Michal Kwiatkowski fastest in prologue at Critérium du Dauphiné
Jun 03 2018 08:47 pm CET
Photo of Michal Kwiatkowski © Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com
Michal Kwiatkowski has won the prologue in the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Sky rider was the fastest on a 6.6 kilometre course through Valence, beating Jos van Emden and Gianni Moscon by respectively one and three seconds. The Pole also takes the first leader's jersey.
The first test of this year's Critérium du Dauphiné was a 6.6 kilometre long time trial through Valence, on a completely flat course. This promised a fight for the first yellow jersey between the powerhouses of the peloton, many of which started in the first hour.
At 12:08 Johan Le Bon (Vital Concept) was the first rider to leave the ramp. He set a time just below 8 minutes, but his time would not last. The hot seat hosted a number of riders, as Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data, 7'43"), Alexander Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott, 7'36")and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal, 7'30") all set the fastest time at the finish. It was not until Jos van Emden crossed the line that the situation stabilised for a bit. The LottoNL-Jumbo rider finished the course in 7'26", being faster than time-trial specialists as Patrick Bevin (BMC), Jonathan Castroviejo (Sky) and Matthias Brändle (Trek-Segafredo).
For a time it seemed like Van Emden's time was unbeatable, until Michal Kwiatkowski was one second faster at the intermediate checkpoint. The Polish Sky rider held on to this advantage in the second part and replaced Van Emden in the hot seat. Sky seemed to have saved the best for last, as Gianni Moscon finished in third place a few moments later, only three seconds down of the fastest time.
Team Sky's GC leader, Geraint Thomas, was the last rider that could threaten Kwiatkowski's top time. However, the Welshman crashed after a few kilometres, continuing a streak of bad luck in stage races this year. G eventually lost 21 seconds back on his Polish team mate who took the victory.
With the victory Kwiatkowski also leads the GC. For the pole this is his fifth win of the season.
By Siebe Kok
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