cycling: Critérium du Dauphiné Stage #6: Pinot beats Bardet in sprint

Cycling: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) just won stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné. After the French sports fans were able to celebrate the redeeming opening victory of their Équipe Tricolore at the European Football Championship yesterday, the French also proved their class in cycling today. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) broke away from a large leading group on the final climb and dueled on the last kilometers. In the final sprint, Pinot had the most power reserves and left his compatriot behind. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) had to accept another setback because, like Richie Porte (BMC), he lost more seconds to Chris Froome (Sky).

Teklehaimanot continued to diligently collect points

Yesterday's 5th stage already demanded a lot from the drivers, but today it shouldn't be any easier. On the contrary, because the stage from La Rochette to Méribel led the riders over 141 km and a total of five climbs. This included the Col de la Madeleine, known from the Tour de France, which had to be crossed in the middle of the race and was of course part of the Hors Catégorie. The final climb up to Méribel has an average gradient of 6,6 percent and is 12,3 km long. Since a tough battle between the best drivers in the rankings was to be expected there, many drivers tried to gain a lead early on. A group of more than 20 men, including Alberto Contador's two Tinkoff colleagues, Roman Kreuziger and Robert Kiserlovski, pulled away. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Jürgen Van den Broeck (Katusha), Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Jan Bakelants (Ag2r) and Patrick Konrad (Bora-Argon) also drove away from the field. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), who was also in the large escape group and secured the first two intermediate classifications, was able to extend his lead in the mountains classification. As expected given the different mountain skills, the lead group broke up up to the Col de La Madeleine. Pinot was the first to cross the summit but was caught again on the descent. The Frenchman still hasn't quite got his downhill weakness under control.

Contador and Aru attacked at the Col de La Madeleine

Surprisingly early on, things really got going in the main draw. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Fabio Aru (Astana) tried to break away at the bottom of the prestigious climb. However, as expected, Team Sky around Chris Froome did not let Contador go. However, Aru attacked again and, as the race progressed, caught up with the leading group together with Romain Bardet (Ag2r), only to lose touch a little later and finally even be passed by the peloton. 16 riders were still at the front of the race, with the two Tinkoff riders certainly not aiming to win the stage, but to help Contador after his attack. But this plan didn't work out. Like Aru, Tony Martin was left behind and now did the tracking work for his captains Julian Alaphilippe and Daniel Martin (both Etixx-Quick Step) in the field of favourites.

Pinot beats Bardet in the sprint, Froome extends the lead

However, since the leading group consisted of very dangerous drivers, Team Sky was also involved in the pace work. In the overall standings, Bardet was only 1:34 minutes behind Chris Froome (Sky), which meant that he was still wearing the virtual yellow jersey with ten kilometers to go. Finally, on the final climb, he and Pinot broke away from the rest of his competitors. For a long time there were no attacks in the field of favorites, so it became increasingly clear that the two leading Frenchmen would decide the victory among themselves. In the last three kilometers, Bardet attacked several times, but he couldn't shake Pinot. This finally led to an exciting sprint between the two, which Pinot won. Bardet can take comfort in the fact that he has moved up to second in the overall standings, where he is now tied with Porte. Meanwhile, Daniel Martin and Froome broke away from the group of favorites. Contador and Porte could not keep up and lost nine and 15 seconds respectively to the leader of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Tomorrow there will be an exciting duel between Pinot and Teklehaimanot in the mountain classification.

Tomorrow: The final of the Critérium du Dauphiné

Tomorrow is the crucial final stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné. From Le Pont-de-Claix, the stage leads over 151 km to Superdévoluy. Six mountain classifications and two of them in the first category stand in the way of the drivers. The dice in the fight for the overall ranking, the mountain ranking and the point ranking are far from being cast. A stage not to be missed. But be careful: the arrival at the finish line is expected at around 15 p.m.

Critérium du Dauphiné - The daily result of the 6th stage

Critérium du Dauphiné - The general classification after the 6th stage