Westra wins on Finaut-Émosson

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Astana’s Lieuwe Westra finally got his win at the Critérium du Dauphiné, putting in a last-minute attack after a long and desperate chase to secure the sixth stage in the mountaintop finish at Finhaut-Emosson. With only 150 meters to go, he caught and passed Katusha teammates Yury Trofimov and Egon Silin, who finished second and third on the day.

The lead in the race passed from Chris Froome (Sky) to Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) in what was a nail-biting showdown on the final climb. The Spaniard had stayed with the favourites before launching an attack with less than two kilometers to go. Froome either couldn’t go with him, or waited too long, and Contador easily made up more than the 12 seconds that had previously held him in second place.

"You don't know what you have until the very end and a lot of riders were broken out there today,” Contador said. “It was a great battle and I was happy to be able to measure myself against those around me. The race isn't over yet."

Contador now goes into the final stage with a lead of eight seconds over Froome. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) moved up from fourth to third, at 39 seconds back. Belkin’s Wilco Kelderman had been unable to maintain the final pace and dropped back near the top of the climb and is now in fourth place, 59 seconds down.

Westra and the Katusha duo had been part of an escape group of 14 riders, which got away 30km into the stage. Trofimov burst the group on the penultimate climb, taking off solo before being joined by his teammate for the final climb. Westra seemed to have been dropped, but re-appeared in the final two kilometers and somehow managed to catch and pass the two leaders at the last minute to take the win. The stage victory was somewhat of a redemption after placing second to Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) during the previous stage.

"I was not so good in the final [climb] and I was dropped, but I took my own pace up hill and I felt much better,” Westra said. “To take it in the last 200 meters was crazy, fabulous but crazy."

Contador had timed his successful attack perfectly. Froome didn’t follow immediately, but waited, relying on teammate Richie Porte until the final kilometer to put up a blistering counterattack. Hampered perhaps by his injuries from the previous day's crash, he was unable to keep his pace up and suffered in the closing straight. Talansky and Garmin teammate Ryder Hesjedal were the only ones able to follow Froome, and the Briton faded enough for the pair to pass him and finish fourth and fifth on the stage.

Yellow jersey changes hands as the “queen” stage ends on the Finaut-Émosson

Four riders didn’t take to the start of the Dauphine’s “queen” stage. Yoann Offredo (FDJ.fr), Michal Kwiatkowski (OPQS), Jack Bobridge (Belkin) and Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) all decided to end their race early, while Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto) dropped out early in the stage.

Westra seemed determined to make up for his narrow loss in Friday’s stage, attacking after 30km as the course started up its first climb of the day. He was eventually joined by Silin and Trofimov, Hesjedal, Julian Alaphillippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol).

After 50km and the day’s first climb, the Cat.2 Cote des Gets, the sextet had built up a lead of some four minutes. Shortly thereafter, a chase group caught them and a larger group of 14 was formed. The newcomers were Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling), Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale), Greg van Avermaet (BMC), Lars Boom (Belkin) and Daniel Schorn (NetApp-Endura).

The larger group built up the gap slowly but surely, and after 60km it was 5:25 minutes.

Di Marchi had joined the breakaway group with a purpose. He won the second and third climbs to build up his lead in the mountain rankings, ensuring that he would wear it going into Sunday’s final stage.

With 60km to go, the gap had hit the six-minute mark, putting Westra in the virtual leader’s jersey. From there the gap skyrocketed to 7:45 minutes. Interestingly, Sky still did not react, but left it up to Tinkoff-Saxo to start a determined chase.

The gap dropped to seven minutes as the final two climbs approached. Race organizers had managed to shoehorn to HC climbs into the final 30km. The first to come was the Col de la Forclaz, a 12.6km climb with an average gradient of 8.2 per cent.

Hesjedal was the first to kick things up on the penultimate climb, picking up the speed and breaking down of the group. Trofimov slipped away, to be followed by only Hesjedal and Gallopin.

Behind them, Sky finally kicked in a few riders to help with the chase, and riders were dropping off the back as the gap came down to the five-minute mark with 22km to go. Froome still had helpers around him, but he was closely followed by Contador and Nibali.

Silin and Westra moved back up to the leaders, but Trofimov dropped them all and took off solo as the summit approached. He took the mountain points, and his teammate Silin was alone behind him, no doubt looking to move up and help his captain. The gap had increased again as well, nearing the six-minute mark back to the Sky-led field.

The action started on the descent. The two Katusha teammates came together and worked hard to increase their lead. They had 5:22 minutes as they started up the closing climb.

In the increasingly smaller chase group, both Contador and Nibali made efforts to get away. But the descent was not difficult enough to make a difference and Sky calmly roped the two back in.

The Finhaut-Emosson may have had an average gradient of eight per cent, but it had sections up to 17 per cent. Sky pushed the pace as fast as it could, with riders dropping off from the back of the bunch – but all of the top names remained together.

Up front, the two Katusha riders entered the final five kilometers with roughly four minutes in hand. The select chase group of climbers behind got smaller and smaller, as Nieve turned the screws and forced the pace even higher. Only 10 riders remained together with about five kilometers to go.

Westra, who had initiated the day’s break, never gave up hope and within the final two kilometers he came within sight of the two leaders. He gave his all to join them with roughly 200 meters to the line, just in time to launch his sprint and win the stage.

The two kilometer marker was also important to the chase group. Kelderman paid tribute to the brutal pace and dropped back. Moments later, Contador – only 12 seconds behind Froome in the GC – attacked and quickly built up a lead. Nieve had by this time burned out and Porte had taken over the lead work. He was unable to close down the gap, though, and Froome continued to sit on his teammate’s wheel while the Spaniard got away.

Froome jumped at a blistering pace in the last kilometer taking Talansky and Hesjedal with him. Not only was the move too late, the Garmin duo slipped around him on the way to the finish line.

Contador took fourth on the stage, 1:33 minutes behind the winner, but more importantly 20 seconds ahead of Froome, who finished seventh on the stage.

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