Bradley Wiggins grabbed the biggest result of his road racing career today, successfully defending his yellow jersey on the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and winning the World Tour race. The British Sky Procycling rider and his team controlled things in the mountains and with key rivals Cadel Evans and Alexandre Vinokourov appearing unable to attack, the win was his.
The stage victory went to the Catalan rider Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who made the most of his Giro d’Italia form with a blazing attack 500 metres from the line. He kicked hard and immediately opened a huge lead, crossing the line at La Toussuire eight seconds ahead of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank).
“I knew this hill to La Toussuire and I knew it was useless to attack from far out” he said afterwards. “So many guys tried to break away before but it was always going to be decided in the last kilometre. I went very strongly, exactly where there were 400 metres of the steepest gradient.”
The win is his second in a row after his victory of yesterday. “I liked winning again today, I came to the Dauphiné for a stage win and now I got two!” he smiled. “This is for sure the nicest week of my cycling career so far, in terms of condition and sensations. I had never done the Dauphiné before because I was often at the Giro and the only year I’ve done the Tour de France, I went to the Tour de Suisse. Maybe I should have come to this race earlier, because it suits me to perfection.”
The GC contenders finished in the same group just behind Rodriguez, with Wiggins throwing his arms in the air and rolling in tenth. That saw him end the eight day race a considerable one minute 26 seconds ahead of Evans (BMC Racing Team) and one minute 49 up on Vinokourov (Astana).
Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma Lotto), the most aggressive of the GC contenders on the final climb, netted fourth, two minutes ten seconds off yellow. Rodriguez’s stage winning surge closed him to two minutes 50 seconds behind but, in essence, Wiggins was fully in control.
“The Dauphiné is a very historical race. When I look at the record book of the race, it’s wonderful to be part of it,” he enthused afterwards. “This is made of Tour de France champions. I don’t think that I’m on form too early before the Tour de France. You could see that I wasn’t at my best on the last climb. But I didn’t panic. I’m still in a period of training. The condition is coming and I think I got the biggest win of my pro career. For team Sky, it’s fantastic as well."
It gives him a major morale boost heading towards next month’s Tour de France, even if he must now retain his form until the mountain stages there. He said that he’s confident of doing so, and has upped his ambition as a result. “This year, all the races I’ve taken part in, it was for the win. It won’t be the case at the Tour de France. Winning the Tour de France against Andy Schleck and Contador is a big call. The top ten has always been the goal, but now with the confidence I got at the Dauphiné, the top six is the goal.”
Cadel Evans has finished second overall three times before, so today makes it four out of five years. He was bothered in the past to go so close, but not this time. “All things considered, I'm pretty happy with second for once,” he stated. “We were so closely matched here all week and the racing has been hard from start to finish each day. We didn't see the overall contenders winning many stages because it was so closely matched between the first three or four on the general classification.”
Evans revealed that he was below par in recent days. “I wasn’t feeling good, I’ve suffered from allergies this week. But I’m not disappointed. Second is still a good result. I’ll go home, rest a bit and resume training for the Tour de France.”
His directeur sportif John Lelangue is convinced that he is on course for a big July. “Finishing second here, winning Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie, and having a good Volta a Catalunya; we can be confident on the approach to the Tour de France,” he said.
As for third-placed rider Alexandre Vinokourov, he too saw the bright side to things. “The conclusion of the Dauphiné is positive because my condition has improved every day. In the climbs, I’ve managed to maintain a strong rhythm. The work done was good, it’s just a pity that I didn’t win any stage. In today’s finale, I hesitated a bit. I could have attacked but I stayed with the other guys at the end.
He was impressed by the race winner, but doesn’t feel that he can battle for the top step of the podium in July. “Wiggins has done a good race but I don’t think he can win the Tour de France. He managed to hold on in the climbs but Contador will be above this level.”
Contador has complained of tiredness after his Giro victory, though, so it remains to be seen if he will recover in time. If not, things could be closer between all the big guns next month.
How things played out:
Fifteen kilometres after the start, Andrey Zeits (Astana), Leonardo Duque and Tristan Valentin (Cofidis), Sébastien Minard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Alexandre Kolobnev (Katusha), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Julien Vermote (Quick Step) and Kristjian Koren (Liquigas) broke clear. They cooperated well and had a four minute 45 second lead after 50 kilometres.
Ten kilometres later, Pinot attacked on the Col de la Croix-de-Fer/Col du Glandon climb. He quickly build a minute’s lead while behind, French champion Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Rein Taarämae and David Moncoutié (both Cofidis) bridged across to the rest of the break. They were soon joined by Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and then many other of the big names.
Four kilometres from the summit, Rodriguez and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) surged clear. They were joined by Christophe Kern (Europcar) and closed to within 45 seconds of Pinot. The Frenchman led over the top, followed by Gesink, Kern and Rodriguez.
Voeckler was psyched by what was his final day in the French champions’ jersey before the nationals. He sped clear and rapidly closed down on Pinot, catching him before the bottom and continued on alone.
Robert Gesink set off in pursuit and caught Pinot with thirteen kilometres remaining. Behind, the yellow jersey group was one minute 21 seconds back at that point in time and comprised 17 riders.
Gesink was doing all the work and dragged Pinot back to Voecker with ten kilometres remaining. Meanwhile the yellow jersey group was being led by Rigoberto Uran (Sky Procycling) and was 45 seconds back at that point.
The gap continued to fall under Uran’s effort, and was down to 35 seconds with eight kilometres to go. Despite the fact that the GC contenders needed to take serious time out of Wiggins to take yellow, nobody from that group was willing to have a go at that point. Each passing kilometre made it more and more likely that Wiggins would be able to preserve his minute-plus advantage.
With just under six kilometres remaining, Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank SunGard) kicked clear and rocked his way up the slopes. There was no response behind and, if anything, the yellow jersey group slowed slightly. The gap was thirty seconds with five kilometres to go, but was dented a little when Davide Moncoutie (Cofidis) surged ahead. He was caught, though, paving the way for Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma Lotto) to put in a big surge of his own with 4.7 kilometres left. This was marked immediately by Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana). The others reeled them in while out front, Sorensen bridged across to the leading trio.
Van Den Broeck tried again without success, with Tony Martin (HTC Highroad) being the only casualty of his burst of speed. He was in a stubborn mood, though, and he surged again 3.7 kilometres from the line. Once again, Vinokourov sat on his wheel and refused to go through.
Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was next to try and got a gap 3.5 kilometres from the line. Van den Broeck and Vinokourov bridged and together they latched onto the back of the leaders three kilometres from the summit. Sorensen and Voeckler persisted to push ahead again, but another surge by Van Den Broeck and then a dig by Gesink brought everything together two kilometres from the line.
Wiggins was under pressure but still in contact; given his advantage starting the stage, he was already a certain overall winner of the race. His two closest challengers, Cadel Evans and Alexandre Vinokourov, had simply been unable to make the move they needed to do.
Kern drove the pace heading to the final kilometre, hoping that Voeckler had enough left to sprint for victory. The stage five winner buried himself until 500 metres to go, when Rodriguez rocketed clear. Evans tried to answer it but had nothing left.
The Catalan rider opened a huge gap and had plenty of time to celebrate; Pinot and Gesink were second and third, eight second s back, while Wiggins finished tenth in the group, celebrating his biggest road victory and giving Sky a very big 50th race win.