Jakob Fuglsang outshone Chris Froome and Richie Porte to win the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné to claim overall victory.
Astana's Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) celebrates his stage 8 win and overall victory at the 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday. Photo: Tim De Waele | <a href="http://www.tdwsport.com" target="_blank">TDWsport.com</a>
BONNEVILLE, France (AFP) — Astana’s Danish rider Jakob Fuglsang outshone defending champion Chris Froome and Australian Richie Porte to win the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné to claim overall victory on Sunday.
Fuglsang, a silver medallist in the road race event at last year’s Rio Olympics, went into the stage in third place.
But he managed to overhaul his rivals on a gruelling mountain ride, 115km long over three cols (Saisies, Aravis, Colombiere) before a final climb to the finish line at the Plateau de Solaison, high in the Alps. Fuglsang and Ireland’s Dan Martin attacked in the final 7km to set up the 32-year-old Dane’s second stage win in three days to claim the overall title.
Fuglsang soloed to the stage win, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Martin. Crucially, overnight leader Porte was 1 minute 15 seconds off the pace and Froome, who started the ride in second, a further 21 seconds adrift.
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Fuglsang’s victory meant he leapfrogged Porte in the overall standings, the Australian claiming second at 10 sec0nds with Martin rounding out the podium by 1 second over Froome, the three-time Tour de France winner.
Stage 8 results, top 10
1. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA, in 3:26:20
2. Daniel MARTIN, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :12
3. Louis MEINTJES, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :27
4. Emanuel BUCHMANN, BORA-HANSGROHE, at :44
5. Fabio ARU, ASTANA, at 1:01
6. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:02
7. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING, at 1:15
8. Chris FROOME, TEAM SKY, at 1:36
9. Rafael VALLS FERRI, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:41
10. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR, at 3:30
General classification, top 10
1. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA, in 29:05:54
2. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING, at :10
3. Daniel MARTIN, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 1:32
4. Chris FROOME, TEAM SKY, at 1:33
5. Fabio ARU, ASTANA, at 1:37
6. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 2:04
7. Emanuel BUCHMANN, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 2:32
8. Louis MEINTJES, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 3:12
9. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR, at 4:08
10. Rafael VALLS FERRI, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 4:40
“It’s amazing! I don’t know what to say. Even with jersey I can’t believe it, I’ve been close to the yellow jersey many times in my career,” Fuglsang said, dedicating the win to his pregnant wife.
“We tried to keep our positions on GC and it came down to a big big fight for the overall victory.
“We planned it very well with Fabio (Aru) attacking (with Alejandro Valverde in the col de la Colombiere) and everything went in our favour.
“We played really smart. Froome had to pull after Fabio and Valv. I tried to keep cool all day, and without pushing too much I went for the stage win and I got it all.”
The Dane said the victory was a warning shot at rival teams for the July 1-23 Tour de France.
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“There’s still a long way to the Tour but I’m really happy with my condition now. I’ll have to take it easy onto the Tour,” he said. “With Fabio we’ll form a good couple for the Tour. We’ll share the leadership and we have a good team.”
Stage 8 results
1. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA, in 3:26:20
2. Daniel MARTIN, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at :12
3. Louis MEINTJES, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at :27
4. Emanuel BUCHMANN, BORA-HANSGROHE, at :44
5. Fabio ARU, ASTANA, at 1:01
6. Romain BARDET, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:02
7. Richie PORTE, BMC RACING, at 1:15
8. Chris FROOME, TEAM SKY, at 1:36
9. Rafael VALLS FERRI, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:41
10. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR, at 3:30
11. Alberto CONTADOR VELASCO, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 4:10
12. Simon CLARKE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 4:28
13. Simon YATES, ORICA-SCOTT, at 4:43
14. Tiesj BENOOT, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 4:48
15. Sam OOMEN, TEAM SUNWEB, at 5:09
16. Pierre Roger LATOUR, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 8:05
17. Alexis VUILLERMOZ, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 8:21
18. Stef CLEMENT, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 8:22
19. Daniel NAVARRO GARCIA, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDIT, at 8:22
20. André CARDOSO, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 8:22
21. Jesus HERNANDEZ BLAZQUEZ, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 8:22
22. Warren BARGUIL, TEAM SUNWEB, at 9:21
23. Thomas DEGAND, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 10:04
24. Guillaume MARTIN, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 10:04
25. Vegard Stake LAENGEN, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 11:40
26. Roman KREUZIGER, ORICA-SCOTT, at 12:00
27. Oliver NAESEN, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 13:17
28. Ben O’CONNOR, DIMENSION DATA, at 13:57
29. Grega BOLE, BAHRAIN MERIDA, at 13:57
30. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, DIMENSION DATA, at 13:57
31. Antwan TOLHOEK, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 14:47
32. Jasha SÜTTERLIN, MOVISTAR, at 15:13
33. Sander ARMEE, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 15:35
34. Peter KENNAUGH, TEAM SKY, at 15:45
35. Janez BRAJKOVIC, BAHRAIN MERIDA, at 16:00
36. Thomas VOECKLER, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 16:51
37. Diego ULISSI, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 16:57
38. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA, at 16:57
39. Tony GALLOPIN, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 17:47
40. Kilian FRANKINY, BMC RACING, at 17:47
41. Richard Antonio CARAPAZ MONTENEGRO, MOVISTAR, at 17:54
42. Maurits LAMMERTINK, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 18:00
43. Daryl IMPEY, ORICA-SCOTT, at 18:05
44. Julien EL FARES, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 18:37
45. Serge PAUWELS, DIMENSION DATA, at 19:04
46. Delio FERNANDEZ CRUZ, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 19:26
47. Michael GOGL, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 20:29
48. Petr VAKOC, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 20:29
49. Romain SICARD, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 20:45
50. Tim DECLERCQ, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 21:03
51. Ben HERMANS, BMC RACING, at 21:23
52. Andrew TALANSKY, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 21:37
53. Jhoan Esteban CHAVES RUBIO, ORICA-SCOTT, at 21:49
54. Jens KEUKELEIRE, ORICA-SCOTT, at 21:49
55. Damien HOWSON, ORICA-SCOTT, at 21:49
56. Jack HAIG, ORICA-SCOTT, at 21:49
57. Ben SWIFT, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 21:49
58. Danilo WYSS, BMC RACING, at 21:49
59. Dylan VAN BAARLE, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 21:49
60. Koen BOUWMAN, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 22:07
61. Lennard HOFSTEDE, TEAM SUNWEB, at 22:37
62. Michael VALGREN ANDERSEN, ASTANA, at 22:37
63. Marco MINNAARD, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 23:32
64. Christian KNEES, TEAM SKY, at 24:56
65. Brent BOOKWALTER, BMC RACING, at 25:23
66. Jay Robert THOMSON, DIMENSION DATA, at 26:22
67. Scott THWAITES, DIMENSION DATA, at 26:22
68. Frederik BACKAERT, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 26:22
69. Alexey VERMEULEN, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 26:22
70. Manuele MORI, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 26:22
71. Julien VERMOTE, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, at 26:22
72. Dimitri CLAEYS, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDIT, at 26:22
73. Matteo BONO, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 26:22
74. Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 26:22
75. Haimar ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 26:22
76. Brendan CANTY, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 26:22
77. Dion SMITH, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 26:22
78. Axel DOMONT, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 26:22
79. Jorge ARCAS PEÑA, MOVISTAR, at 26:22
80. Bert DE BACKER, TEAM SUNWEB, at 26:22
81. Nathan BROWN, CANNONDALE-DRAPAC, at 26:22
82. Sven erik BYSTRØM, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 26:22
83. Jesus HERRADA LOPEZ, MOVISTAR, at 26:22
84. Quentin PACHER, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 26:22
85. Thierry HUPOND, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 26:22
86. Brian NAULEAU, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 26:22
87. Romain COMBAUD, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 26:22
88. Nils POLITT, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 26:22
89. Pieter VANSPEYBROUCK, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 26:22
90. Phil BAUHAUS, TEAM SUNWEB, at 26:22
91. Silvio HERKLOTZ, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 26:22
92. Johannes FRÖHLINGER, TEAM SUNWEB, at 26:22
93. Enrico BATTAGLIN, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 26:22
94. Julien SIMON, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDIT, at 26:22
95. Bakhtiyar KOZHATAYEV, ASTANA, at 26:22
96. Anthony TURGIS, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDIT, at 26:22
97. Evaldas SISKEVICIUS, DELKO-MARSEILLE PROVENCE KTM, at 26:22
98. Yoann OFFREDO, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 26:22
99. Nicholas ROCHE, BMC RACING, at 26:22
100. Tony MARTIN, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 26:22
101. Sergei CHERNETSKI, ASTANA, at 26:22
102. Chris HAMILTON, TEAM SUNWEB, at 26:22
103. Yukiya ARASHIRO, BAHRAIN MERIDA, at 26:22
104. Daniel MORENO, MOVISTAR, at 26:22
105. Alessandro DE MARCHI, BMC RACING, at 26:22
106. AMAEL MOINARD, BMC RACING, at 26:22
107. Michal KWIATKOWSKI, TEAM SKY, at 26:22
108. Ian BOSWELL, TEAM SKY, at 26:22
109. Imanol ERVITI, MOVISTAR, at 26:50
110. Angelo TULIK, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 26:50
111. Christoph PFINGSTEN, BORA-HANSGROHE, at 27:10
112. Arnaud DEMARE, FDJ, at 27:10
113. Jérémy MAISON, FDJ, at 27:10
114. Mickael DELAGE, FDJ, at 27:10
115. Ignatas KONOVALOVAS, FDJ, at 27:10
116. Rick ZABEL, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 27:10
117. Michael MORKOV, KATUSHA-ALPECIN, at 27:10
118. Cyril LEMOINE, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CRÉDIT, at 27:13
119. Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, WANTY-GROUP GOBERT, at 27:25
120. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, TREK-SEGAFREDO, at 27:25
121. Youcef REGUIGUI, DIMENSION DATA, at 27:25
122. Olivier LE GAC, FDJ, at 27:40
123. Federico ZURLO, UAE TEAM EMIRATES, at 28:28
124. Amund Grondahl JANSEN, LOTTONL-JUMBO, at 30:06