Critérium du Dauphiné: Richie Porte wraps up overall victory after explosive final stage

Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) won the 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné after a hectic final stage Sunday.

The Aussie defended his overnight lead through a short, explosive stage that saw Mark Padun (Bahrain-Victorious) take his second solo win in two days.

“I’ve been second here twice and I lost second place in the final kilometer one year as well, so to finally win it I’m over the moon,” Porte said afterward. “It makes all the time away from my wife worth it. This team Ineos Grenadiers were absolutely brilliant today.”

Padun attacked out of the breakaway on the HC Joux Plane climb before holding off a two-man pursuit, doubling up his breakaway win Saturday.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) finished second on the stage, Patrick Konrad (Bora Hansgrohe) took third.

https://twitter.com/dauphine/status/1401521683807223809

Porte sealed the overall after being pressured by a group of GC contenders through the final 5km climb to the line.

Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Premier Tech), Ion Izagirre (Astana Premier Tech) and Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citroen) all made moves in the shallow ascent to Les Gets, forcing Porte forced to shut them down after Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) dropped out of the lead group due to a crash.

Thomas chased back to the GC contenders and made contact with just 2.5km to go and immediately took control at the front of the bunch, warding off any dangerous attacks as Porte sat on his wheel.

Porte, Lutsenko and Thomas all crossed the line together, meaning there was no change to the final podium. Lutsenko finished second at 17-seconds, Thomas third at 29-seconds.

Le vainqueur de ce #dauphiné 2021! 🤩

The winner of this #Dauphiné 2021! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Txpy0mhN9W

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 6, 2021

Porte’s GC victory makes for a fresh addition to his burgeoning week-long stage race palmarès, which includes two titles at both Paris-Nice and Tour Down Under.

He will now head to the Tour de France, where he will ride as superdomestique for Thomas.

“I’m under no illusions what my job is at the Tour,” Porte said. “But to win this race means so much to me, it’s a race I’ve always enjoyed so to finally win it at 36 years old is a sweet moment.”

Padun makes the all-star break

An 18-rider group packed with punch escaped early on, with Padun, Vingegaard and Konrad all in the move.

Padun attacked out of the bunch at the base of the tough Joux-Plane climb as the escape splintered behind. Vingegaard and Konrad chased as a pair, but Padun continued pressing to take a 1:20 lead as he reached the summit of the HC climb.

Ineos Grenadiers, Movistar lock horns on the Joux Plane

Ineos Grenadiers put numbers on the front on the Joux Plane in a bid to prevent dangerous attacks. A flurry of moves went out the front, with Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) the only one to make an attack stick as he went in pursuit of the break.

Movistar tried to take control in the top half of the climb. Two of the Spanish team’s riders that had dropped out of the break linked up with their teammates in the bunch and they collectively squeezed the tempo.

Movistar’s acceleration initially dropped a handful of Ineos riders, only for several of their own team to start to struggle, leaving just Miguel Ángel López and Enric Mas in contention.

With Movistar running out of steam, Ineos Grenadiers again went to the front, reeling in a handful of attacks from the group before GC threats.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) fell off the pace of the GC group midway up the climb after making a long-range attack in the mountain finish Saturday.

Descent almost undoes Ineos Grenadiers

Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) went clear over the descent before Porte briefly lost the wheel in the tricky downhill, leaving Thomas and a handful of others to go clear.

Thomas looked in control in the high-speed descnt only to lose his wheel on a tight bend. The disruption caused by Thomas’ crash allowed Porte and the GC contenders to come back together after the Aussie had briefly lost contact just a few kilometers before.

What a gritty ride from @GeraintThomas86. He bridges back to the lead group and can now support @richie_porte in the final kilometres 👊 #Dauphine pic.twitter.com/MvlkRbcpet

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 6, 2021

Thomas was left straggling around 30 seconds back as the rest of the yellow jersey challengers went into the decisive climb to the line, but the Welshman was able to regain contact at 2.5km to go before he took control of the pack on behalf of Porte.