Criterium du Dauphine: Bouhanni wins in Saint-Vulbas

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Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) used his sprinting skills and a late surge to win the first road stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in Saint-Vulbas.

The 186km stage was a quiet affair but exploded in the final two kilometres as the Cofidis and Katusha trains clashed at high-speed, as they fought to control the lead out.

Bouhanni is not afraid to fight for a wheel and first clashed with Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), banging shoulder, handlebars and heads as they fought for the leadout wheel. He eventually let the Norwegian sit on his teammate but then jumped on Sam Bennett’s wheel – as the Irishman started his sprint early, and then accelerated past the him to win.

Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) came through to finish second in the sprint, with Bennett holding on for third place. Kristoff was blocked in during the sprint to the line and finished out of the top ten.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) finished safely in the peloton and so kept the overall race lead he secured by winning Sunday’s uphill prologue time trial. He leads Richie Porte (BMC) by six seconds, with Chris Froome (Team Sky) third overall at 13 seconds.

Froome was also involved in a scare in the final three kilometres as rider’s clashed and moved across the road. The Briton twice went close to losing his balance but stayed up and finished safely in the peloton.

Bouhanni le Boxeur

Bouhanni celebrated his eighth victory of the 2016 season with a series of boxing gestures after he crossed the line, dedicating his victory to boxer Mohammad Ali, who recently passed away. He combines boxing training with his winter training and revealed via social media that the only photo on show at his home is one of Ali.

"I said I wanted to dedicate a win to Muhammad Ali, It may not be a big thing but he represented a lot to me," Bouhanni said immediately after his win.

"I really happy, I wanted to win a stage at the Dauphine and now I’ve done it. In the sprint we touched quite a lot, including me with Kristoff. Bennett then launched up the right side and so I made my effort and I hung on in the last hundred metres."

"This is my fourth WorldTour win this season and my eighth win so far. I’m motivated by the big races, like the Dauphiné, the Tour de France. There will probably be another two sprints here, so we will try to win again."

A series of jabs before a final knockout blow

The 186km from Cluses to Saint-Vulbas took the 176-rider peloton from the French Alps to the banks of the Rhone river. Described as a flat stage, the first half of the day included three category four climbs but the riders enjoyed plenty of descents and valley roads as the race left the mountains for a day and headed west.

The two worked well together and quickly opened a four-minute lead on the peloton. At this point the Tinkoff team stepped in and took up the steady chase to keep the two in check. With Backaert losing 2:45 to Contador on Sunday’s uphill prologue time trial, he became the virtual race leader out on the road.

Backaert swept up the mountain points as the duo rolled along. However with only a single point awarded on each climb, he is no challenge to Contador, who kept the lead the climber’s competition. Of course, with Contador wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey, Chris Froome (Team Sky) wore the polka-dot jersey today but Porte will wear it on Tuesday because he is second in the climber’s competition.

The sprinter’s teams took over the chase from Tinkoff at the mid-point of the stage, with Cofidis and Katusha doing a lot of the work. Their efforts paid off as the gap came down gradually, ensuring that the stage would finish in a sprint.

Docker sat up with 20km to go, with Backaert caught a little later, with 13km to go. At this point the speed was high, lining out the peloton, but the sprinter’s teams tried to avoid riding on the front, allowing the Tinkoff and Team Sky squads to control the peloton before a vital left turn with two kilometres to go.

Froome avoided a spill just before the corner and after it the gloves came off, as the Cofidis and Katusha teams clashed three times, with riders banging shoulders, handlebars and heads as they fought for position. Katusha won the fight to position Kristoff but then Bouhanni hit back with his kick to follow Bennett.

Like his celebrations, Bouhanni’s sprint was a series of jabs before a final knockout blow.

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