Criterium du Dauphine 2018 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

June 10, 2018

Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 – Stage 7 – Moûtiers – Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc : 129 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.

Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) survived two punctures and several late attacks to win the 2018 Critérium du Dauphiné.

The Welshman struggled in the final kilometre of the last mountain stage to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc as Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) attacked but he was able to make a measured effort and hold onto the victory.

Yates caught and passed Dani Navarro (Cofidis) just 50 metres from the line to win the stage and also gained some time on Thomas. However, Thomas topped the final classification, beating Yates by 1:00.

Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked several times on the final climb and even when Thomas suffered his second puncture the Frenchman was chased down and controlled each time. Bardet finished third overall, 1:47 down on Thomas. Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) cracked on the final climb after the final attacks but finished fourth overall at 2:35. Damiano Caruso (BMC) was fifth at 2:44 after an intense week of racing and four consecutive days in the French Alps.

Thomas and Team Sky set up their overall victory with a dominant performance in the mid-week 35km team time trial. The leader’s yellow jersey went from prologue time trial winner Michael Kwiatkowski to Gianni Moscon and then Thomas. The British team was able to count on the minute they gained on their rivals and use their strength as a team, in particular that of last man Tao Geoghegan Hart, to set a painful tempo and control their rivals in the four important mountain stages.
On Saturday and Sunday, Bardet and Dan Martin tried a series of different attacks but Geoghegan Hart and others were there to help Thomas every time and ensure he secured overall success.

Thomas is due to be the joint team leader with Chris Froome at the Tour de France, which begins on July 7 and confirmed his Grand Tour credentials by taking his second WorldTour stage race victory.

“This is my biggest victory on the road. It’s kind of surreal, it doesn’t really sink in because I never let myself really believe I’d win. I was always thinking of the next stage or the next climb,” Thomas explained.

“This is a massive race. I never dreamt of winning this when I turned professional with Barloworld and was racing on the track. It’s a different life. But it’s an amazing feeling, the guys were incredible. I owe them so much for this victory, especially the way they rode today after I had two punctures. They were calm and kept me calm, so I had confidence in them. Luckily I had the legs to finish it off.”

Thomas will now enjoy some easy days in the saddle to recover, spend some time doing reconnaissance and then freshen-up for the Tour de France.

“I can start looking forward to July now,” he said.

Adam Yates was also looking forward to July. His stage victory boosted his morale and ensured him second overall behind Thomas.

“The Tour de France has been my goal since the start of the season, but Volta a Catalunya set things back. I made a good recovery though and I’m in good shape, ready for the next training block ahead of Tour,” he said.

“It was a hard stage, especially back to back with yesterday’s, which was hard too. Recovery went well and I knew in the final I needed to wait a bit, the past few days I went too early and I needed to wait, wait, wait, bide my time and kick for the line,” he said.

A final day out in the Alps

The final 136km stage to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc was the fourth and final mountain stage of the race, giving a final chance for a breakaway to take the glory and a final chance for Thomas’ rivals to attack him.

The stage distance was relatively short but it included 7 categorised climbs and over 4000 metres of climbing.

Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic) was the first to attack after just six kilometres but he was caught and a break of six riders eventually formed the move that almost won the day.

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step Floors), Dani Navarro (Cofidis), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Edward Ravasi (UAE Team Emirates), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Pierre Rolland (EF Education First-Drapac) made up the move.

Team Sky let them hang off the front on the Cormet de Roselend, covering the same climb as Saturday’s stage from the opposite direction.

Thomas had his first puncture in the valley after the descent allowing the breakaway to gain a maximum of 3:20. After that Bardet’s AG2R La Mondiale teammates took over on the Col des Saisies bringing the gap down to 1:50.

On the descent, Thomas had a second flat, perhaps after hitting a hole in the road. He got a wheel from Moscon but had to chase, with AG2R believing the race was on. Team Sky eventually dragged their leader back on so that he could vent his anger on Bardet but the final two-step climb to the finish was looming.

The break of six managed to stay clear but then fell apart on the climb, with two kilometres at a 13 per cent gradient. Gaudu tried a solo move but was soon caught and passed by Navarro, who had saved his legs for a final blast.

Behind, Bardet attacked Thomas several times but lacked the real power to get away and was brought to heel several times by Geoghegan Hart. The GC group reformed and Martin tried some attacks, perhaps to try to take a podium place but that left him tired when Bardet and then Yates went with him. Thomas, despite what seemed like a gear problem, joined them and the strongest three emerged in the final kilometres of the race.

Navarro was still away and seemingly set for a deserved solo victory. However, Yates and Mitchelton-Scott were ruthless, holding back before launching a final 500-metre sprint attack.

The British rider saw Navarro and managed to pass him with 50 metres to go to snatch the stage victory.

Bardet gapped Thomas but it was not enough to stop the Welshman winning the overall classification.

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

Final General Classification :
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 24:43:12
2 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:00
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:47
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:35
5 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:02:44
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:05
7 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:05
8 Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:04:22
9 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:31
10 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:45
11 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:05:21
12 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:05:54
13 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:07:05
14 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:34
15 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:00
16 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:25
17 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:48
18 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:13
19 Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:15:40
20 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:15:52
21 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:16:03
22 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data 0:20:34
23 Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:21:04
24 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:21:12
25 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:22:24
26 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:26
27 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:23:36
28 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 0:27:10
29 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:27:42
30 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky 0:28:10
31 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:30:17
32 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin 0:33:40
33 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 0:36:59
34 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:38:16
35 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:40:02
36 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:40:58
37 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:41:36
38 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:42:07
39 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:44:14
40 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:44:47
41 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Katusha-Alpecin 0:45:16
42 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:45:51
43 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:48:20
44 Daniel Moreno (Spa) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:49:50
45 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:50:38
46 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
47 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:50:43
48 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
49 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:50:49
50 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:52:28
51 Jaime Roson (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:52:55
53 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:56:35
54 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:56:53
55 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:57:29
56 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:58:30
57 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:59:39
58 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 1:00:12
59 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 1:03:57
60 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 1:04:38
61 Carlos Verona (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 1:04:51
62 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 1:05:21
63 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 1:08:09
64 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:08:43
65 Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 1:09:13
66 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:10:01
67 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 1:10:42
68 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 1:11:27
69 Rob Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 1:11:41
70 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 1:11:51
71 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept Club 1:11:56
72 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:12:10
73 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 1:13:02
74 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 1:15:09
75 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky 1:15:34
76 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 1:16:08
77 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:16:09
78 Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 1:16:50
79 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors 1:17:27
80 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb 1:17:43
81 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 1:19:21
82 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo 1:19:24
83 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:20:31
84 Brice Feillu (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 1:23:29
85 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:25:24
86 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept Club 1:25:39
87 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 1:26:06
88 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 1:27:23
89 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:27:30
90 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin 1:28:25
91 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 1:28:31
92 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 1:30:01
93 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:32:31
94 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 1:32:46
95 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 1:33:31
96 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 1:34:12
97 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team 1:35:38
98 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 1:37:09
99 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 1:39:10
100 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 1:40:30
101 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:40:35
102 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 1:43:58
103 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 1:44:00
104 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 1:44:16
105 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:45:27
106 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida 1:45:38
107 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data 1:46:53
108 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic 1:47:59
109 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 1:50:09
110 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 1:50:39
111 Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept Club 2:07:01
112 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb 2:11:18