Critérium du Dauphiné: Wout van Aert wins stage 5 after peloton catches break in final 100m

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) took his second stage victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné after a dramatic finale of stage 5.

At times it looked like the peloton had mistimed its chase of the breakaway and the escape would succeed again. However, Van Aert overhauled the final members of the escape with just 100 meters to go to take his second victory and extend his lead in the overall classification.

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) pushed Van Aert all the way to the line and took second with Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) claiming third. Jan Bakelants (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) was the first member of the breakaway to cross the line in eighth place.

“It was a nervous final. In the beginning, it looked like the first controlled stage and we had the breakaway in check but they started to speed up and we kept losing ground so, in the final kilometers I was stressed that we would be just too short to catch them but, in the end, I passed them a few meters before the line and I could just win,” a relieved Van Aert said at the finish.

“I have to thank all of my teammates. I know that everybody says this after a victory but if you watch today all six others were there for me and it makes this victory for me even more special.

“Until the last kilometer, I was focused on catching the break and then I was quickly shifting into trying to do a good sprint. Luckily, I had Christophe [Laporte] with a master pull in the end. I asked the boys to do everything they could and if even our GC guys of 60 kilos are pulling in the front then you know you have to finish it off.”

BikeExchange-Jayco put much of the early work into trying to bring back the breakaway, but four men up front resisted the chase, and Ineos Grenadiers took up the pacesetting. A big surge from Filippo Ganna helped to cut down the leaders’ advantage, but the quartet could sense a chance at victory and kept pushing.

Even with the help of Jumbo-Visma in the final 15 kilometers, the break still looked like it might succeed. A slowing down inside the final kilometer before the sprint to the line proved to be just enough for the peloton to make the catch.

🏆 Cette fois c’est la bonne ! 🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert s’impose !

🏆 @WoutvanAert wins in Chaintré!#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/vXYd3nVccc

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 9, 2022

How it happened

With the terrain becoming increasingly mountainous over the final three stages, Thursday’s stage from Thizy-les-Bourgs to Chaintré would be the last chance for the sprinters to take something from the Dauphiné.

It wouldn’t be a straightforward sprint stage with several climbs to navigate, including two fourth category ascents inside the final 30 kilometers.

The 162-kilometer stage got off to a frenetic start with a brutal pace forcing several splits in the bunch. The race has been a successful place for the attackers this year and the lumpy roads would make another breakaway win a possibility, even in the face of a stern chase from the sprint teams.

A few small moves went off the front, but the peloton would be all together as it crossed the first climb of the day after nearly 30 kilometers of racing. Bakelants led the way over the KOM point and he pushed on afterward to begin what would become the break of the day.

Bakelants was eventually joined by Pierre Rolland and Sebastian Schӧnberger (both B&B Hotels-KTM), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), and Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies). Rolland, who is leading the mountains classification, dropped back from the break following the second ascent of the day — the second category Côte de Dun) after getting what he needed from the early climbs, leaving four riders up front.

With plenty of interest in the stage win from the bunch behind, the breakaway wasn’t given much slack and the lead barely got to a maximum of 2:40 before it started to come down again.

BikeExchange-Jayco was an ever-present force on the front of the peloton, trying to keep the four leaders in check for their sprinter Dylan Groenewegen. There was little help from the other teams, though Jumbo-Visma did put a man near the front, and the breakaway held on for some time.

#Dauphine 🇫🇷

We’re over the final climb with just 11km remaining & the gap is down to 40seconds. @GroenewegenD has been distanced slightly but is working to get back to the bunch 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/IDhfciYVxv

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) June 9, 2022

With 30 kilometers to go, the gap was just under two minutes and was not coming down as quickly as BikeExchange would have liked. Ineos Grenadiers was clearly unhappy with how quick the catch was being made and it put Ganna on the front to try and reel in the leading four.

The effort of the time trial world champion had a serious impact, bringing the leaders to within almost a minute with 15 kilometers remaining. The pace put plenty of riders in trouble over the final two climbs, including Groenewegen. After all of the work put in earlier on, Groenewegen only had two teammates to bring him back and around 40 seconds to make up in the final 10km.

The four breakaway riders were not going to go down without a fight and they dug deep to hold off the peloton, which now had Jumbo-Visma helping the chase. With just under seven kilometers to go, the break still had over 30 seconds and it was going to be another closely fought chase.

Everything, including the kitchen sink, was thrown into the chase but the four escapees kept pushing on. Thomas opened his sprint early in an effort to hold off the catch but Van Aert proved too strong for him and the Belgian would claim the victory on the line.