Critérium du Dauphiné 2019 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

June 14, 2019

Critérium du Dauphiné 2019 – Stage 6 – Saint-Vulbas – Plaine de l’Ain – Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne : 228 km

The headliners for this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné (June 9-15) include four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos). The British rider missed last year’s Dauphiné owing to his Giro d’Italia ambitions but he returns to familiar territory with a team capable of taking overall honours for the seventh time in nine editions.

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) managed to beat Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a close sprint to win stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne after being on the attack for 216km of the 229km stage deep into the Alps.

Alessandro De Marchi (CCC Team), who was also in the three-rider break, finished third a few seconds behind after the trio attacked each other on the final climb of the day.

The Frenchman was the local favourite to win but Mühlberger made Alaphilippe work for victory. Mühlberger attacked several times on the late Col de Beaune climb and then lead out the sprint with aggression, with only the photo-finish confirming that Alaphilippe had beaten him by a few inches. De Marchi finished a disappointed 22 seconds back after losing contact over the top of the climb after a chase and attack.

The overall contenders let the trio gain over 13 minutes at one point during the six hours of racing, preferring to save their strength for the big mountain stages of the weekend.

Wout Poels (Team Ineos) led the peloton home at 6:10 after the British team upped the pace on the final climb, shaking out double stage winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), who finished 15:06 back. Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished safely in the peloton and so kept the race leader’s yellow jersey going into the decisive Alpine weekend.

Alaphilippe was keen to celebrate his tenth victory of the 2019 season and the 36th victory for Deceuninck-QuickStep.

“I’m always hungry for success and every victory is important for me and the team,” Alaphilippe said post-stage.

“To win in the Dauphiné in my first race (this season) in France is a really special feeling. I’m really happy after a hard day in the break, with only three guys.”

“I know my mate from the breakaway, from Bora. He’s really strong and I know he’s explosive. I had to be careful but it was a headwind and so didn’t want to start my sprint early. In the end I passed him in the last moment, so I’m happy.”

Six hours in the saddle

The long ride from Saint-Vulbas on the Plaine de l’Ain to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne included eight categorised climbs and was made harder a by heavy rain at the start and a stiff headwind once the sun emerged to dry the road and the riders.

Alaphilippe, Mühlberger and De Marchi attacked on the first rise of the stage, with the Frenchman keen to be in the move of the day. They soon opened a gap but Team Sunweb led the chase, only to give up after a fast 60 minutes in the saddle, realizing the mountain’s jersey on Casper Pedersen’s shoulders was lost. Soon after the trio pushed their lead out to 6:00, after covering 44.5km in the first hour, with Mitchelton-Scott obliged to lead the peloton to defend Yates’ yellow jersey.

Alaphilippe led Mühlberger and De Marchi over the day’s opening categorised climb after 82km with a lead of 9:15 on the bunch. He was chasing points for the climber’s competition soon equalled Casper Pedersen’s points total and then took the jersey on the category 4 Col de Frêne after 131km.

He swept up more points on the Côte d’Aiton as the peloton trailed behind at a massive 13:50. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Nick Schultz (Mitchelton-Scott) crashed on the descent of Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières but both riders remounted and rejoined the peloton.

The sun broke through for the final 50km of the stage but the headwind made it hard work for Daryl Impey, who was doing much of the chasing for Mitchelton-Scott.

Alaphilippe leads De Marchi and Mühlberger through the finish line in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne for the first time with 16km to race, everyone ready for the end game on the eight-kilometre Col de Beaune climb and its treacherous descent. The peloton also accelerated in anticipation of the climb, with EF Education First upping the pace and dragging the peloton through the finish some 9:20 back.

Alaphilippe asked for a bidon from his team car with 10km to go but his directeur sportif, mindful of the rules, waved a hand of refusal, forcing the Frenchman to race on with empty bottle cages and a thirst. Fortunately it did not affect his thirst for victory when De Marchi and Mühlberger took turns to attack in the final three kilometres of the climb. Alaphilippe chased down one and then other, dancing on the pedals and trying to stay in control.

There was a rare 2019 sighting of Gianni Moscon on the front of the peloton, as Team Ineos set the tempo on the Col de Beaune. The only effect was to distance Van Aert and then Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), who both preferred to save themselves from any extra effort.

De Marchi struggled to respond to all of the change in pace but made a defensive attack when he closed the gap with 500 to the summit. However, Mühlberger was determined not to make it easy for anyone and kicked again. Alaphilippe jumped on his wheel and the break was suddenly down to two.

Even a few mistakes on the technical descent failed to disturb the Frenchman and they rode together to the finish. Alaphilippe was under pressure to win again but managed to force Mühlberger to lead out into the headwind finish. The Austrian accepted the challenge and almost held on, only for Alaphilippe to match his speed.

