Critérium du Dauphiné: Kennaugh wins stage 1

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Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) held off the chasing peloton to upset the form book and take victory on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné in Albertville. Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) won the bunch sprint behind to take the runner-up spot, with Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) in third.

Kennaugh had been part of a group that had broken clear of the peloton on the final climb, setting off in chase of the remaining escapees. They swept up the last of the break and as it looked like the group was about to come back together with just under two kilometres remaining, Kennaugh jumped clear and nobody was able to follow.

The peloton quickly took back Kennaugh’s companions, leaving the British champion in a lone battle for the line. Kennaugh gained around 10 seconds on the bunch and while it wasn’t much it was sufficient. The sprinters lined up behind the Manxman, ready to unleash their power, but it was too little too late. With just under 50 metres to go Kennaugh had time to sit up and take in the adulation as he crossed the line to victory two seconds ahead of the pack.

Kennaugh took 10 bonus seconds on the line, ensuring a small buffer at the top of the overall standings. The Team Sky rider goes into the second stage with a six-second advantage over Modolo in the general classification.

How it happened

The opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné was the first chance to see many of the Tour de France contenders since the end of April. Chris Froome (Team Sky), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) were all present and correct in Ugine. It was expected to be a sprint day and the GC contenders were looking for a simple day out on the bike.

Unfortunately for Gert Dockx, the race was over before it had even begun. After less than five kilometres of racing the Lotto-Soudal rider was caught up in a hefty crash. While his fellow crashers were able to make it back to the peloton, Dockx abandoned and was later diagnosed with a broken collarbone and elbow. The crash disrupted the peloton somewhat and it wasn’t until the 15-kilometre mark that a break did finally form.

Making it clear of the bunch were Maarten Wynants (LottoNL-Jumbo), Romain Guillemois (Europcar), Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) and Björn Thurau (Bora-Argon 18). They weren’t deemed as a threat and the quickly built up a lead of more than four minutes by the time they reached the circuits after 33 kilometres. That ballooned to just over seven minutes before the peloton began to take control.

The quartet worked well together throughout, with Teklehaimanot jumping off the front in the early climbs to take the mountain classification points. The Eritrean would have enough points to put him in the polka-dot jersey with two climbs remaining. As the four escapees took the bell for the final lap, the gap had dropped down to well under a minute.

Thurau had shown his strength on the previous climb and he pushed on again on the final ascent of the day. His efforts were enough to distance Wynants and Guillemois, with only Teklehaimanot able to stay with him. He gave a second dig to shake the MTN-Qhubeka rider near the top of the climb and forged on alone with 15 kilometres remaining. Behind him several riders tried their hand at chasing him down. Daniel Oss (BMC) managed to get as close as 10 seconds before a group of four joined him.

With less than 10 kilometres to the finish, they finally caught Thurau and the group continued to hold a small gap over the peloton until Kennaugh struck out with less than two kilometres remaining.

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