Criterium du Dauphine: Bouwman wins stage 3 as the break holds off the sprinters
De Gendt retains race lead before key time trial
In the age of the radio earpiece, it has become increasingly rare for a day earmarked for the sprinters to end in anything other than a mass finish, and when Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and his five breakaway companions slipped clear inside the opening two kilometres of stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, it seemed as if they were merely providing some early entertainment.
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A little over four hours later, the same sextet was still lingering just ahead of the peloton, defying the odds as they hold off the pursuit of the sprinters' teams. When the race reached Tullins, Bouwman emerged as the surprise stage winner, outsprinting Evaldas Siskevicius (Delko Marseille Provence) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) to claim the first win of his professional career.
"I still can't believe it," Bouwman said afterwards. "I know that my girlfriend, my parents and all my friends are looking on television and this is my first pro win, and it's in the Dauphiné too, which is a really big race. I can't believe it."
Bouwman began the day in the polka dot jersey of king of the mountains, having spent most of stage 2 off the front of the bunch as part of the échapée matinale. The Dutchman was out to repeat the feat on Tuesday, and he escaped up the road inside the opening two kilometres of the stage. He was joined in the endeavour by his teammate Alexey Vermeulen, Bryan Nauleau (Direct Energie), Frederik Backaert, and the Delko Marseille Provence duo of Quentin Pacher and Edvaldas Siskevicius.
"I came here with the goal to go in the break. I'm not a rider who can go with the best climbers or best sprinters, so today we had a really strong breakaway, with everyone pulling very hard," Bouwman said.
The sextet covered some 47 kilometres in a brisk opening hour of racing, establishing a maximum advantage of 6:45 as the Lotto Soudal team of race leader Thomas De Gendt was content to allow them some early leeway.
A rare mistake
Shortly afterwards, the sprinters' teams began to take up the reins of the pursuit, with Nacer Bouhanni's Cofidis cohort the first to make inroads into the break's advantage, clipping it back to rather more manageable dimensions. When Arnaud Démare's FDJ squad and Alexander Kristoff's Katusha-Alpecin teammates joined the chase, it seemed as though the stage was heading ineluctably towards a bunch finish.
With 50 kilometres to go, Bouwman et al had a buffer of three minutes, and that had dropped to two minutes by the time they entered the final 30 kilometres. At that juncture, the sprinters' teams were, if anything, concerned that they might peg back the escapees too soon, and face a late flurry of opportunistic attacks. The six leaders were allowed to linger a little further. It was a costly – and, at this level, very rare – miscalculation.
"In the end, with 20km to go, we believed we could make it," Bouwman said. "I told my teammate Alexey that I felt really strong and so he pushed really hard on the front."
The cohesion of the break was undoubtedly helped by the fact that LottoNL-Jumbo and Delko Marseille Provence had two riders apiece in the move, while Backaert and Nauleau pulled their weight throughout, too. Their smooth collaboration saw the escapees reach the final 15 kilometres still with 1:40 in hand on the bunch, and deep into the final 10 kilometres, their margin still hovered above a minute.
Behind, teams including Dimension Data and Bora-Hansgrohe put their shoulders to the wheel, but no one team was willing – or able – to take command for a long stint, and the pursuit was a fitful one. When a Team Sky delegation moved fluidly towards the front in the final five kilometres, simply to keep Chris Froome out of harm's way, it was clear that the sprinters' teams had not calibrated their efforts correctly.
A late surge from FDJ did little to change affairs. The escapees still had a buffer of 40 seconds with two kilometres to go, and it was testimony to their unity that they maintained most of that advantage by the time they passed under the flamme rouge with a kilometre to go.
Even with the stage win on the line, there were no late attacks among the escapees, and instead they entered the finishing straight together to sprint it out for the win. A tiring Vermeulen led out the sprint, and his effort was enough to string out the group. Bouwman duly launched his effort from fourth position, and he had enough in the tank to claim victory ahead of Siskevicius, while Backaert had to settle for third.
"In the end I made it and so I'm really happy. It was perfect," said the 23-year-old Bouwman, a native of Ulft in the Netherlands and a professional since 2016.
