Saint-Vallier, Thursday, June 3rd 2021 – Only 24 hours after a disappointing ITT, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) surprised everyone to snatch the stage win millimetres ahead of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious). The Italian sprinter claims his third place of 2nd in five stages, ahead of Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech). The peloton celebrated the World Bicycle Day with a full-on battle from the start. Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step), 3rd overall, attacked as soon as the flag dropped and the pace was relentless until the finish in Saint-Vallier, where Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) held on to the yellow and blue jersey 1’’ ahead of Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech). Geraint Thomas claims his first victory in France since the 2018 Tour and moves up to 6th place in the general classification ahead of the three mountain stages capping off this 73rd edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Thomas: “I didn’t think I had it on the line”
Geraint Thomas: “It wasn’t planned. I knew that Bahrain Victorious didn’t have many guys left. I heard on the radio there was a gap and I went all in. I didn’t think I had it on the line. Poor man, Colbrelli went past so fast. It’s great to get that win for sure. Yesterday, I probably didn’t have great legs and I died in the second half. It’s nice to bounce back. It was a tense stage with the wind. And it’s good to get that win. This week-end will be a real test and we’ll see how it goes.”
