Canadian Derek Gee continues his momentum at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Hugo Houle’s teammate at Israel – Premier Tech concluded the sixth stage strongly on Friday by finishing fourth at the top of the Allevard collar.
The Slovenian Primoz Roglic, involved in the massive fall which forced the interruption of the fifth stage the day before, was the first to cross the finish on Friday. The BORA hansgrohe rider had the help of his teammate Aleksandr Vlasov to beat the Italian Giulio Ciccone by 8 seconds at the end of the race. Vlasov followed in third place, 11 seconds behind the winner, who also took the leader’s jersey.
The 174.1 km course was the first race in a series of three mountain stages which will complete this 76th Critérium du Dauphiné. In addition to the Côte-Saint-André hill and the Col du Granier, the riders were treated to the climb of the Collet d’Allevard at the conclusion of the stage. It was on this 11.2km climb at 8.4% that Derek Gee accelerated, just under 3km from the finish.
The winner of the third stage was unable to follow the attack of Roglic and Vlasov in the last kilometer. He crossed the finish line 13 seconds behind the winner.
“I’ve never been in this position before. To look around and see that I’m surrounded by these cyclists, in a small group, it’s pretty surreal! I wasn’t able to respond to all the attacks, but I’m happy to have been able to give a little more at the end,” mentioned the Canadian in a press release from his team. He maintains his fourth place in the provisional general classification, just three seconds off the podium.
The Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick Step) was unable to maintain the pace of Gee and the other leaders on the final climb. He placed eighth (42 seconds) and ceded the yellow jersey to Primoz Roglic.
Member of today’s breakaway, Mason Hollyman was the first cyclist from Israel – Premier Tech to shine on Friday. The Briton, however, fell in the Col du Granier before returning to the road within the peloton. For his part, Hugo Houle finished 74th (13 minutes 43 seconds) and now occupies 82nd place overall.
The seventh stage will start in Albertville on Saturday and will cover 155.3 kilometres. It will include four categorised climbs including the one at the Samoëns 1600 station at the finish.