Eleven seconds later after Bouwman had crossed the line, Démare led home the peloton, pipping Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) to 7th place. De Gendt finished safely in the body of the peloton to retain his overall lead for another day. The Belgian carries an advantage of 48 seconds over Alex Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) into Wednesday's individual time trial, a 23.5-kilometre test from La Tour-du-Pin to Bourgoin-Jallieu where the general classification contenders will be expected to come to the fore.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 4:06:06 |
2 | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
3 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
4 | Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie | |
5 | Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
6 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
7 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | 0:00:11 |
8 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie | |
9 | Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
10 | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
11 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | |
12 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin | |
13 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
14 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
15 | Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
16 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
17 | Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
18 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
19 | Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
20 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott | |
21 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
22 | Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates | |
23 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
24 | Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
25 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
26 | Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
27 | Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
28 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | |
29 | Youcef Reguigui (Alg) Dimension Data | |
30 | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
31 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
32 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
33 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
34 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
35 | Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
36 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates | |
37 | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie | |
38 | Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
39 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
40 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | |
41 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
42 | Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott | |
43 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal | |
44 | Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors | |
45 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
46 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team | |
47 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida | |
48 | Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
49 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
50 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
51 | Stef Clement (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
52 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
53 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac | |
54 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | |
55 | Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
56 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors | |
57 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) FDJ | |
58 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team | |
59 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
60 | Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
61 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team | |
62 | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
63 | Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
64 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
65 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
66 | Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
67 | Rafael Valls (Spa) Lotto Soudal | |
68 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
69 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
70 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
71 | Andre Fernando S Martins Cardoso (Por) Trek-Segafredo | |
72 | Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin | |
73 | Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott | |
74 | Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data | |
75 | Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | |
76 | Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
77 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
78 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Orica-Scott | |
79 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
80 | Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team | |
81 | Rubén Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
82 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
83 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
84 | Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
85 | Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
86 | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky | |
87 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
88 | Julien Morice (Fra) Direct Energie | |
89 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
90 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
91 | Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
92 | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
93 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac | |
94 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data | |
95 | Julien El Farès (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
96 | David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ | |
97 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data | |
98 | Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac | |
99 | Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac | |
100 | Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
101 | Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
102 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
103 | Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
104 | Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
105 | Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
106 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | |
107 | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
108 | Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
109 | Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
110 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
111 | Sergei Chernetckii (Rus) Astana Pro Team | |
112 | Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
113 | Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data | |
114 | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
115 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
116 | Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
117 | Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ | |
118 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie | |
119 | Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
120 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb | |
121 | Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
122 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
123 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | |
124 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ | |
125 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Sunweb | |
126 | Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac | |
127 | Delio Fernández Cruz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
128 | Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
129 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie | |
130 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:00:39 |
131 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:00:45 |
132 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:00:47 |
133 | Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
134 | Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
135 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida | |
136 | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:50 |
137 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) FDJ | 0:00:51 |
138 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb | 0:00:55 |
139 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:01:00 |
140 | Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:02 |
141 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb | 0:01:04 |
142 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
143 | Michael Mørkøv (Den) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:01:20 |
144 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky | 0:01:56 |
145 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ | |
146 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | 0:01:59 |
147 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac | |
148 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-Scott | 0:02:25 |
149 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky | |
150 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
151 | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:02:39 |
152 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:00:11 |
153 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:03:19 |
154 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:03:26 |
155 | Jeremy Maison (Fra) FDJ | 0:03:27 |
156 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:04:02 |
157 | Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:07:04 |
158 | Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
159 | Adrien Niyonshuti (Rwa) Dimension Data | |
160 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
161 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
162 | Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
163 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates | |
164 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
165 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie | |
166 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | |
167 | James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal | |
168 | Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
169 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors | |
DNS | Floris De Tier (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
DNS | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
DNF | Leopold König (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 25 | pts |
2 | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | 22 | |
3 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | 20 | |
4 | Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie | 18 | |
5 | Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 16 | |
6 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | 14 | |
7 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | 12 | |
8 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie | 10 | |
9 | Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 8 | |
10 | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb | 6 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 2 | pts |
2 | Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 4:06:06 |
2 | Alexey Vermeulen (USA) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
3 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
4 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:00:11 |
5 | Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
6 | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
7 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
8 | Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
9 | Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
10 | Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
11 | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
12 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
13 | Jack Haig (Aus) Orica-Scott | |
14 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates | |
15 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team | |
16 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
17 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo | |
18 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
19 | Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott | |
20 | Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors | |
21 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
22 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
23 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac | |
24 | David Gaudu (Fra) FDJ | |
25 | Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac | |
26 | Brendan Canty (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac | |
27 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
28 | Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
29 | Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
30 | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
31 | Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data | |
32 | Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
33 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
34 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ | |
35 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac | 0:00:45 |
36 | Damien Howson (Aus) Orica-Scott | 0:00:47 |
37 | Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:25 |
38 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:00:11 |
39 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:03:26 |
40 | Jeremy Maison (Fra) FDJ | 0:03:27 |
41 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:07:04 |
42 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
43 | Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
44 | James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal | |
45 | Petr Vakoc (Cze) Quick-Step Floors |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Team Lotto Nl - Jumbo | 12:18:29 |
2 | Delko Marseille Provence KTM | |
3 | Wanty - Groupe Gobert | 0:00:11 |
4 | Direct Energie | |
5 | UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:22 |
6 | Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
7 | Movistar Team | |
8 | AG2R La Mondiale | |
9 | Orica - Scott | |
10 | Bora - Hansgrohe | |
11 | Team Sky | |
12 | Team Dimension Data | |
13 | Bahrain - Merida | |
14 | Astana Pro Team | |
15 | Team Sunweb | |
16 | Lotto Soudal | |
17 | FDJ | |
18 | Team Katusha Alpecin | |
19 | Quick - Step Floors | |
20 | BMC Racing Team | |
21 | Cannondale Drapac Team | |
22 | Trek - Segafredo |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 12:37:04 |
2 | Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:48 |
3 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:03 |
4 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:01:07 |
5 | Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
6 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 0:01:09 |
7 | Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates | |
8 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
9 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal | |
10 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
11 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
12 | Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky | |
13 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
14 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | |
15 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
16 | Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
17 | Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott | |
18 | Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac | |
19 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott | |
20 |