After a strong performance on yesterday’s prologue, Alberto Contador started today with the yellow jersey on his shoulders. On a day that was marked out as likely to end in a sprint finish, it was a straightforward affair for Alberto and the Tinkoff riders to defend the jersey. Keeping safe in a hectic and frenetic bunch sprint, Alberto crossed the line with the same time as the sprinters, keeping the race lead for another day.
The Critérium du Dauphiné ventured out onto its first road stage today after a stellar performance by Tinkoff’s leader, Alberto Contador, on yesterday’s prologue. In the race leader’s yellow jersey, Alberto started out with his teammates on today’s 186km stage in bright sunshine in the starting town of Cluses. Ahead of the riders were four fourth category climbs, but with three of these out of the way in the first 75km, it was unlikely that these would trouble the peloton. After another fourth category climb 52km from the stage’s finish, it was to be a flat run to what was expected to be a bunch sprint.
Almost as soon as the flag dropped to signal the end of the neutralised zone, the attempts to break away came. Quickly gaining an advantage on the peloton, the group of two built up a sizeable gap, extending their lead to more than three minutes with less than 20km of the stage covered. The sprinters’ teams were confident that they would be able to bring the escapees in as they got closer to the finish, and this was reflected in the relatively slow speed in the peloton
The team worked well to protect the yellow jersey, driving the pace to pull in the breakaway.
Building up their lead to a little over five minutes, the breakaway climbed the third of the day’s four climbs. With a fairly flat approach to the day’s final climb, the pace in the peloton crept up in order to take back some of the break’s advantage, and as the final climb approached, with a little over 50km to go, the break’s gap dropped to below three minutes, and by 25km the escape had only 1’20”. Knowing it was only a matter of time until the peloton caught them, one member of the break dropped back at 20km to go leaving one man out in front with a gap of 1’15”.
The break caught with 13km remaining, it was all back together for the run in to the finish in Saint-Vulbas. The final kilometre was flat and absent of any twists or turns that might catch riders out and cause splits, and so as the sprinters’ teams massed at the front, a bunch sprint was almost certain.
With only a few roundabouts to negotiate before the finish the speed in the peloton was increasing, with a few riders caught out by taking the wrong line before the finish. The lead teams were jostling for position and the speeds were monstrously fast. Staying safe and crossing the line with the bunch, Alberto Contador took the same time as the sprinters, retaining his yellow jersey.
While the route was fairly flat, the pace was high from the start, as Alberto observed. “It was a relatively calm day but with a fast pace from the start. We knew the sprinters team would be in charge, so it was important to stay in front, especially in the finale in order to stay safe and avoid any gaps. We achieved that, we didn’t lose any time or suffer from any crash, so I’m satisfied.”
From the stage’s finish, Sport Director, Sean Yates, knew Alberto would be in a good position to keep the yellow jersey. “Defending the jersey was fairly straightforward today, and being on a sprint stage this was as easy as it could be. While there were two guys up the road there are only two stages for the sprinters in this race and they’re not going to pass up those opportunities – we knew they would pull it back together.”
As the whole team had come in safely, Yates was pleased with the teamwork today, riding at the front and keeping the break in touch. “As the yellow jersey team we wanted to take control and not let the break get too far out, and the sprinters’ teams worked with us to do that. The gap was kept small so there would be less hard work pulling it in and lots of teams had an interest. For us in the end it was just a matter of keeping Alberto safe and avoiding incidents.”
Echoing Yates’ comments, Alberto saw how the team took control at various points in the stage. “Wearing the leader’s yellow jersey doesn’t change much in the way we race. Maybe the only difference is that the team would take a bit more responsibility. However, it’s a nice feeling to have it.”
Tomorrow’s stage sees the race’s first uphill finish, along with an uphill start that might bring with it some surprises. The 167.5km stage features four tough categorised climbs, and after the prologue will give the climbers and GC riders something to aim for, with both the stage win and time bonuses up for grabs. The first few kilometres of the stage would set the tone for the day – and the team’s strategy, as Yates explained. “There are a hard few days ahead of us though, and tomorrow we’ll need to try and defend the jersey. Tomorrow there’s an uphill start and it will be hectic from the off, but once the stage is underway we’ll have a better idea of how things will go. There are time bonuses available so we want to make sure the other GC riders don’t take those and chip into Alberto’s lead. We’ve got a good team though – they’re motivated and Alberto is in fine form, so we’ll take each day as it comes.”
Coming to the Critérium du Dauphiné after spending some time at a training camp, Alberto felt his form was improving daily. “It was also a good day to build speed in the legs since they are still a bit lazy but I can feel my form getting better every day. Tomorrow, I know there is a small uphill finish but I haven’t been able to look at it closely. Again, we will have to be attentive but this is something we will see tomorrow. As I said before, the Dauphiné is a good test to see our form and a good opportunity to fine-tune it for the Tour de France. I have good sensations right now and I look forward to a week of great racing.”
Stage Result
1. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) Cofidis 04:27:53
2. Jens Debusschere (BEL) Lotto Soudal +00:00:00
3. Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora-Argon 18 +00:00:00
4. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) Dimension Data +00:00:00
5. Jonas Vangenechten (BEL) IAM Cycling +00:00:00
40. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:00:00
49. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff +00:00:00
86. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:00:00
142. Jesper Hansen (DEN) Tinkoff +00:00:35
143. Yuri Trofimov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:00:35
157. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:01:00
161. Michael Gogl (AUT) Tinkoff +00:01:00
162. Sergio Paulinho (POR) Tinkoff +00:01:00
GC After Stage 1
1. Alberto Contador (SPA) Tinkoff 04:39:29
2. Richie Porte (AUS) BMC Racing Team +00:00:06
3. Chris Froome (GBR) Team Sky +00:00:13
4. Dan Martin (IRL) Etixx-Quick Step +00:00:21
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Etixx-Quick Step +00:00:24
33. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Tinkoff +00:01:08
44. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Tinkoff +00:01:16
70. Jesper Hansen (DEN) Tinkoff +00:01:44
102. Yuri Trofimov (RUS) Tinkoff +00:02:15
117. Michael Valgren (DEN) Tinkoff +00:02:29
149. Michael Gogl (AUT) Tinkoff +00:03:25
152. Sergio Paulinho (POR) Tinkoff +00:03:30
