A long awaited honor for Samuel Sanchez as he wins stage 7 in the Criterium Dauphine, Froome still leads overall
It was a long awaited victory for Euskaltel and Samuel Sanchez who had never won a stage of the Dauphiné before. The 2008 Olympic champion and King of the Mountains of the 2011 Tour de France, hadn’t won a race since the Tour of the Basque country last year.
The celebration says it all as Sanchez wins stage 7. Photo: ©ASO/G. Demouveaux
Unhappy with his result at the Giro d’Italia (12th), he came to the Dauphiné with strength and hunger, attacked at the right time in the Col du Noyer and outsprinted his last rival, Jakob Fuglsang, in a trouble free stage for race leader Chris Froome.
Following an acceleration by Sylvain Chavanel, 22 riders went clear of the peloton after 25 kilometres of racing and a few other skirmishes earlier on: Sergio Paulinho (TST), Jurgen Van den Broeck (LTB), Alexey Lutsenko and Kevin Seeldrayers (AST), Ivan Santaromita (BMC), Laurent Didier and Tony Gallopin (RLT), Travis Meyer (OGE), Jérôme Coppel (COF), Gorka Izagirre (EUS), Matteo Bono (LAM), Pierre Rolland and David Veilleux (EUC), Sylvain Chavanel (OPQ), Alessandro De Marchi (CAN), Angel Madrazo and Eloy Teruel (MOV), Thomas De Gendt (VCD), Nikias Arndt and Thomas Damuseau (ARG), Arnaud Gérard (BSE), David De La Cruz (TNE).
They reached Bourg d’Oisans at the bottom of l’Alpe d’Huez with an advantage of 3.30 that remained steady all the way to the top, as Team Sky kept the situation under control. At the summit, the time gap was 3.40.
On the ascent to Col d’Ornon, the front group led by Van den Broeck, increased its advantage to 5.40 at the top but it was still a long way to go with a head wind to fight against on their way to the Col du Noyer. Dropped earlier on, Chavanel accelerated on a downhill with 33km to go and was rejoined by De Marchi.
The Italian from Cannondale stayed away on the climb until he got reined in with 14km to go. The first man to pass him was Alberto Contador who rode as a domestique for his team-mate Michael Rogers (TST) looking for the third place on the final podium tomorrow.
Contador’s pace was too high for former Yellow jersey Rohan Dennis (GRS) who lost contact but kept suffering in order to remain the best young rider. Under two kilometers before the summit of Col du Noyer, Samuel Sanchez (EUS) opened up a gap over the front group of climbers. He almost got caught at the top but it was only Jakob Fuglsang (AST) who managed to make the junction.
The duo continued with an advance of 25 seconds that proved to be enough before tackling the 4km-long final ascent to the ski resort of Superdévoluy. The pace they set didn’t allow the counter-attackers like Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT), Dani Navarro (COF) and Richie Porte (SKY) to close the gap.
Sanchez outsprinted Fuglsang while Froome comfortably maintained his lead in the overall classification.
Chris Froome maintained his lead with authority on the stage, saying afterwards “This is one more day towards achieving my goal”, he explained. “I know it’s going to be another hard stage tomorrow, notably because we’ll ride above 2000 metres of altitude [at col de Vars] but I feel the situation is under control”.
“It’s gonna be a tough finale tomorrow but Richie [Porte] has the legs to be there in the final climb. Hopefully we’ll finish it off. We have the two first places on GC. We can be in a very similar situation at the Tour de France too, so it’s a good exercise. It won’t be the same race though.”
“There’ll be different teams with different objectives, like Saxo-Tinkoff was racing for third place on GC today. To have climbed l’Alpe d’Huez once was hard enough, so I can imagine what it’ll be like when we’ll do it twice on the same day at the Tour. Today was definitely a rehearsal. The downhill of col de Sarenne is tricky. It’s good to have done it.”
Samuel Sanchez meanwhile showed how much of a great champion he is by claiming a victory at a difficult time for his team Euskaltel. “I’ve suffered a lot, especially in the last three kilometers”, he said at the finish. “Fuglsang was very strong but I gave everything I had to beat him at the end.”
“It’s going to be wonderful for Euskaltel to start the Tour de France with this prestigious victory. We had just won two races [stages at the Tour of Castilla and Leon with Pablo Urtasun and Juan José Lobato] this year but nothing in the World Tour”.
