Beaten by the “big guns” in the first stage on Sunday, the sprinters didn’t let their chance slip away on Monday in the second day of racing on the Critérium du Dauphiné. However, the final to Issoire proved particularly hectic, and Paul Penhoët paid the price, as he was relegated from his initial fifth place. The young Frenchman will try to take his revenge in Charantonnay on Tuesday.
Despite the truly challenging terrain on Monday in the Puy-de-Dôme department, the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné seemed to offer the clearest opportunity for the pure sprinters. The day’s scenario unfolded accordingly, and it was a lone rider, Paul Ourselin, who led the way in the first part of the course. Around the halfway point, a trio broke away from the bunch and joined him, but the peloton always maintained complete control of the situation, just a minute behind the attackers. “The day went as expected,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “The climb with sixty kilometres to go could have potentially put some sprinters in trouble, but it didn’t go fast enough to clearly get rid of them. We then entered a more traditional final.” The last attackers surrendered with forty-five kilometres to go, and only one classified climb was left to cover. The latter came seventeen kilometres from the finish, but only Romain Bardet tried an attack, before returning to the bunch a few minutes later.
“We need a bit of luck,” Benoît Vaugrenard
The much-anticipated sprint was therefore set to take place in Issoire, but the approach proved extremely tense. “As always in the WorldTour,” pointed out Paul Penhoët. “But it’s even more so when there’s a guy who stands out like here. There’s a real fight to get on his wheel.” With the help of Clément Russo, the young French sprinter tried several times to put himself behind Jonathan Milan in the final three kilometres. However, he was boxed in shortly after passing the flamme rouge. He eventually approached the final stretch in around tenth place and was able to fight his way up to fifth at the finish. However, the commissaires’ panel decided to relegate him to the last position of the bunch a few minutes later. “We take note of the decision, even if it’s hard to understand because he was mainly trying to defend his position,” declared Benoît. “We’re disappointed because he doesn’t deserve this. We’ll keep the positives, which is the good work of his teammates, and the fact that Paul didn’t struggle on a course with a 3,000-meter elevation gain. He’s doing well; we just need a bit of luck, and we believe in him. He finished fifth thanks to his legs. We stay the course, there are some nice stages left on difficult courses, and we’ll try to get our revenge tomorrow.”
While Jonathan Milan won the stage and took the yellow jersey on Monday, the peloton will head to Charantonnay on Tuesday, in a final that will include a steep climb (1.2 km at 9.5%) with 20 kilometres to go.