Neither knew who had won but the photo-finish confirmed it was Alaphilippe and the French crowd let out a partisan cheer.

Results :
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 6:00:54
2 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
3 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:00:22
4 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos 0:06:10
5 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
7 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
10 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
11 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
12 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
14 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
15 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
16 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
19 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
20 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
21 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
22 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida
23 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
24 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
25 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First
26 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
27 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
28 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
29 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos
30 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
31 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:06:17
32 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
33 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:46
34 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:02
35 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
36 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
37 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
38 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
39 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:07:16
40 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
41 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:52
42 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:38
43 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team 0:09:15
44 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
45 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:09:29
46 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:09:50
47 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:52
48 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team
49 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:11:12
50 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
51 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
52 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:11:19
53 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
54 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
55 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
56 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Astana Pro Team
57 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
58 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
59 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:46
60 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:11:53
61 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:12:26
62 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:12:32
63 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:14:31
64 Jérémy Maison (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
65 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:15:06
66 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
67 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
68 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
69 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
70 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
71 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
72 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First
73 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
74 Florian Vachon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
75 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
76 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
77 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
78 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
79 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos
80 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:15:18
82 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:16:44
83 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:16:58
84 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:17:11
85 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
86 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 0:17:13
87 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott
88 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
89 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
90 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
91 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
92 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
93 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:26
94 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team
95 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
96 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb
97 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
98 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
99 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
100 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data
101 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
102 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:18:34
103 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:18:36
104 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
105 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
106 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb
107 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
108 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
109 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
110 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:18:49
111 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic
112 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
113 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
114 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team
115 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
116 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
117 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
118 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
119 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
120 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
121 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
122 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
123 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:53
124 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
125 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:20:36
126 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:12
127 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:19
128 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
129 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:22:39
130 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
131 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
132 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:25:27
133 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team
134 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
135 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic
136 Maxime Cam (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:25:47
137 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 23:35:04
2 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:04
3 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First 0:00:06
4 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:07
5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:24
6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:25
7 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:26
8 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:40
10 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Ineos
11 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:54
12 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:13
13 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:27
14 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:39
15 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First 0:01:43
16 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:59
17 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First 0:02:02
18 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:45
19 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:52
20 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:04
21 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:13
22 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:03:46
23 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:59
24 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:06
25 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:14
26 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:04:22
27 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:04:32
28 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:50
29 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:59
30 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:46
31 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:07:01
32 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team 0:07:31
33 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:07:35
34 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:09:16
35 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:09:31
36 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:09:42
37 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:10:33
38 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team 0:11:19
39 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:27
40 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:12:46
41 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:13:50
42 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:13:54
43 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:36
44 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:14:44
45 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:08
46 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team 0:15:37
47 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:46
48 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:17:49
49 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:18:01
50 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Ineos 0:19:05
51 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:19:10
52 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
53 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:19:15
54 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:19:49
55 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:20
56 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:24
57 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:20:26
58 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:34
59 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:20:38
60 Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:20:47
61 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:21:24
62 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 0:21:43
63 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:22:26
64 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:22:38
65 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:29
66 Hernando Bohorquez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:23:33
67 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:24:22
68 Pawel Bernas (Pol) CCC Team 0:24:54
69 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:25:13
70 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:26:13
71 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:27:16
72 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:27:50
73 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:27:57
74 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:28:03
75 Jérémy Maison (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:28:32
76 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:28:43
77 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Dimension Data 0:29:09
78 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:29:23
79 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:29:25
80 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:30:25
81 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education First 0:30:26
82 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:30:45
83 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:31:52
84 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:32:02
85 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:32:37
86 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:33:24
87 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:33:33
88 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:33:41
89 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:33:49
90 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:59
91 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:34:18
92 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:34:53
93 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:35:07
94 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:35:12
95 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:36:29
96 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team 0:37:03
97 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:37:16
98 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:37:51
99 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:38:34
100 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:39:47
101 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:39:56
102 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:39:57
103 Laurens ten Dam (Ned) CCC Team 0:40:50
104 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:41:43
105 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:42:08
106 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:42:24
107 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:50
108 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos 0:43:45
109 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:43:48
110 Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:44:28
111 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:45:39
112 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:46:15
113 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:46:39
114 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:46:48
115 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:47:04
116 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:47:05
117 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:47:28
118 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:48:04
119 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:48:19
120 Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates 0:49:32
121 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:49:42
122 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:49:45
123 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:50:08
124 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos 0:50:27
125 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:51:01
126 Florian Vachon (Fra) Arkéa Samsic 0:51:12
127 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:52:09
128 Alvaro Hodeg (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:52:56
129 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:52:58
130 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:53:17
131 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:54:33
132 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First 0:55:13
133 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:55:16
134 Maxime Cam (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:57:44
135 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:59:04
136 André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa Samsic 0:59:59
137 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 1:01:02