“We didn’t get what we wanted from the Giro d’Italia, so it was good to keep going and come to here looking for something like this. Personally, I won’t race the Tour this year. I need to take a rest. It means a lot to me and the team to win at the Dauphiné. I dedicate it to my friend and team-mate Victor Cabedo who died a few months ago.â€
STAGE 7 Â RESULT
1 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel Euskaltel – Euskadi 05:26:14
2 FUGLSANG Jakob Astana Pro Team ,,
3 PORTE Richie Sky Procycling 00:15
4 MORENO FERNáNDEZ Daniel Katusha Team 00:16
5 CLEMENT Stef Blanco Pro Cycling Team ,,
6 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro Movistar Team ,,
7 FROOME Christopher Sky Procycling ,,
8 NAVARRO GARCIA Daniel Cofidis Solutions Crédits ,,
9 ROGERS Michael Team Saxo-Tinkoff ,,
10 CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto Team Saxo-Tinkoff 00:23
11 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim Katusha Team 00:30
12 TEN DAM Laurens Blanco Pro Cycling Team 00:53
13 NIEVE ITURALDE Mikel Euskaltel – Euskadi 01:00
14 VOECKLER Thomas Team Europcar 01:45
15 GENIEZ Alexandre Equipe Cycliste FDJ ,,
16 TAARAMäE Rein Cofidis Solutions Crédits ,,
17 CUNEGO Damiano Lampre – Merida 01:52
18 THOMAS Geraint Sky Procycling 02:06
19 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma – Quick-Step 02:07
20 DENNIS Rohan Garmin – Sharp 02:10
21 KENNAUGH Peter Sky Procycling ,,
22 BOOKWALTER Brent BMC Racing Team 02:22
23 HERNáNDEZ BLAZQUEZ Jesús Team Saxo-Tinkoff ,,
24 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar RadioShack – Leopard 02:32
25 TALANSKY Andrew Garmin – Sharp ,,
26 ROLLAND Pierre Team Europcar 03:03
27 DURET Sebastien Bretagne- Séché Environnement 03:05
28 PIMENTA COSTA MENDES José Joao Team NetApp – Endura 03:19
29 SILIN Egor Astana Pro Team 03:21
30 BARGUIL Warren Team Argos – Shimano 03:23
31 KOREN Kristjan Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
32 NERZ Dominik BMC Racing Team ,,
33 GUILLOU Florian Bretagne- Séché Environnement 04:19
34 ASTARLOZA CHAURREAU Mikel Euskaltel – Euskadi ,,
35 FLECHA Juan Antonio Vacansoleil – DCM ,,
36 SULZBERGER Wesley Orica GreenEDGE 05:49
37 MEERSMAN Gianni Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
38 SERPA PEREZ Jose Rodolfo Lampre – Merida ,,
39 POELS Wout Vacansoleil – DCM ,,
40 BUSCHE Matthew RadioShack – Leopard 06:17
41 BAGOT Yoann Cofidis Solutions Crédits 06:26
42 SEPúLVEDA Eduardo Bretagne- Séché Environnement 07:01
43 MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi Euskaltel – Euskadi 08:42
44 VACHON Florian Bretagne- Séché Environnement ,,
45 MOLARD Rudy Cofidis Solutions Crédits ,,
46 LAENGEN Vegard Stake Bretagne- Séché Environnement ,,
47 MOREIRA PAULINHO Sergio Miguel Team Saxo-Tinkoff ,,
48 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen Lotto Belisol Team ,,
49 CHAVANEL Sylvain Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
50 DE MARCHI Alessandro Cannondale Pro Cycling Team 08:47
51 GAUTIER Cyril Team Europcar 09:43
52 SLAGTER Tom-Jelte Blanco Pro Cycling Team 09:58
53 CLARKE Simon Orica GreenEDGE ,,
54 HERRADA LOPEZ Jose Movistar Team ,,
55 TANKINK Bram Blanco Pro Cycling Team 10:57
56 VANENDERT Dennis Lotto Belisol Team ,,
57 GALLOPIN Tony RadioShack – Leopard ,,
58 LE MEVEL Christophe Cofidis Solutions Crédits ,,
59 SANTAROMITA Ivan BMC Racing Team ,,
60 GRIVKO Andriy Astana Pro Team 12:26
61 MATE MARDONES Luis Angel Cofidis Solutions Crédits 12:27
62 HOOGERLAND Johnny Vacansoleil – DCM 13:41
63 IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel RadioShack – Leopard 14:12
64 MEYER Travis Orica GreenEDGE ,,
65 KIRYIENKA Vasil Sky Procycling 15:04
66 SZMYD Sylwester Movistar Team 16:06
67 SERRY Pieter Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
68 KING Benjamin RadioShack – Leopard ,,
69 HOWES Alex Garmin – Sharp ,,
70 SICARD Romain Euskaltel – Euskadi ,,
71 FAIRLY Caleb Garmin – Sharp ,,
72 GAVAZZI Francesco Astana Pro Team ,,
73 LADAGNOUS Matthieu Equipe Cycliste FDJ ,,
74 PATERSKI Maciej Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
75 FEDRIGO Pierrick Equipe Cycliste FDJ ,,
76 GERRANS Simon Orica GreenEDGE ,,
77 LUTSENKO Aleksey Astana Pro Team ,,
78 CORDEEL Sander Lotto Belisol Team ,,
79 VANDEWALLE Jurgen Lotto Belisol Team ,,
80 CHERNETSKIY Sergey Katusha Team ,,
