Jakob Fuglsang wins Criterium du Dauphine

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The short final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné had a bit of everything. Four mountain passes and multiple storylines were crammed into 115 breathless kilometres of racing, as Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) triumphed at Plateau de Solaison to snatch the overall race victory from Richie Porte (BMC) by just 10 seconds, while Chris Froome (Sky) faded in the closing kilometres to fall short of a podium place.

Porte set out from Albertville with a lead of 1:02 over Froome atop the general classification, and doubtless expected his former teammate to be the principal threat to his yellow jersey, but instead it was Fuglsang who emerged as the main challenger – and, eventually, the victor – on the final haul to the stage 8 finish line after Porte had been distanced by the podium contenders on the penultimate ascent, the Col de la Colombière.

When Froome hit the front of the reduced leading group at the base of Plateau de Solaison, with Porte chasing at a deficit of 1:30, it looked as though the Dauphiné was about to bend to his will. Seven kilometres from the summit, however, Fuglsang danced clear in the company of Dan Martin (Quick-Step Floors) and the dynamic of the race suddenly changed.

Fuglsang proceeded to edge clear of Martin, who nonetheless kept pace with the Dane thereafter to finish second on the stage, 12 seconds down. Although Froome continued to set the tempo in the group of favourites, he was steadily conceding ground both to Fuglsang, who was 30 seconds clear with five kilometres to go, and to Porte, who was a minute down at the same juncture.

On the upper ramps of the climb, Fuglsang was still tapping out a metronomic pace, while Froome was betraying signs of suffering. Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) and Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) were sufficiently emboldened as to attack Froome with 3 kilometres to go, just as Porte was bridging back up to him. Meintjes sparkled as the gradient bit, and he danced his way to third on the stage, 27 seconds down.

Having produced a measured fightback, Porte looked to have salvaged his maillot jaune as he entered the final three kilometres, but up front Fuglsang was still piling on the pressure and maintaining an advantage of around a minute over the Australian. Fuglsang never once faltered in the closing kilometres and proceeded to claim stage honours, before enduring an anxious wait for Porte to finish.

With 1500 metres to go, Porte accelerated and shed himself of Froome, but impressive though his turn of speed was, he was unable to make inroads into Fuglsang's lead. He crossed the line in seventh place on the stage, precisely 1:15 behind Fuglsang, who claimed the overall Critérium du Dauphiné victory by 10 seconds thanks to the stage winner's 10-second time bonus.

Froome came home in eighth place, 1:36 down, and his travails in the final kilometre or so were such that he slipped to fourth overall, as Dan Martin deservedly moved onto the GC podium for the second successive year after an aggressive afternoon of racing.

Other attackers were less fortunate. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) had kickstarted the denouement by sallying clear on the Colombière with Fabio Aru (Astana), but the Spaniard conceded 3 minutes to drop to 10th overall. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) had tracked all the important moves until the final climb, but he dropped out of the top 10 altogether after cracking in the finale. It was that kind of day, and it belonged, rather unexpectedly, to Jakob Fuglsang.

So often a supporting act, Fuglsang's stage win on Friday was his first-ever WorldTour win, and he admitted to a degree of surprise at claiming two more in the Alps on Sunday. "I don't know what to say," Fuglsang smiled. "We tried to keep our GC, that was the plan of the day, but it came down to a big, big, big fight and with me and Fabio we played it really good, and then of course also we had a few things that played in our favour. Froome had to pull after Fabio and Valverde and he went so hard. In the end, Daniel Martin attacked and I just followed."

How it unfolded

Ever since Contador almost blew the 2011 Tour de France apart on the road to Alpe d'Huez, ASO has increasingly warmed to the value of short mountain stages as a means of animating its races, and Sunday's final leg of the Dauphiné was a further indication of the success of the format.

The attacking began on the first ascent, the Col des Saisies, where Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) led alone over the top, having jumped away from an unwieldy early break, but of greater interest were the probing accelerations of Froome and Valverde, which served to rid Porte of most of his teammates.

The dose was repeated on the second-category Col des Aravis, where Froome produced another fierce acceleration after his teammates Michal Kwiatkowski and David López had infiltrated an earlier counter-attack on the climb. Froome began the descent in the company of Kwiatkowki, but they were soon reeled in by the yellow jersey group. Shortly afterwards, Gallopin, too, was pegged back, and with 50 kilometres to go, Porte and all of his challengers were in a leading group of 22 riders.

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The brief détente came to an end on the slopes of the mighty Col de la Colombière, where Valverde and Aru punched clear. The Sardinian was particularly impressive as they opened a lead of a minute over the yellow jersey group, and their attack prompted Martin, Fuglsang and Bardet to launch a counter-offensive of their own and close to within 30 seconds. This chasing trio were in turn joined by a Contador-led group towards the top of the Colombière, but it was notable that neither Porte nor Froome elected to follow when the Spaniard accelerated.

Instead, an apparently struggling Froome stayed rooted to Porte's wheel and the race leader, for his part, seemed unsure of how best to proceed. Less than a kilometre from the summit, Froome unleashed a fierce acceleration that brought him clear of Porte, and it looked as though the Australian had fallen victim to a form of rope-a-dope, as Froome proceeded to bridge across to Contador, Fuglsang, Martin and company on the descent of the Colombière.

On the approach to the foot of the final, hors categorie haul to Plateau de Solaison, Valverde and Aru had just 10 seconds in hand on the Froome and Fuglsang group, while Porte had only youngsters Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) and Sam Oomen (Sunweb) for company as he gave chase some 1:30 behind.

It seemed a straightforward pursuit between Porte and Froome, but nothing is ever straightforward on the final day of the Dauphiné. A race that is supposed to provide indications for the Tour instead leaves us with more questions than answers.

Porte's form all week looked that of a Tour winner in waiting, and his pursuit on the final climb was steadfast, yet squandering Dauphiné victory in this could allow some familiar doubts to seep into his psyche ahead of La Grande Boucle.

Froome, for whatever reason, is clearly not (yet) the man of 2016, far less of 2013 or 2015, and his rivals will have taken heart from his struggles here. Contador and Valverde are others shy of their best, but Martin, in particular, Aru and Bardet will all be encouraged by how their races played ultimately out.

And Fuglsang, seventh overall on his sole GC tilt at the 2013 Tour d France, will hope that he has done enough to merit co-leadership (at the very least) in Astana's Tour team. "It's still a long way to the Tour. I'm really happy with my condition now, and we'll have to see if I'm too far already. I'll have to take it easy until the Tour," he said. "As it looks now, me and Fabio we be a couple in the Tour, and we'll have a strong team for GC."

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