Cycling: On paper, the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphine over 131 kilometers from Mègeve to Courchevel did not bring the climbs that the field had to cope with the day before. Nonetheless, it was an exciting race, with Mikel Nieve and Andrew Talansky coming out on top in the end.
At the front, a group of 23 riders determined what was happening, and after just 25 kilometers they were already 1:45 minutes ahead of the field. Over the penultimate mountain, the Côte de Montagny, Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) and Andrew Talansky (BMC) determined what happened. Both had increased the pace in the illustrious group. In general, it was exciting to see that the favorites let Talansky, who was third overall, go into the group.
But then the spectacle really began. From the group of favorites around the new overall leader Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), it was first Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who, together with Wilco Kelderman (Belkin), tried to rule out the lead. With almost 20 kilometers to go, they were able to reduce the gap to them to less than a minute.
In contrast, it was more exciting that they had already gained almost a minute on Contador and Chris Froome (Sky). For the Brit it finally got worse. Contador broke away from him and tried to get close to the duo of Nibali and Kelderman. With two kilometers to go, he caught up with Nibali. Kelderman had already worked his way up the field.
While Contador passed Nibali, he struggled to close the almost a minute gap to Talansky. Meanwhile, Mikel Nieve (Sky) had broken away from Talansky's group at the front. Van Garderen followed him with just under a kilometer to go. John Gadret (Movistar) followed later. However, neither of them managed to catch Nieve. On the contrary: The Spaniard finally won in front of Romain Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge). Fourth went to Talansky, who thus laid the foundation for overall victory. Because Contador could no longer close the gap.
Nevertheless, the Spaniard has set a scent mark for the Tour de France. He may have benefited from the fall of Froome, who lost almost five minutes today, and the injuries that came with it on the third to last stage. In the mountains, however, he was a match for the Brit right from the start of the tour.
Whether Talansky can preserve his form remains to be seen. Should he make it, he should add another level of excitement to the Tour.