photo credits WTFK
Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) sprinted to victory in stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné today, overhauling Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) just before the line to seize the honors in Le Coteau.
The French rider came came from behind as Bora-Hansgrohe was teeing-up Bennett, who opened up his sprint with 200 meters with to go. But, the Irish rider left a slight gap open on his left-flank, allowing Laporte to blast by during the closing meters to snatch the victory, while third-placed Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) protested his move.
Race Highlights
The peloton start from Monistrol-sur-Loire, with Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) and Lorenzo Milesi (Team DSM) attacking from the flag.
From there, the duo quickly opened up an advantage of 1’55’’. However, after just 15 kilometers, the Italian rider fell back into the peloton, leaving Burgaudeau alone out front.
Still, the French rider managed to open up a substantial gap of over six minutes at the 30 kilometer mark.
Attacks later flew along the ascent of the Côte de Bellevue-la-Montagne, with Pierre Latour (Total Energies) taking 3 points as he went on the prowl for Burgaudeau who was still clinging to a substantial margin.
With a hardened pace, the peloton was now only 4 minutes behind Burgaudeau, who was eventually caught at kilometer 69.
From there, Soudal Quick-Step and Julian Alaphilippe tried to make the most of the intermediate sprints, with the Frenchman taking points in Sainte-Foy-Saint-Sulpice in a bid to catch up with Laporte in the overall points standings.
With 48 kilometers remaining, a crash plagued the peloton, side-lining Andrey Zeits’ (Qazaqstan) hopes, while Alaphilippe, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) gradually made their way back to the bunch.
After the sprinters survived the final ascent of the Côte de Pinay, it was race-on to Le Coteau with 18.5 kilometers to go.
With 7 kilometers left, Alaphilippe suffered a mechanical problem, but the former 2-time World Champion managed to get back on terms a few kilometers later.
Coming into the finale, Bora-Hansgrohe lead-out Bennett during the closing few hundred meters. But, a poor choice of line allowed Laporte to come through on the left and grab the stage victory.
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