Critérium du Dauphiné: Primoz Roglic wins stage 2 atop Col de Porte

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Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) took a comprehensive victory on stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, attacking 650 metres from the top of the Col de Porte to take over the race lead.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) took second place, eight seconds back, while Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounded out the podium ahead of a nine-man chase group on a day which saw a number of big names fall by the wayside.

Roglič had charged away from his competitors on a day which saw Team Ineos make much of the pace up the final hors catégorie climb. The British squad put in place their usual routine of setting a high pace before delivering a killer blow to the finish. Only when Pavel Sivakov peeled off with 2km to race, Egan Bernal didn't move, leaving Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) to pull the group towards the finale.

Sighter attacks from Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Buchmann came shortly after the leaders passed the flamme rouge, but it was Roglič – sat low in the saddle and pushing a high cadence – who managed to get away.

There was no effective response from behind as the Slovene powered off, least of all from Bernal, who looked far from his best. Instead, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) made a move for second place, but was caught on the rise to the line as Buchmann led the rest through the finish.

"It's a great result for our team," Roglič said after the finish. "Once again we show that we prepared right. The whole team did a really great job and I'm happy to finish on top again.

"We all knew about the hard climb at the finish and we started to control the race from the beginning. The guys are really strong so they managed it perfectly and in the end, I was happy to be able to win this.

"Egan [Bernal] is the Tour de France winner so he’s the strongest, or one of the strongest. But everyone is very prepared and you have to be the best in the end. It was quite a strange season. I’m happy with every race I can do this year and I’m really happy with the way it’s going."

Roglič now holds the race lead by 12 seconds from Pinot ahead of Friday's summit finish atop the Col de la Madeleine. Buchmann is third overall at 14 seconds, while Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Michael Schär (CCC Team) retain the points and mountain jerseys.

How it unfolded

After the first uphill finish of five on Wednesday, stage 2 brought a tougher test to the finish in the shape of the Col de Porte (17.5km at 6.2 per cent). The 135km stage from Vienne to the HC-rated summit brought third- and fourth-category climbs as well as the first-category Côte Maillet (6.2km at 8 per cent) which came 36.5km out.

The attacks started soon after the start, and eight men quickly got away to form what would be the break of the day. Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie), Geoffrey Soupe (Total Direct Energie), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Jasha Sütterlin (Team Sunweb), Ben O’Connor (NTT Pro Cycling), Michael Schär (CCC Team) and Fabien Doubey (Circus-Wanty Gobert) made the move.

Schär, who will head to AG2R La Mondiale next season, was already in the mountains jersey after getting in the break for 200km on stage 1. This time, the break was on a tight leash, with Jumbo-Visma working to limit their advantage to three minutes.

By the top of the Maillet, with 37km of the stage remaining, the peloton was 1:30 behind what was left of the break – Schär and Armirail. Schär, meanwhile, had picked up 12 points to bolster his KOM lead.

On the flat road to the base of the Porte, a crash in the peloton left Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) on the deck and requiring medical attention before getting back on their bikes.

Armiral led the way onto the final climb, pushing on alone. As the peloton closed to within 40 seconds on the lower slopes, race leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) dropped back having worked on the front of the peloton for his team's GC leaders.

Team Ineos hit the front 12km from the line, setting a pace that discouraged any early attacks as the rain started falling, and eventually bringing Armirail back with 8.5km remaining. Victor de la Parte (CCC Team) made a move off the front but succumbed to the pace set by Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Ineos) a kilometre later.

More damage had been done by the time the Spaniard dropped away 6km from the finish. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was dropped as Kwiatkowski took over ahead of Geraint Thomas, Froome, Pavel Sivakov and Egan Bernal.

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) fell out of contention at the 5km mark, while Froome was gone from the lead group a few hundred metres later.

Thomas took over the pacemaking from Kwiatkowski at the 4km mark, while Enric Mas (Movistar), Rigoberto Urán (EF Pro Cycling) and Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) dropped away over the next kilometre.

Sivakov was next on the front, but an attack by Buchmann ruined Ineos' preparations for the finish with an attack that Bernal had no answer to. Meanwhile, Roglič, Quinana and Pinot were quick to respond.

Roglič's co-leader Tom Dumoulin wasn't up there though, dropping away with 2km to go as his teammate Sepp Kuss made the pace. More big names – Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) – fell away on the approach to the flamme rouge before the GC contenders began to fire on the final run to the line.

Quintana and Buchmann made tentative moves early in the final kilometre, but it was Roglič who properly took over soon after, easing away from his fellow GC contenders and soloing to the line for his fifth victory of 2020.

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