Critérium du Dauphiné: Colbrelli wins stage 3

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Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) broke his run of second places at the Critérium du Dauphiné, sprinting to victory on the uphill finish of stage 3 in Saint-Haon-le-Vieux after a duel with Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech).

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) was an unexpected face at the front in the sprint, finishing well to take third place. The American outpaced Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) for the final spot on the podium, while Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) retained the race lead by two seconds from Colbrelli.

Colbrelli had opened his Dauphiné account with two second places behind the breakaway in Issoire and Saugues but was the quickest to react when Aranburu opened his sprint with 300 metres to go on the finishing five per cent ramp to the line.

The Italian followed Aranburu for 150 metres before moving out of the slipstream and launching his own final effort. It was enough to claim the win by a bike length, the victory his second WorldTour triumph of the season so far.

"After two second places, I really wanted to take a beautiful win. I can thank my team, they worked perfectly. The final kilometre was very hard. [Michał] Kwiatkowski pulled really hard until the last 300 metres. Then [Alex] Aranburu went very strong, I followed his wheel and it worked well for me," said Colbrelli.

How it unfolded

The third stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné took the peloton 172.2-kilometre ride from Langeac to Saint-Haon-le-Vieux, a day fit for the sprinters following two breakaway successes in a row to start the race. A 5.7 per cent gradient over the final 700 metres would provide a more complicated than straightforward finish, however.

Only two categorised climbs lay in wait on a stage which nonetheless saw a 17.5-kilometre unclassified climb from the start. The fourth-category Côte d'Allègre and third-category Col des Limites both lay in the first 90 kilometres of the day though, so would have no bearing on the final result.

The peloton was happy to let a two-man move jump away early on, with Omer Goldstein (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Loïc Vliegen (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) breaking away in the opening kilometres as Bora-Hansgrohe took to the front of the peloton as the team of race leader and stage 2 winner Lukas Pöstlberger.

Former World Champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), among the favourites for victory at the end of the stage, was an unfortunate early loss, crashing in the peloton with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and abandoning the race.

Up front, Goldstein had led the way over the Côte d'Allègre and at the day's only intermediate sprint – some small prizes for a day largely without reward for him and his break mate. At the 100 kilometres to go mark they had four minutes over the peloton, but that was sliced down on the Col des Limites.

Goldstein again led over the top as Bora-Hansgrohe brought the gap down to just a minute before letting them regain some of that time soon after. The duo kept fighting, but with 50 kilometres to go, they remained just a minute up on the chasing peloton.

The Israeli rider held on for a further 20 kilometres before he was left behind by Vliegen and reabsorbed by the peloton, with the Belgian battling on for another eight kilometres before he, too, was caught.

From there, the peloton was full speed ahead to the sprint finish, though there was still some drama to come before then at the 15 kilometres to go mark. Cofidis leader Guillaume Martin was caught up in a crash there, quickly launching a frantic chase with several teammates to get back into the peloton before the finish.

They managed to get back, but there was another split just over six kilometres from the line as Ineos Grenadiers were among the teams to push on at the front. Once again, Cofidis and Martin were forced to chase, having been lingering towards the rear of the peloton.

Trek-Segafredo, Groupama-FDJ and Lotto Soudal were among the other teams present at the front of the peloton in the closing kilometres, with sprinters and GC men all looking to grab prime position and stay safe ahead of the uphill finish.

Deceuninck-QuickStep and Jumbo-Visma had taken command as the peloton hit the final 2.3 kilometres, which ramped uphill at an average of 3.5 per cent ahead of the steeper closing 700 metres, as the high-speed dash to the line continued.

The final rush for the line was a chaotic affair, with Ineos and UAE Team Emirates on the front in the final kilometre. Aranburu ignited the sprint at the 300 metres to go mark, with Colbrelli immediately sensing the danger and jumping across the road onto his wheel.

Stuyven was next to try to get across, but the leading duo already had a near-insurmountable gap at the front. In the end, Colbrelli's 150 meters in the wheel of Aranburu made the difference, with the green jersey holder jumping out and passing his rival by in the final metres before the finish.