Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) enhanced his already growing reputation as a breakaway specialist with a superb victory on the final day of the Criterium du Dauphine, as Chris Froome (Team Sky) managed to control one last attack from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and so secure overall victory.
A late surge to the finish by Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) gave him second on the stage and enough seconds to move up to third place overall, at 19 seconds. Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) went with him to hold onto second place, 12 seconds down on Froome but that cost Richie Porte (BMC) his place on the final podium. The Australia bumped shoulders and seemed to lock bikes with Froome as the attacks began. He lost a chance to jump after Martin, lost time and so slipped to fourth overall at 21 seconds. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) finished fifth at 35 seconds but had the minor consolation of taking the lead in the UCI WorldTour rankings.
Half way into the ascent Col du Noyer, with just 15km to race, Contador attacked twice and forced Froome to chase him alone. It was a brave move but Froome was there after his teammates dragged him across and they were joined by Bardet and Porte, as Martin and the others chased over the top. However the leading riders came back together on the descent and Froome’s bodyguards: Poels, Landa and Henao also got back on, to control the peloton and the fight for the overall classification until the final-kilometre surge.
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It was Froome’s third victory at the Criterium du Dauphine and the fifth for Team Sky, just three weeks out from the start of the Tour de France. Team Sky’s strength in depth made a significant difference during the key stages, allowing Froome to step in to defend his race lead only when under direct threat.
“It's a massive satisfaction to win the Dauphiné for the third time. It's a very important race in the calendar,” Froome said.
“Coming into this week, I was just happy fighting for the podium. Sitting here with the yellow-blue jersey is an amazing feeling. The last few days, we went flat out and today was no different. My teammates came back to help me control the race at the end. I knew via radio that Landa, Henao and Poels were coming across. But we almost crashed together near the end and that caused the gap that cost Richie [Porte] his spot on the podium. I feel sorry for him but he's in a fantastic form ahead of July. He'll be one of the main contenders at the Tour too.
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