Critérium du Dauphiné (st. 7)

Colombian goes from afar into final climb of Dauphiné's Queen stage, continues to test his legs one month before the Tour; dropped from the GC group with 2km left, the Movistar Team leader now sits in 11th place overall.

Under a torrential deluge, Wout Poels (INS) crowned himself atop the Montée de Pipay as winner of the Queen stage in the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, a short route -just over 130km- yet restless and demanding, with four rated ascents and a long final climb where the Movistar Team sought for the day’s victory.

With Rubén Fernández caught after making part of the early breaks, the Spaniard put himself at service of his leader Nairo Quintana, into a group of favourites progressively shrunk by the Telefónica-backed squad’s work. The strong turns by Fernández, alongside Carlos Verona and Eduardo Sepúlveda, led into an attack by the ‘Cóndor’, 11km before the end, bridged by Polish champion Michal Kwiatkowski (INS), who anticipated his team-mate’s winning move.

The wear and tear from his attempt, seeking to make the difference against the other big favourites, was paid by Quintana -whose form progression remains on the challenges ahead in July-, who conceded over 40″ at the finish, dropped back with 2km to go, to now sit in 11th place overall, 1’24” behind Jakob Fuglsang (AST). The Colombian and his team-mates will continue to test his legs and fight for a good result at Sunday’s mountain showdown, finishing atop the Swiss Champéry.

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto