Dauphine: Froome wins stage and now Leads

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Chris Froome wins mountain stage to take the lead in Criterium du Dauphine whilst Adam Yates is third and Dan Martin fourth on the stage

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Dauphine: Froome wins stage and now Leads

Chris Froome launched a stinging attack to take victory on stage five and move into the overall lead at the Criterium du Dauphine. The Brit accelerated hard on the final climb to Vaujany with 2.5 kilometres to go.

With just friend and former teammate Richie Porte remaining on his wheel, Froome dug deep in the final metres to edge clear by one second, taking a superb victory and with it the yellow and blue leader’s jersey.

Leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) became isolated as his team-mates looked to haul back the Basque star, placing an elite front group on the limit. Froome weathered the storm of a strong Dan Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) attack, before launching his own move with 2.5km to race.

Only Porte (BMC Racing) and Contador could follow, with the Spaniard eventually slipping back, finishing 21 seconds down to relinquish his jersey. Froome now leads the race by seven seconds heading into the weekend’s final pair of stages.

It’s an amazing feeling,” Froome says in the Telegraph. “It’s always good to win a race before the Tour de France. The team rode very well day to take me to the final climb in the best position. They set it up perfectly for me. Richie [Porte] was able to follow me. I didn’t expect to gain time on Alberto Contador on such a short climb but I know from past experiences that he never gives up. We’ll see what he’s got tomorrow. There’s still a hard stage to come tomorrow so I haven’t won the Dauphiné yet.”

Richie Porte, now second on GC, said of his ride, “The team was really good around me today so I’m happy with how things are. To be honest it was probably better than expected. It was a really hard day. Today showed that I’m in a good place. To ride away with Froomey like is a good sign. For the moment I’ll enjoy this, it’s a good result.”

“I knew it was hard from six to two kilometres but when Froomey attacked like that and you see guys crack, it gives you a bit more inspiration to keep pushing on. We still put good time into the other guys, so I’m happy with that. Both Froomey and I are in good form for July, we’re both going so well. It’s a little bit different to be riding for yourself and I’m quite enjoying it.”

“Obviously Contador didn’t have a good day but there’s still two more days to come, and it’s still not July. The goal now is to recover as best as possible for the Queen Stage tomorrow.”

The riders from Britian certainly had a good day and whilst Froome was riding to victory, Adam Yates and Dan Martin were duelling for third and fourth with Yates getting over the line just ahead of Martin.

2015 Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian winner Yates sprinted past Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quickstep) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) to take third and his DS praised the mature performance by Yates. “Adam (Yates) was fantastic in the finale, climbing with and then beating some of the worlds best is a really positive sign for the next two days and also for the big races we have coming up”.

Stage
1. Chris Froome (Team Sky) 3hrs 32mins 20secs
2. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) +1″
3. Adam Yates (Orica) +19″
4. Daniel Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step) same time
5. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff)
6. Romain Bardet (AG2R) +25″
7. Pierre Rolland (Cannondale) +27″
8. Bauke Mollema (Trek) same time
9. Louis Meintjes (Lampre)
10. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick-Step)

General classification:
1. Chris Froome (eam Sky) 21hrs 24mins 59secs
2. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) +7″
3. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) +27″
4. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step) +37″
5. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick-Step) +42″
6. Adam Yates (Orica) +52″
7. Diego Rosa (Astana) +1:08″
8. Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) +1:16″
9. Bauke Mollema (Trek) +1:21″
10. Louis Meintjes (Lampre) +1:27″

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