Peter Kennaugh (Sky) soloed clear to win atop Alpe d’Huez on stage 7 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, while Richie Porte (BMC) moved closer to final victory after he distanced Chris Froome (Sky) on the final ascent to stretch his overall lead to beyond a minute with one stage to go.
It was a tale of two races on the Dauphiné’s penultimate day, which brought the peloton over the Col de Sarenne for a novel approach to a familiar finish at Alpe d’Huez. Out in front, Kennaugh and his former teammate Ben Swift (UAE-Emirates) began the final, truncated haul towards to the line as the final survivors from the early break of 17 riders, while behind, Porte kept tabs on his overall rivals before unfurling a crisp attack of his own in the finale.
It was only to be expected that Kennaugh – battling for a berth on Sky’s Tour team – would be among the strongmen as the break hit the mighty Col de Sarenne, but Swift’s presence on the front was perhaps more surprising. Swift was impressive, however, first in clawing his way back up to the initial selection that formed on the Sarenne, and then in tracking Kennaugh’s acceleration near the summit.
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14 kilometres separated the top of the Sarenne from the finish, and the two Britons combined well on the ridge that wound around to the final 3.7-kilometre haul to Alpe d’Huez. As soon as the road began to climb once again, however, their brief alliance dissolved, as Kennaugh, mindful of Swift’s finishing speed, attacked on the steepest section.
Swift refused to yield, stalking Kennaugh all the way up the climb, but he eventually had to settle for second place, 12 seconds behind the Manxman. “It’s incredible. It's always hard to win a mountain stage like this but I usually have good form in June and July,” Kennaugh said. “Chapeau to Ben for staying with me up there. Initially he was there to help [UAE-Emirates teammate Diego] Ulissi, but we've known each other since we were nine years old so I knew he's someone who’s able to climb. I wasn't confident I could beat him in a sprint, so I had to get rid of him at the bottom of the last climb.”
While Kennaugh was grinding to stage victory, his team leader Froome was began to show signs of faltering. A spirited Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) attack aside, the expected flurry of accelerations from the GC men on the Col de Sarenne never quite materialised, though when Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) tried a probing effort near the top, it was notable that the yellow jersey Porte was immediately onto his wheel, while Froome was a little slower in closing him down.
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