81 SARMIENTO TUNARROSA Jose Cayetano Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
82 VELITS Martin Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
83 FONSECA Armindo Bretagne- Séché Environnement ,,
84 BODNAR Maciej Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
85 BIDEAU Jean Marc Bretagne- Séché Environnement ,,
86 LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto Katusha Team ,,
87 DIDIER Laurent RadioShack – Leopard ,,
88 GARATE Juan Manuel Blanco Pro Cycling Team ,,
89 BARTA Jan Team NetApp – Endura ,,
90 ERVITI OLLO Imanol Movistar Team ,,
91 COPPEL Jérome Cofidis Solutions Crédits ,,
92 VICHOT Arthur Equipe Cycliste FDJ ,,
93 GOOS Marc Blanco Pro Cycling Team ,,
94 QUEMENEUR Perrig Team Europcar ,,
95 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan Movistar Team ,,
96 DAMUSEAU Thomas Team Argos – Shimano ,,
97 HUSHOVD Thor BMC Racing Team ,,
98 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald Sky Procycling ,,
99 LAGUTIN Sergey Vacansoleil – DCM ,,
100 QUINZIATO Manuel BMC Racing Team ,,
101 VANDBORG Brian Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
102 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel Orica GreenEDGE ,,
103 BERHANE Natnael Team Europcar ,,
104 GERARD Arnaud Bretagne- Séché Environnement ,,
105 GESLIN Anthony Equipe Cycliste FDJ ,,
106 MATTHEWS Michael Orica GreenEDGE 17:55
107 LINDEMAN Bert-Jan Vacansoleil – DCM 19:45
108 DE GENDT Thomas Vacansoleil – DCM ,,
109 BOECKMANS Kris Vacansoleil – DCM ,,
110 SEELDRAEYERS Kevin Astana Pro Team ,,
111 MAES Nikolas Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
112 MARTIN Tony Omega Pharma – Quick-Step ,,
113 CANUTI Federico Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ,,
114 SCHILLINGER Andreas Team NetApp – Endura ,,
115 GARCIA AMBROA Ricardo Euskaltel – Euskadi ,,
116 EIJSSEN Yannick BMC Racing Team ,,
117 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David Team NetApp – Endura ,,
118 BILBAO LOPEZ DE ARMIENTA Pello Euskaltel – Euskadi ,,
119 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka Euskaltel – Euskadi ,,
120 SøRENSEN Nicki Team Saxo-Tinkoff ,,
121 TANNER David Blanco Pro Cycling Team ,,
122 DOCKER Mitchell Orica GreenEDGE ,,
123 CLARKE William Team Argos – Shimano ,,
124 MADRAZO RUIZ Angel Movistar Team ,,
125 VEILLEUX David Team Europcar ,,
126 REZA Kevin Team Europcar ,,
127 BAZAYEV Assan Astana Pro Team ,,
128 WELLENS Tim Lotto Belisol Team ,,
129 ARNDT Nikias Team Argos – Shimano 21:03
130 SOUPE Geoffrey Equipe Cycliste FDJ 24:15:00
131 IGNATENKO Petr Katusha Team ,,
132 TERUEL ROVIRA Eloy Movistar Team ,,
133 BONO Matteo Lampre – Merida ,,
134 BAUER Jack Garmin – Sharp 25:46:00
135 KREDER Michel Garmin – Sharp 25:48:00
136 FERNANDEZ DE LARREA Koldo Garmin – Sharp ,,
137 WETTERHALL Alexander Team NetApp – Endura ,,
138 DUGGAN Timothy Team Saxo-Tinkoff ,,
139 RATHE Jacob Garmin – Sharp 27:10:00
140 VALENTIN Tristan Cofidis Solutions Crédits 27:12:00
141 STANNARD Ian Sky Procycling 28:12:00
142 ARIEL RICHEZE Maximiliano Lampre – Merida 28:31:00
143 LOPEZ GARCIA David Sky Procycling 34:53:00
144 ELISSONDE Kenny Equipe Cycliste FDJ 45:19:00
145 BOUHANNI Nacer Equipe Cycliste FDJ
OVERALL
1 FROOME Christopher Sky Procycling 25:00:13
2 PORTE Richie Sky Procycling 00:51
3 ROGERS Michael Team Saxo-Tinkoff 01:37
4 MORENO FERNáNDEZ Daniel Katusha Team 01:47
5 NAVARRO GARCIA Daniel Cofidis Solutions Crédits 01:49
6 FUGLSANG Jakob Astana Pro Team 02:04
7 CLEMENT Stef Blanco Pro Cycling Team 02:32
8 VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro Movistar Team 02:47
9 DENNIS Rohan Garmin – Sharp 02:48
10 CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto Team Saxo-Tinkoff 02:56
11 TAARAMäE Rein Cofidis Solutions Crédits 03:21
12 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel Euskaltel – Euskadi 03:45
13 TEN DAM Laurens Blanco Pro Cycling Team 03:49
14 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma – Quick-Step @ same time
15 GENIEZ Alexandre Equipe Cycliste FDJ 05:10
16 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar RadioShack – Leopard 05:40
17 VOECKLER Thomas Team Europcar 06:55
18 THOMAS Geraint Sky Procycling 07:31
19 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquim Katusha Team 08:39
20 BARGUIL Warren Team Argos – Shimano 08:40
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