Criterium du Dauphine - Wout Poels: This win is a gift for Chris
Jun 16 2019 05:08 am CET
Photo of Wout Poels (c)Team Ineos
Wout Poels has taken the victory of the seventh stage of the Criterium du Dauphine. The rider also climbed five positions in the general classification and sits in the fifth place, 28 seconds behind Jakob Fuglsang.
This has been a difficult week for Ineos as Chris Froome crashed just before the fourth stage of the French race and Poels was close to him to see everything happening. Days later, and after recovering from the shock, the Dutchman attacked in the last stretch of the Queen stage and claimed the victory.
"I attacked a few times and (the GC group) didn't let me go, then going into the final kilometre it was a case of now or never and I gave everything," the Dutchman explained. "I am normally quite good in the bad weather - maybe the best way to keep warm is to pedal faster! For some reason, I always seem to go well in bad weather.
"It was hard to see what happened to Chris, obviously I was behind it when it happened, it gave me a little bit more motivation as he should be the leader, but then I had to take over. It’s really nice for the team to get a nice win and it’s a gift for Chris."
The rider made a move close to the flamme rouge and without looking back continued until he caught the front men and then in the last metres attacked again to take the stage's victory. "I felt pretty strong all day," Poels commented. "The team did an amazing job. 500 metres before the line, I thought it would be difficult to catch the two guys away but in the last corner, I came and just round over them. It’s very nice to win here.”
"One day to go, the legs are good so I’ll give it a good try to go for the overall win, but Fuglsang has been really good all year, he looks strong and he has a really good chance."
Criterium du Dauphine - Wout Poels: This win is a gift for Chris https://t.co/Ep6R0IpefH | @WoutPoels @TeamINEOS#Dauphine
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) June 15, 2019
?Alex BROADWAY pic.twitter.com/SZC6OOWfLY
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