Criterium du Dauphiné 2021 – Stage 1 [LAST 10 KM]

May 30, 2021

Criterium du Dauphiné 2021 – Stage 1 – Issoire – Issoire : 181,8 km

The Tour de France is less than a month away, but before we start the big lap around l’Hexagone the riders must first tackle the smaller lap around the Rhône-Alpes at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Back in its traditional early summer slot, this year’s race will see the return of its tried and trusted eight-day format, as well as iconic climbs like the Col de la Colombière and the Col de Joux Plane. With these mythical mountain passes on the menu and riders like Geraint Thomas, Miguel Ángel López, Nairo Quintana and David Gaudu on the start list, this year’s race is shaping up to be one of the most hotly-contested of the season. Over the last 70 years, the Critérium du Dauphiné has built a reputation for itself as a ‘mini Tour de France’ and this year’s edition is no different. With eight stages in southeast France, including a lumpy individual time trial and three summit finishes in the final three days, the 2021 race offers prospective Tour favourites everything they need to hone their form ahead of the main event later this summer. Unlike last year’s race, which was shortened to just five stages due to rescheduling changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s edition of the Dauphiné will run for eight days and start in the town of Issoire before heading east, deep into the high-mountains of the Rhône-Alpes.

The 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné got underway with a breakaway success, with Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal) soloing into Issoire ahead of a frustrated peloton.

The Belgian was part of a four-man escape on the opening stage of the eight-day race, and he attacked them on the pair of climbs on the final lap of the Issoire finishing circuit.

At that point, with 16km remaining, the peloton was 1:30 in arrears but, despite efforts from Team BikeExchange and AG2R Citroën, they failed to mount a decent chase on the largely downhill run-in.

Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) led the bunch home for second place, 25 seconds behind Van Moer, with AG2R’s Clément Venturini rounding out the podium.

The victory was the first of Van Moer’s career, and it was also a tale of redemption. Not only did he crash out of last year’s Dauphiné after being in the breakaway on the opening day, but more recently he was solo in the finale of the Ronde Van Limburg and was ‘robbed’ when he was sent the wrong way by a race marshal.

“Last week I was really disappointed – I did a great solo but had some bad luck. Today I wanted to show I can finish it off, and I’m really happy to do it here among all the big names.”

Van Moer’s plan was to infiltrate the day’s breakaway in search of points in the mountains classification, and duly mopped up as the race crested an early category-4 climb before taking on three laps of a 37km circuit that featured the category 3 Côte du Chateau du Buron and cat-4 Col de la Croix des Gardes in quick succession.

He leads that classification, but he’ll instead be wearing the yellow jersey as overall leader of the Dauphiné.

“The plan was to be in the break and hope I had some good names with me, then I took all the points for the mountains jersey, then in the end I felt really good and went alone,” Van Moer said.

“I don’t have such good memories of the Dauphiné but now I’m happy I’m here. It’s unbelievable to take my first professional victory in this big race.”

It was a day when most of the pre-race favourites finished safely and calmly in the bunch, but Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) suffered a mechanical problem ahead of the final climbs and trailed in more than four minutes down.

How it unfolded

The opening stage of the 2021 Dauphiné set out from Issoire and would wind up there 182km later, with an initial loop of 70km before the race returned for three laps of the finishing circuit, where the pair of climbs topped out 12km from the line.

The breakaway went after a few kilometres, with Van Moer joined by Ian Garrison (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Patrick Gamper (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Cyril Gautier (B&B Hotels).

They carved out an advantage of 4:30 on the opening section, with Van Moer signalling his intentions by being first to the top of the category 4 Côte de Bergonne, which preceded the entry to the finishing circuit.

The first lap of the circuit saw the gap stabilize at five minutes, but the break went down to three as Garrison was dropped on the cat. 3 Côte du château du Buron and further distanced on the cat. 4 Col de la Croix des Gardes. Van Moer took maximum points at the top of both climbs.

At the end of the first lap, with 74km to go, the three remaining escapees crossed the line with a lead of just under five minutes over the peloton. That doubled up as an intermediate sprint, where Gamper took the points ahead of Gautier and Van Moer.

On the second lap, the pace was raised in the bunch, with Bahrain Victorious, UAE Team Emirates, and EF-Nippo among the teams leading the chase. By the time Van Moer had added to his collection of mountains points, the breakaway trio reached Issoire again to take the bell with their lead down to 3:15.

With 37km remaining, it was still advantage peloton, but they struggled to gain ground, despite further contributions from Ineos Grenadiers, Trek-Segafredo, and Bora-Hansgrohe.

