

The 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné will once again act as a stepping stone to the Tour de France, with eight days of racing in south west France that will give yellow jersey hopefuls the chance to hone their form and test themselves against their rivals. The Dauphiné traditionally goes up against the Tour de Suisse in a tussle for prime pre-Tour billing, and while it usually comes out on top, this year has seen a number of big names turn to Switzerland owing to the fact that the Tour has been pushed back a week due to the football World Cup.

Team Sky took back control of the overall classification at the Critérium du Dauphiné, winning the 35km team time trial stage by 37 seconds and so putting Michal Kwiatkowski back in the leader’s yellow jersey.

Team Sky set a time of 36:33 beating BMC Racing by 37 seconds, with Lotto Soudal third at 52 seconds. Mitchelton-Scott finished fourth, at a distant 56 seconds.

The time gaps mean Kwiatkowski is back in the leader’s yellow jersey after he lost it to Daryl Impey after stage 2. He leads teammate Gianni Moscon by three seconds, with Castroviejo third at nine seconds and Geraint Thomas fourth overall at 21 seconds. Many of Team Sky’s overall rivals are already more than a minute behind.

Team Sky fielded a tried and trusted seven-rider squad for the 35km team time trial, with Gianni Moscon, Kwiatkowski, and Castroviejo all national time trial champions. Geraint Thomas is an excellent time triallist and won the opening time trial at last year’s Tour de France, while Luke Rowe, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Dylan van Baarle are all skilled rouleur riders.

Team Sky set the fastest times at the 14km and 24.5km time checks, continually increasing their advantage as their rivals suffered and lost riders. They were calculated to have covered the tailwind assisted 35km course at an average speed of 57.456 km/h, with times showing they rode a negative split – going faster in the second half than they did in the first.

Quick-Step Floors tried to start fast but soon lost two riders, limiting their performance despite the presence of Bob Jungels. The Belgian team finished fifth at 1:01.

Team Sky were more metronomic, only losing Rowe late on. Geoghegan Hart and van Baarle briefly lost contact in the final two kilometres but fought to get back in case of any problems amongst their teammates.

Kwiatkowski pulled on the yellow jersey but was happy to have won as part of the team, especially after his late crash on Tuesday.

“I’m so happy. I came up with no major issues after yesterday’s crash. If I had picked one stage that I would like to win in this Dauphine, it’s the team time trial. It’s always a wonderful feeling to win together with the team. I think we rode a perfect stage,” the Polish rider said, explaining Team Sky’s strategy.

“We rode, technically, a perfect race. We used all the guys throughout the entire course. These 35km were really demanding, all the time changing rhythm and speed. I’m so happy. The prologue showed us that on paper we were probably the strongest, but it’s a different thing to be out there and perform well. I’m so happy we could do it.”

A shake-up in the overall classification

The team time trial results shook up the overall classification, putting four Team Sky riders in the top four positions but also distancing many of Team Sky’s overall rivals.

Damiano Caruso is now the closest threat, with the BMC leader 52 seconds down on Kwiatkowski. Jungles is at 1:08 and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) is at 1:17.

Romain Bardet and his AG2R La Mondiale teammates limited their losses by finishing seventh at 1:29, putting the French climber at 1:52.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) lost time and 14 places in the overall classification and is now 40th at 2:28. Dan Martin and his UAE Team Emirates squad lost 2:28, putting the Irishman a significant 2:57 down overall.

Team Sky’s dominance against the clock will no doubt set off alarm bells amongst their rivals for the Tour de France. A similar, if more technical, 35km team time trial comes on stage 3 around Cholet. If Team Sky can gain similar time gaps in just over a month’s time, their rivals will be in a handicap race for the rest of Grand Boucle.

At the Critérium du Dauphiné, Team Sky will no doubt work on their race and nutrition strategy for the next four mountain stages in the hope that Kwiatkowski or Thomas can match the climbing prowess of Bardet, Martin, Jungels et al.

Thursday’s mountain stage finishes in Lans-en-Vercors after a tough 181km. The final 50km includes the 17.5km hors categorie Col du Mont Noir, with the finish atop a short but steep 7.5 per cent climb.

Results :
1 Team Sky 0:36:33
2 BMC Racing Team 0:00:37
3 Lotto Soudal 0:00:52
4 Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:56
5 Quick-Step Floors 0:01:01
6 Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
7 AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:29
8 Movistar Team 0:01:31
9 LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:32
10 Groupama-FDJ 0:01:33
11 Dimension Data 0:01:41
12 EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:44
13 Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:45
14 Astana Pro Team 0:01:48
15 Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:49
16 Bahrain-Merida 0:02:04
17 Vital Concept Club 0:02:20
18 Fortuneo-Samsic 0:02:25
19 Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:27
20 UAE Team Emirates 0:02:28
21 Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:10
22 Team Sunweb 0:03:19

General Classification after Stage 3:
1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 9:28:21
2 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:03
3 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:09
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:21
5 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:48
6 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:52
7 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:53
8 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:54
9 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:01
10 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:08
11 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:09
12 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:16
13 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:17
15 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:19
16 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:37
17 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:42
18 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:45
19 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:51
20 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:52
21 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:01:53
22 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:55
23 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
24 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:56
25 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
26 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:00
27 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:02:06
29 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:07
30 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:09
31 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:11
32 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:12
33 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:02:14
34 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:15
36 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:02:16
37 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:17
38 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:18
39 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:02:24
40 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:28
41 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:37
42 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:47
43 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:53
44 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:55
45 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:57
46 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:04
47 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:05
48 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:07
49 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:13
50 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:03:14
51 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:22
52 Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:03:25
53 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:03:30
54 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:03:41
55 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:47
56 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:49
57 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:53
58 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:54
59 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:56
60 Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:03:59
61 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:04:02
62 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
63 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:03
64 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 0:04:13
65 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:04:24
66 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:29
67 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:45
68 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:05:06
69 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:14
70 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:05:16
71 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:25
72 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:05:41
73 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:05:46
74 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:06:42
75 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:06:51
76 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Katusha-Alpecin
77 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:07:00
78 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:07:10
79 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:14
80 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:33
81 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:07:36
82 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:42
83 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:07:48
84 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:07:58
85 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data 0:08:01
86 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:08:02
87 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:08:04
88 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:08:08
89 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:08:44
90 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:08:52
91 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:08:54
92 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:09:08
93 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky 0:09:20
94 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 0:09:27
95 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:09:35
96 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
97 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:59
98 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 0:10:05
99 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:10:20
100 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida 0:10:27
101 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:10:51
102 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:11:05
103 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
104 Brendan Canty (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:11:12
105 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:43
106 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data 0:12:11
107 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:12:12
108 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:12:13
109 Brice Feillu (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:12:26
110 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:45
111 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:12:54
112 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:12:58
113 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:13:00
114 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:13:03
115 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:13:12
116 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:13
117 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors 0:14:32
118 Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:14:38
119 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:14:42
120 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:14:49
121 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:15:03
122 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:17
123 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:30
124 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:41
125 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:56
126 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:16:13
127 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:17:03
128 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:07
129 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:17:10
130 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:11
131 Lars Boom (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:17:16
132 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:17:42
133 Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:18:01
134 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:11
135 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:18:31
136 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:18:39
137 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:18:46
138 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:19:08
139 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:19:34
140 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:19:48
141 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:21:24
142 Floris De Tier (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:23:20
143 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:24:24
144 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:26:43
145 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:27:11
146 Corentin Ermenault (Fra) Vital Concept Club 0:27:43
147 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:28:19