

photo credits @ Le Tour
After fast and hard race, today’s stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné saw Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) power to victory in Mâcon.
The attackers tried to make the most of the climbs of the day to try and upset the sprinters. But the pack managed to catch the breakaway inside the last 2 kilometers, which seemed to be the perfect timing for Lidl-Trek to line up their train at the front and launch Jonathan Milan to a second stage win. But the Italian rider, who got dropped earlier in the stage, couldn’t fend off his rivals – especially Stewart.
Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel went down in the finale but he retains the yellow and blue jersey.
Race Highlights
On the day after Remco Evenepoel dominated the ITT from Charmes-sur-Rhône to Saint-Péray, 149 riders set off from Saint-Priest with 183 kilometers laid out in front of them.
A battle from the start
Enzo Leijnse (Picnic PostNL) and Pierre Thierry (Arkea-B&B Hotels) set off with an attack after just 1.5km of racing, only for the duo to be joined at the front by Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
Counter-attackers shake the race
As the race entered the halfway point, the leaders were still clinging to a minute advantage. However, the trio was later joined by Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-B&B Hotels) just after the Côte de Saint-Amour with 75km remaining.
From there, they push their lead back up to 1’50’’. But, the race heated up again on the Col de Fontmartin and Col de Boubon, with an attack coming from Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) at the bottom of the first ascent, who were quickly joined by Tobias Foss.
Shortly thereafter, Baudin and Muhlberger launched a second attack, with only Foss able to respond, while the peloton trailed at 1’40” behind.
Attackers resist, Stewart takes it
Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step joined forces to catch the chasers with 46 kilometers to go. As for the lead group, their gap was down to 1’05’’, while Labrosse upped the ante, dropping Thierry from the front group.
Back in the peloton, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Uno-X and Ineos Grenadiers worked together to bring the gap down to 25’’ at the summit of the final climb of the day, Côte des Quatre Vents with 27.2 km to go, distancing Milan just before the summit. But, his Lidl-Trek teammates quickly brought him back into the fold.
Heading into the last 10 kilometers, Leijnse was dropped by Labrosse, Thomas and Guernalec, who were still holding onto a slim margin of 18’’. And, despite putting in a valiant effort, they were eventually caught just inside the last 2 kilometers with several teams working together at the front of the bunch.
Lidl-Trek then took to the front, moving Milan into perfect position during the final kilometer. But, the Italian rider couldn’t react when Stewart surged past him to take victory ahead of Laurance and Waerenskjold.