By the foot of the climbs, the gap was 90 seconds, and Van Moer immediately went on the charge. Gautier and Gamper faded back towards the bunch but the Belgian powered impressively uphill to crest both climbs solo and give himself a fighting chance. His lead was down to just a minute, with 12km to go, but much of that was downhill, enabling him to believe.

The peloton, by contrast, was disorganized. Sean Bennett (Qhubeka Assos), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), and Felix Gall (Team DSM) all launched speculative attacks on the climbs but went nowhere. On the run-in, there was no sustained collaboration in the chase. In the end, BikeExchange, working for Kaden Groves, appeared most desperate, before AG2R came to the fore closer to home.

But Van Moer was soon into the home straight, with enough of a lead to sit up, celebrate, and savour the moment.

Results :
1 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:13:00
2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:25
3 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
4 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
5 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange
6 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
11 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
12 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
13 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
14 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
15 Michael Gogl (Aut) Team Qhubeka Assos
16 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
17 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
18 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
20 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
21 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
22 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
23 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
24 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
25 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
26 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
27 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
28 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
29 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
30 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
31 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
32 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team DSM
33 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
35 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
36 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
37 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
38 Sander Armée (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
39 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis
40 Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo
41 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
42 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
43 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
44 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
45 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
46 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
47 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
48 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
50 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team
51 Damien Howson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
52 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
53 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
54 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
55 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team
56 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
57 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
58 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
59 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
60 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
61 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
62 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
63 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
64 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
65 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
66 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
67 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
68 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
69 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
70 Felix Gall (Aut) Team DSM
71 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
72 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
73 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo
74 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
76 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange
77 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Team BikeExchange
79 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Team BikeExchange
80 Simon Geschke (Ger) Cofidis
81 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:07
82 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:56
83 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos
84 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
85 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
86 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
87 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
88 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
89 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:04:36
90 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
91 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
92 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
93 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
94 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
95 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
96 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
97 William Barta (USA) EF Education-Nippo
98 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
99 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-up Nation
100 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
101 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
102 Robert Gesink (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
103 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
104 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
105 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
106 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
107 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
108 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
109 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
110 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
111 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
112 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
113 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
114 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious
115 Jasper De Plus (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
116 Rob Power (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
117 Chad Haga (USA) Team DSM
118 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
119 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious
120 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:07:09
121 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
122 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
123 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis
124 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
125 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
126 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
127 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange
128 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
129 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
130 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
131 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
132 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
133 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
134 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:12:00
135 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
136 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis 0:14:23
137 Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
138 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:59
139 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
140 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
141 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
142 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
143 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
144 Josef Cerny (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
145 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:12:49
2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:30
3 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:32
4 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:33
5 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:36
6 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange
7 Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
9 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
11 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
12 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
13 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
14 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
15 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
16 Michael Gogl (Aut) Team Qhubeka Assos
17 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
18 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
19 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
20 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
21 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
22 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
24 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
25 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
26 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
27 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
28 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
29 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
30 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
31 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
32 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
33 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team DSM
34 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
37 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
38 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
39 Sander Armée (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
40 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis
41 Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo
42 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
43 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
44 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
45 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
46 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
47 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
48 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
49 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
50 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
51 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team
52 Damien Howson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
53 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
54 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
55 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
56 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team
57 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
58 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
59 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
60 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
61 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
62 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
63 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
64 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
65 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
66 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
67 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
68 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
69 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
70 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
71 Felix Gall (Aut) Team DSM
72 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
73 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
74 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo
75 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal
76 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
77 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange
78 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Team BikeExchange
79 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Team BikeExchange
80 Simon Geschke (Ger) Cofidis
81 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:18
82 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:03:05
83 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:07
84 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos
85 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
86 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
87 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
88 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
89 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:04:47
90 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
91 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
92 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
93 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
94 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
95 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
96 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
97 William Barta (USA) EF Education-Nippo
98 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
99 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-up Nation
100 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
101 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
102 Robert Gesink (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
103 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
104 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
105 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
106 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
107 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
108 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
109 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
110 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
111 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
112 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
113 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
114 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious
115 Jasper De Plus (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
116 Rob Power (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
117 Chad Haga (USA) Team DSM
118 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
119 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious
120 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:07:20
121 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
122 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
123 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis
124 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
125 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
126 Barnabás Peák (Hun) Team BikeExchange
127 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange
128 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
129 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
130 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
131 Logan Owen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
132 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
133 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
134 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:12:11
135 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
136 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis 0:14:34
137 Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
138 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:15:10
139 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
140 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
141 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
142 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
143 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
144 Josef Cerny (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
145 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep