Critérium du Dauphiné stage 5 - Live coverage

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Roglic's abandon leaves Pinot in overall lead on final day

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The final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné usually promises drama and on this occasion, a plot twist has arrived before the race has even started. Overall leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) has abandoned the race due to the injuries he sustained in his crash on stage 4. His absence means that Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) is the de facto race leader today, but the wording of the Jumbo-Visma statement casts some doubt on Roglic's Tour de France prospects to boot: “As a result of his crash yesterday, Primoz Roglic - leader in the GC and points classification - won’t start in the ultimate stage today. The evolution of his injuries will determine the plans for the upcoming races.” Read more here.

Roglic is the latest in a spate of high-profile abandons on this Critérium du Dauphiné. Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) withdrew ahead of yesterday's stage, citing a back injury. Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) abandoned after dislocating his shoulder in a crash on the descent of the Col de Plan Bois. Emanuel Buchmann went down in the same crash and abandoned the race, as did his Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Gregor Muhlberger. Bora-Hansgrohe reported that Buchmann sustained "a large hematoma, yet managed to escape fractures," while Muhlberger "likely escaped a broken wrist, but will undergo a CT scan as confirmation."

Today's final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné features no fewer than eight classified climbs, including the hors categorie Col de Romme and the category 1 Col de la Colombiere. There are also two ascents of the Côte de Domancy, site of Bernard Hinault's 1980 World Championships victory and, for the second day in succession, a summit finish on the category 2 haul to the altiport in Megève. The neutralised start is at 12.10 local time, with the peloton scheduled to hit kilometre zero at 12.20.

In the absence of Roglic, the revised general classification is as follows:

Thibaut Pinot and Guillaume Martin will be vying to become the first French winner of the Dauphiné since Christophe Moreau claimed his second overall win in 2007. Moreau also won in 2001. The other French winners in the last 30 years were the late Armand De Las Cuevas (1998) and Charly Mottet, who took the third of his three wins in 1992, having previously won in 1987 and 1989.

The peloton is navigating the neutralised zone in Megève ahead of the start of the final stage of a 2020 Critérium Dauphiné that was shorter than normal but no less tumultuous. 

The eight climbs on the agenda today are:

-153.5km

Richie Porte summed up the lie of the land concisely ahead of the final stage. "This race has been raced like five one-day races to be honest. It’s been absolutely horrific for everybody so there’s a lot of guys on their hands and knees. It’s going to be fireworks today now that Roglic is out, so whether there’s a team who can control the race, that’s another question." Porte knows all about fireworks on the final day of the Dauphine, losing the race to Jakob Fuglsang at this juncture in 2017. The Australian will hope to benefit from late chaos here. He lies 7th overall, 21 seconds down on Pinot.

Two other non-starters aside from Roglic to report this morning. Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) has withdrawn with a back injury, while Omar Fraile (Astana) also did not take the start in Megève.

Thibaut Pinot is the new race leader, though he does not, of course, wear the yellow and blue jersey today. This was the Frenchman reporting for duty at the sign-on this morning.

-144km

The Tour de France visited the Côte de Domancy in 2016, in no small part to mark Hinault's final Tour in his role as ASO ambassador. The ascent featured on the 17km time trial from Sallanches to Meveve in the final week, a stage won by Chris Froome ahead of Tom Dumoulin.

The départ réel was delayed by three kilometres, incidentally, as a couple of riders had mechanical issues in the neutralised zone. 

-139km

Despite the absence of Primoz Roglic, Jumbo-Visma have not given up on this Dauphine. The team in yellow and black are setting the tempo in the peloton and the bunch is splitting up.

The Jumbo-Visma pace-making has seen the break hauled back and the peloton has splintered, leaving a rather select front group that includes Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot.

-135km

-133km

There are fifteen riders with a lead of 55 seconds over a peloton that is being led by Cofidis and Arkea-Samsic: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos), Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Marc Hirschi (Sunweb), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Jan Bakelants (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team), Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Ineos), Will Barta (CCC Team) and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Start-Up Nation).

Of the top 10 on GC, Guillaume Martin, Nairo Quintana, Richie Porte and Dani Martinez are the men missing from this very dangerous front group. Cofidis and Arkea-Samsic are doing the heavy lifting behind for the time being.

-129km

Situation

-122km

Will Barta (CCC Team) has been distanced from this front group, but their buffer is down to a mere 20 seconds. The race may come back together - temporarily, no doubt - on the lower slopes of the Col de Romme, but we can surely expect more pyrotechnics. 

The CPA has released a statement saying that riders had wished to neutralise the downhill opening section of today's stage in protest at the dangers they faced on yesterday's stage. The race website reported that the real start was delayed due to two riders who had mechanical issues in the neutralised zone, though it's unclear at this juncture if that was part of a CPA protest. One imagines that ASO - they of the 'the show must go on' mindset - would be unlikely to acknowledge a rider protest in their own official feed. 

-116km

Reports of Barta being distanced from the front group were premature. The American was briefly on the offensive on the lower slopes of the Col de Romme in the company of Tom Dumoulin. 

-111km

This eight-man move has a lead of 30 seconds over the second group on the road, which includes race leader Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and second-placed Guillaume Martin (Cofidis).

Situation

Although that front group is full of dangermen, none of their number began the day within a minute of Pinot's overall lead. The best-placed rider of the eight leaders is Tadej Pogacar, who began the day 1:03 down on Pinot.

-107km

-100km

Correction, David de la Cruz was first to the top of the Col de Romme, before Alaphilippe and Lutsenko briefly escaped the rest of the break over the other side. The eight leaders are back together on the drop down the mountainside, but their lead over the Pinot-Martin-Landa-Quintana group is down to 20 seconds.

Unfortunately, we still have a lengthy wait for live television pictures of today's stage so information is rather piecemeal at this early juncture. It suffices to say that we may be missing out on the bulk of the most exciting day on the revised calendar... 

-98km

At the base of the Col de la Colombière, 23 riders had a lead of 40 seconds on the field:

The category 1 Col de la Colombière is 7.5km at 8.5%. It is the third of eight climbs on today's stage. 

-95km

Situation

-93km

-91km

A reminder of the five climbs still left on the menu today, including the summit finish at Megeve:

-89km

Meanwhile, the CPA have confirmed that the peloton neutralised the opening descent on today's stage in protest at the condition of the descent of the Col de Plan Bois on Saturday. Funnily enough, ASO's official feed didn't see fit to mention the rider protest. 

-83km

Sivakov began the day just over 3 minutes down on Pinot so the Ineos rider is not an imminent threat to his de facto race lead. Pinot is sitting in a group with the more immediate dangers - chiefly, Guillaume Martin, Mikel Landa, Daniel Martinez and Miguel Angel Lopez.

-78km

At the intermediate sprint in Saint-Jean de Sixt, Sivakov and Alaphilippe had a lead of 1:10 over the Pinot group, which was led by Van Aert across the line.

-71km

-66km

Mikel Landa's GC challenge has ground to a halt on the Aravis, where he is almost 4 minutes down on the leaders. Hugh Carthy and Krists Neilands have also been distanced by the Pinot group. We have had contradictory reports on Nairo Quintana's whereabouts, but the official feed does not place him in the Pinot group. We should have clearer information once live television pictures are available.

Alaphilippe led Sivakov over the Aravis, and the leading duo are descending towards La Giettaz before they climb again with the category 4 Côte de la Frassette (2km at 6.1%).

There are four climbs remaining this afternoon:

David de la Cruz led the Pinot group over the Col des Aravis, which guarantees him the king of the mountains title at the Dauphine.

-58km

The seemingly indefatigable Wout van Aert sets the tempo in the Pinot group. Jumbo-Visma also have Sepp Kuss and Tom Dumoulin in this group, which is 1:30 down on Sivakov and Alaphilippe.

-50km

Sebastien Reichenbach joins Van Aert on the front of the Pinot group. Live television pictures confirm that Nairo Quintana and Richie Porte are both in the Landa group, some 5 minutes off the front.

Break:

-46km

-43km

Alaphilippe struggled on the climbs in the early days of this Dauphine but he is pedalling very smoothly here in the company of Sivakov. It remains to be seen whether the Frenchman can repeat his remarkable GC feats of a year ago (he has been downplaying the prospect since last July), but on the evidence of today and Milan-San Remo, Alaphilippe will undoubtedly be an aggressive presence in September.

-39km

Pinot essentially has three riders to watch in this group - Martin is 10 seconds behind him on GC, Martinez is 12 seconds behind and Lopez is at 18 seconds. The next closest man on the virtual GC in this group is Pogacar, who started the day 1:03 behind Pinot.

-35km

Tom Dumoulin began this Dauphine as the very much the third man of Jumbo-Visma's leadership triumvirate, but he finds himself the last man standing after the abandons of Roglic and Kruijswijk. It remains to be seen how well those men recover ahead of the Tour, but this finale is an interesting test of Dumoulin's ability to last the pace after spending more than a year of the sidelines due to injury, illness and the COVID-19-enforced interruption to the season. Dumoulin isn't a GC threat here, but it's not yet clear if he or Sepp Kuss will be Jumbo-Visma's anointed man to chase the stage win at Megeve. Van Aert, in any case, is the man designated to work on their behalf before the climbing starts again.

-31km

Alaphilippe is alone in front, 16 seconds clear of the bloodied Sivakov, while Van Aert leads the Pinot group, 54 seconds down. The Landa group is 5:20 behind.

-27km

Alaphilippe looks to be minded to wait for Sivakov, who is still pedalling strongly despite his crash.

Sivakov rejoins Alaphilippe at the front of the race just ahead of the Cote de Domancy. Meanwhile, Van Aert has sat up from the chasing group, and he waves to the camera as he signs off from his day's work.

-26km

Up front, meanwhile, Sivakov can't quite make it up to Alaphilippe's rear wheel. The Russian is trailing Alaphilippe by 10 metres or so on the Cote de Domancy.

Pogacar and Lopez have opened a decent gap over the Pinot group, and the Frenchman is now riding on the front of the group after lost his teammate Sebastien Reichenbach.

Miguel Angel Lopez is the virtual race leader as he and Pogacar have opened a gap of 20 seconds over the Pinot group... Sepp Kuss and Dani Martinez have also attacked from the Pinot group and set off in pursuit of Pogacar and Lopez.

Romain Bardet is the next man to attack and Thibaut Pinot looks to be in difficulty on the Cote de Domancy. He sits heavily into his saddle as the group splinters around him. Guillaume Martin is also struggling here...

Sivakov has rejoined Alaphilippe at the front, and they have 10 seconds on Pogacar, Lopez and the flying Dani Martinez, who has bridged across to the chasers. They are 36 seconds up on Pinot, Dumoulin, Bardet and Guillaume Martin.

Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) is now the virtual race leader, but the situation is in constant flux on the ascent of the Cote de Domancy...

-23km

Situation

Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) has abandoned the Criterium du Dauphine. The Colombian was more than five minutes down the road in a group with Mikel Landa and Richie Porte.

-20km

Pavel Sivakov attacks at the foot of the Côte de Cordon and Pogacar immediately goes after him. The Russian-Slovenian tandem soon desists, however, and the group reforms, with Martinez setting tempo on the front.

-19km

As things stand, Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) is overall leader, 6 seconds ahead of Lopez. Pogacar is on the cusp of moving onto the virtual podium, given that this move is 1:05 up on the Pinot group...

-18km

Kuss leads, with Pogacar closing in on him, but Sivakov and Martinez aren't far behind either. Alaphilippe and Lopez are losing ground, however, which is good news for Dani Martinez's hopes of overall victory...

-17.5km

-17km

Daniel Martinez knows that every pedal stroke is bringing him closer to overall victory. The Colombian comes to the front and sets the tempo with Kuss, Sivakov and Pogacar on his wheel. He has 30 seconds on Miguel Angel Lopez and 1:23 on the Pinot group. His chief rival for the yellow jersey could be Pogacar by the time they reach the final climb. It's been that kind of day...

-15.5km

Break:

-14km

The virtual overall standings before the final climb to Megeve:

-12km

Situation

-11km

Julian Alaphilippe puts in a big, big turn at the head of the Pinot group and then swings over, exhausted. Their alliance from Saint-Etienne on the 2019 Tour seems to be alive and well...  Pinot now takes over and sets the pace in the chasing group, and the gap is falling quickly...

-10km

There's a brief injection of pace in the front group, which is 38 seconds up on the Pinot group. Pinot is doing the bulk of the pace-making, though he's had some help from Warren Barguil. Guillaume Martin sits on for the time being...

-9km

Sepp Kuss attacks at the base of the final climb of the Montée de l’Altiport. The American was responding to a dig from Sivakov, and he opens a decent gap over his erstwhile companions.

-8km

-7km

Lopez is dropped from the Dani Martinez group. The battle for Dauphine victory looks to be a fight between Martinez and the desperately chasing Pinot, who is about to be joined by an impressive Tom Dumoulin.

-6km

In the virtual GC, Martinez is 21 seconds up on Pinot and 31 seconds ahead of Lopez, who is dangling just ahead of the Pinot group out on the road.

-5km

-4.5km

-4km

Kuss has 39 seconds on Martinez, Pogacar and Sivakov, and 1:16 on Pinot, Martin, Lopez, Dumoulin, Bardet and Barguil.

-3km

All the while, Martinez is maintaining his advantage over Pinot as he rides in the company of Pogacar and Sivakov. The Colombian looks set to claim overall victory, but this race has the capacity to throw up late surprises, not least with time bonuses on offer at the finish...

-2.5km

-2km

Pinot makes a desperate acceleration, and he makes inroads into his deficit on Martinez. The gap in virtual GC is down to 12 seconds, but can he keep chipping away at Martinez's advantage?

-1km

Martinez leads the chasers into the final kilometre. The Colombian knows one big push can seal overall victory...

It doesn't look as though Pinot is going to close the gap to Martinez, who looks set to claim overall victory at the Criterium du Duphine...

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) wins stage 5 of the Criterium du Dauphine.

Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) takes second place at 28 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). 

Pavel Sivakov is fourth. Dumoulin is 5th at 50 seconds. Thibaut Pinot comes in at 1:05.

Daniel Martínez (EF Pro Cycling) wins the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné.

Pinot should take second on GC, while Guillaume Martin looks to have taken third overall, though we await confirmation.

Result

General classification

(Image credit: Getty Images)

This is the fourth time a Colombian rider has won the Criterium du Dauphine. Luis Herrera won in 1988 and 1991, while Martin Ramirez claimed a watershed victory when he beat Bernard Hinault to the title in 1984. 

MEGEVE FRANCE AUGUST 16 Sepp Kuss of The United States and Team Jumbo Visma Breakaway during the 72nd Criterium du Dauphine 2020 Stage 5 a 1535km stage from Megeve to Megeve 1458m dauphine Dauphin on August 16 2020 in Megeve France Photo by Justin SetterfieldGetty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Tom Dumoulin finished the Dauphine strongly, though he told NOS that he didn't have the legs to contest the stage win in the finale: "I've had so many tough days in a row. I'm really completely finished, I think everyone is. You won't see this even in the Tour, all these mountain stages in a row. I was in the right place, but I didn't have enough to make a difference. I got through those last 15km, but Sepp is a great man to finish it off."

Sepp Kuss reacts to his stage win: "After yesterday it was a bit strange waking up in the morning. We were all shocked. It also gave us the opportunity to race aggressively. It’s been one of the hardest day I ever had on the bike. It was full on from the start. I saw everyone was really tired and I could take advantage that I was lower on GC. It’s a very nice day. I trained harder than ever and I’m having so much fun on the bike right now. Now we can focus on the Tour de France with a confidence boost.”

And Dani Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) on the biggest win of his career: "This morning they told me Roglic wouldn’t start, so I knew the race would be hectic from the beginning. My team worked very well for me in the first part and I was able to save strength for the finale and go for the win. I was at the limit but I was determined to make it to the finish. It’s one of the biggest race in the world and to be able to win this, coming from Colombia, makes me very happy.”

Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) has revealed that he withdrew from the Dauphine on the final stage due to pain in the same knee he injured in his training crash in early July. "My legs were good, but I felt a pain in the knee that I injured when I was hit by a car while training at the start of July," Quintana said, according to his team. "I preferred to pull out on this stage with a view to the Tour de France."

Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas both came home more than 33 minutes down on stage winner Sepp Kuss. Froome finished 71st on GC, 1:26:14 down on Daniel Martinez. Thomas placed 37th overall at 53:38.

Mikel Landa's disastrous final day saw him drop from a potential Dauphine winner to 18th at 18:58. Richie Porte slid to 15th at 12:04.

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. A full report, results and pictures are available here, while you can read more on Nairo Quintana's abandon here and Primoz Roglic's withdrawal here.

MEGEVE FRANCE AUGUST 16 Arrival Sepp Kuss of The United States and Team Jumbo Visma Celebration during the 72nd Criterium du Dauphine 2020 Stage 5 a 1535km stage from Megeve to Megeve 1458m dauphine Dauphin on August 16 2020 in Megeve France Photo by AnneChristine PoujoulatPool via Getty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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