Standing at the summit finish at Vaujany you could almost sense the inevitable ending.
When it came, though, it was a breathlessly efficient and calculating dethroning of a race leader, with Chris Froome (Team Sky) crowned the new king in a Criterium du Dauphine that has already provided a number of twists and sub-plots.
Today's story started with Mikel Landa skipping away on the lower slopes of the final climb and acting as the carrot for Alberto Contador’s Tinkoff team to chase. In truth, only the metronomic pace of Roman Krueziger was up the task, with the Czech all-rounder stretching the GC riders as the road twisted and turned towards the sky.
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Landa, looking back at every hairpin, would rise out the saddle each time Krueziger inched closer, thus wearing down Contador's last defences. Could the race leader not see his fate was already sealed?
As Landa toyed, Froome moved to the back of the group. It appeared that he was cracking but when Krueziger raised the pace he was only playing into Team Sky's hands.
When Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) surged clear Contador, Romain Bardet (AG2R) and Richie Porte (BMC Racing) were the only ones who followed. Froome, meanwhile, just moved to the front of the remaining pack and kept the tempo at a steadier pace.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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