Critérium du Dauphiné 2023: Jonas Vingegaard crucifies the competition at the top of the Croix de Fer and consolidates his yellow jersey

With more than 4,000 meters of elevation gain and a high-flying triptych made up of the Col de la Madeleine, the Col du Mollard and a finish at the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer, victory seemed promised to a champion and that did not miss. True to the maxim that attack is the best defence, yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard won the queen stage of this Critérium du Dauphiné on Saturday June 10, two days after his first success at Salins-les-Bains.

In the Col du Mollard, his Jumbo-Visma went to the front of the peloton to catch up one by one with the few men who came out at the start of the stage. An isolated time at the front, the Belgian Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) was caught at the foot of the final ascent. Taking advantage of a strong stint from his Hungarian teammate Attila Valter, the Dane embarked on a solo act over the last five kilometers to beat Briton Adam Yates (41 “) and Australian Jay Hindley (53 “). on the line.

Starting from Porte-de-Savoie 1’10” ahead of his runner-up, Jonas Vingegaard relegated all his pursuers to more than two minutes. A chasm knowing that the average gap between the first two in the general standings is 33″ on average over the last five editions of the Dauphiné.

Three weeks before the Tour de France, Vingegaard impresses

Given the untouchable status of the yellow jersey, Adam Yates will probably be satisfied with having stolen second place overall from Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën), thanks to a better climb of the Iron Cross. The UAE Emirates runner is 2’11” behind Jonas Vingegaard, the Australian at 2’24”.

Three weeks before the Tour de France, the outgoing winner is sending a strong message to the competition while his great rival, Tadej Pogacar, is recovering from his wrist injury which occurred in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. On the French side, Julian Alaphilippe limited the damage but slipped from the podium (7th at 3’48”) while Guillaume Martin retained his 8th place. Dropped six kilometers from the finish, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) on the other hand, conceded three minutes on the stage, confirming that he is not yet in his best shape.