Geraint Thomas surprises and wins in Dauphine stage 5, Pöstlberger retains GC lead
Jun 03 2021 10:33 pm CET
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Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers) has taken the victory of the fifth stage at the Criterium du Dauphine after a last-kilometre attack.
The stage was 170.4 kilometres long between Saint-Chamond and Saint-Vallier over a rolling route that included three climbs of the third category, one of the fourth and a last one of the second category, before descending to the finish line. After several attacks on the first climb of the day, a group of five managed to break free and included Kasper Asgreen, Tim Wellens, Julien Bernard, Cyril Gautier and Tsgabu Grmay.
Bora-hansgrohe took the lead of the pack to control the gap as Asgreen was a threat for the Yellow and Blue jerseys of Lukas Pöstlberger. With a bit more than a hundred kilometres to go, Ryan Mullen, Jasper Suyven and Josef Cerny joined the escape and managed to increase the gap to the almost two minutes.
The last man of the breakaway to be caught by the speed of the pack was Cerny with 43 kilometres to go, and soon after Sven Eryk Bystrom tried his luck and successfully created a gap of more than a minute but was reeled back in just before the start of the last climb of the day. Then Lawson Craddock launched an attack and managed to get away but was caught with 2.2 kilometres remaining by a pack that was led by a Bahrain Victorious that was working hard for a second stage victory for Sonny Colbrelli.
With one kilometre to go, and just after a closed curve, Thomas attacked and got away from the rest. The peloton tried its best to catch him and Colbrelli got very close to do it, but the photo-finish showed that the winner of the 2018 Tour de France crossed the finish line in the first position.
Thomas climbed to the sixth overall position and got his revenge after a disappointing time trial, and Pöstlberger maintained the lead of the General Classification.
REPORT: Geraint Thomas surprises and wins in Dauphine stage 5, Pöstlberger retains GC lead https://t.co/pbVkct3oeT#Dauphine pic.twitter.com/o9IwlRU7ZY
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) June 3, 2021
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