Cycling: Nacer Bohanni (Cofidis) has won the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. In a hard-fought sprint, the French veteran prevailed against Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18). Yesterday's prologue winner Alberto Contador had no trouble defending his overall lead during the uneventful stage.
Almost 168km were on the agenda for the riders at the Dauphiné today: the first two thirds of the route were rather bumpy, then flat to the finish in Chalmazel Jeansagnière. So it was not surprising that the teams of sprinters set the tone in the field. Immediately after the start, Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) had attacked and the Australian Mitchell Docker (Orica-GreenEDGE) joined the escape. While the duo was able to extend their lead to more than five minutes at times, it was the teams from Cofidis, Katusha and Giant-Alpecin who worked for their sprinters Bohanni, Kristoff and Degenkolb.
In this constellation, the events rippled along a bit under the best conditions - 15km from the finish Baeckert was finally caught - his companion Docker had already ended the escape attempt some time before. As uneventful and unspectacular as the stage itself was, the finale made up for a lot. In the Flamme Rouge it was Katusha, Trek, Cofidis and Bora-Argon 18 who fought for their position with all legal means. In particular, the later winner Bouhanni extended his elbows and repeatedly made the necessary space with small bumps. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) opened the sprint, Kristoff and Bennett clung to the Norwegian's rear wheel. In the end, however, it was Bouhanni who made his way past the competition and, thanks to his superior top speed, gave them no chance.
Final result Critérium du Dauphine stage #1
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bouhanni born | FRA | Cofidis | 04:27:53 |
2 | Jens Debusschere | BEL | Lotto Soudal | |
3 | Sam Bennett | IRL | Bora Argon 18 | |
4 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | NOR | Dimension Data | |
5 | Jonas Vangechten | BEL | I AM | |
6 | Moreno Hofland | NED | Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
7 | Tony Hurel | FRA | Direct Energie | |
8 | Sondre Holst Enger | NOR | I AM | |
9 | Daryl Impey | RSA | Orica GreenEdge | |
10 | Edward Theuns | BEL | Trek-Segafredo |
Appreciation Criterium du Dauphine
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Christopher Froome | GBR | TeamSky | 29:59:21 |
2 | Romain Bardet | FRA | AG2R La Mondiale | 00:00:12 |
3 | Daniel Martin | IRL | Etixx - Quick Step | 00:00:19 |
4 | Richie porte | AUS | BMC | 00:00:21 |
5 | Alberto counter | ESP | Tinkoff | 00:00:35 |
6 | Julian Alaphilippe | FRA | Etixx - Quick Step | 00:00:51 |
7 | Adam Yates | AUS | Orica GreenEdge | 00:00:57 |
8 | Diego Rose | ITA | Astana | 00:01:13 |
9 | louis meintjes | RSA | Lampre Merida | 00:01:30 |
10 | Pierre Roland | FRA | Cannondale | 00:02:43 |
Leave a Comment