The sprinters were hoping to fight for the win this Sunday in the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, but the peloton’s “big guns” had other plans. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, and Remco Evenepoel attacked after the day’s final climb and were able to stay away from the pack by a few lengths at the finish line. Paul Penhoët, right in the mix in this explosive final, eventually took tenth. Towards Issoire tomorrow, they’ll have to tackle a few more hills to reach the finish.
A hilly circuit was set to welcome the riders of the 77th Critérium du Dauphiné this Sunday, on the occasion of the opening stage, from Domérat to Montluçon. In the last seventy kilometres, three climbs of the Côte de Buffon (600m at 8.8%) and two of the Côte de Domérat (1.8km at 3.7%) were to be faced, with a final ascent of the first mentioned hill just seven kilometres from the finish. Despite this relatively bumpy profile, the sprinters’ teams immediately took the reins of the race behind a breakaway of only two men. As the first classified climbs approached, around the halfway point, the pace increased more and more, and an attack from Tadej Pogacar shook the peloton for the first time forty kilometres from the finish. A few minutes later, the riders entered the final lap of the circuit, during which Paul Penhoët was perfectly guided by Clément Russo.
“A promising day,” Paul Penhoët
A continuous battle for positioning took place in the forty minutes before the finish, but the young sprinter from Groupama-FDJ was able to tackle the final climb of the Côte de Buffon in the upper part of the pack. “I found myself in a pretty good position, and I knew accelerations were going to come from the back,” he said afterwards. “That’s more or less what happened, but I had good legs on the climb, and I had what it took to follow.” So much so that he found himself in the wheel of Jonas Vingegaard at the top, in tenth position in the peloton. One kilometre later, however, on a slight uphill section, the top riders accelerated more sharply and found themselves together in front. “I was on Van der Poel’s wheel when he decided to jump across,” added Paul. “I was on the limit. I think I could have gone with him, but I would have had to empty myself, and I still had the sprint in mind. I stayed in the wheels; I knew my teammates weren’t far behind and that it was possible to close the gap.”
Unfortunately, the peloton wasn’t organized enough in the final five kilometres, and despite a good pull from Clément Braz Afonso, the “fantastic four” managed to maintain a small margin to fight for victory. Tadeg Pogacar won ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Mathieu van der Poel, while Paul Penhoët took tenth place. “In the end, the group made it, but it was a promising day in terms of shape,” Paul concluded. “We were hoping for the podium and not for tenth place, but the overall ranking doesn’t really reflect our performance,” confirmed Benoît Vaugrenard. “Even though we’re disappointed with the result, Paul was up there in the tough parts, and that’s encouraging for what’s to come, especially since the courses are really hard over the next few days. It’ll be up to us to ride better to make sure Paul get the most of his opportunities.”
Guillaume Martin, Clément Russo, Clément Braz Afonso, and Brieuc Rolland also finished in the first 80-man peloton on Sunday. On Monday, the peloton will head towards Issoire, where the finish line will also be preceded by a small climb (800m at 4%), with five kilometers to go.
