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Criterium du Dauphine 2019: Stage 8

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Bonjour and welcome to the live coverage of the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

As the CN blimp takes height above the Alps, the riders are in the neutralised sector.

There 115 left in the race.

111km remaining from 113km

The stage starts with a climb out of Cluses and so is perfect for attacks from riders trying to get into the break of the day.

These are the categorised climbs of the day. 

Woods confirmed he wouldn't start today on social media after suffering with a stomach problem. It was his first abandon since 2016.

He added: 

103km remaining from 113km

Alaphilippe is chasing every point because he knows a rival could go in the break and score a late haul of points.

New race leader Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) has an eight second lead over Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and 20’ over Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First).

"I know the stage is only 113km long but it's going to be a hard 113km," Fuglsang said after signing on in the leader's yellow jersey.

95km remaining from 113km

The 12 are: 

Looking at those names, teams are targeting the stage victory and trying to place riders up the road for possible attacks later from their GC leaders.  

Alaphilippe obviously chasing the KOM points. But Haig is there  for Adam Yates later, Van Baarle too, for Poels.  

Allez loulou! Alaphilippe is the first to the top of the  côte de Rond after 14.5km and so has mathematically won the King of the Mountains competition.

Here's Loulou in the blue polka-dot jersey.

89km remaining from 113km

Astana is leading the peloton for Fuglsang.

81km remaining from 113km

To get an idea of how today's stage check out our full stage report and photo gallery from Saturday's rain-soaked stage. 

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The next climb is the Pas de Morgins (cat. 3) after 76km of racing.

48km remaining from 113km

The British rider eased up from the peloton, and stopped. 

He had clearly told his teammates to continue because they did not stop with him. 

47km remaining from 113km

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Initial reports suggest Yates has been fighting a fever. 

Meanwhile the break of 13 attackers push in pursuit of the stage victory. 

37km remaining from 113km

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The stage 7 winner is only  28 seconds down on Fuglsang. There is also a ten-second time bonus awarded to the stage winner.

Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) has also been distanced. 

20km remaining from 113km

The riders are  about to start the 8.5km Côte des Rives climb. 

The attacks are already coming from riders in the break. There is also the race  behind amongst  the GC rider.

Riders are being spat out of both groups due to the high speed. 

19km remaining from 113km

Now Haig and Kuss take off, with Hagen trying  to follow them. 

17km remaining from 113km

Behind Movistar is helping Inoes set a fast pace.

15km remaining from 113km

We mentioned that Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) had been distanced. 

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Haig and van Baarle are swapping turns on the 4% road. Their lead on the GC group is up to 2:00.

They will surely fight for the stage victory now.

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1km remaining from 113km

Van Baarle and Haig are playing games, neither want to lead out. 

Van Baarle leads out with 150m to go and is too strong for Haig. 

Here comes Hagen to take third at 50 seconds. 

Behind Pinot tries to surge but Fuglsang  is onto him. 

The GC sprint in at 2:01, with Fuglsang the overall winner. 

This is the top ten for the stage:

This is the final General Classification of the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine.

Bernhard Thevenet helps Fuglsang pull on the winner's yellow jersey. 

Dylan van Baarle gave Team Inoes their second consecutive stage victory at the Dauphine, just a few days after Chris Froome's terrible crash. 

"The plan was that me and Gianni Moscon would go in the breakaway to try and help Wout (Poel) but it turned out a bit differently, I’m so happy," van Baarle said.

Meanwhile about 150km away stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse is over.  

Here's the Astana blue limo. 

This is the moment van Baarle won the sprint.

It was van Baarle's fourth career victory but his first at WorldTour level.

Fuglsang smiled on the final podium. 

"I jumped in the blue limousine and they rode me to the finish," Fuglsang joked. 

This is the final podium of the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine.

Fuglsang's victory makes him a logical contender for the Tour de France. He was not afraid of his next big goal.

He agreed he is in the form of his life. 

To understand the full story on  Fuglsang's victory and see our photo gallery of all the action, click here.

Thanks for joining us for the live coverage of the Criterium du Dauphine. 

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