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Jonathan Milan surges to stage win in Critérium du Dauphiné, snatching lead from Pogacar
Jonathan Milan surges to stage win in Critérium du Dauphiné, snatching lead from Pogacar

The Guardian

time2 days ago

  • Sport
  • The Guardian

Jonathan Milan surges to stage win in Critérium du Dauphiné, snatching lead from Pogacar

The Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in Issoire on Monday to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Prémilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. 'That was really tough,' said Milan. 'I was dropped at one point and I was really on the limit, but I have to say thanks to my teammates because they brought me back and guided me until the last metres.' Britain's Fred Wright was second and the Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel third. Pogacar and his main rivals for overall victory, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, rolled home safely in the main pack just behind Milan. Pogacar, who collected a 10-second bonus on Sunday, has the same overall time as Milan, but braked hard in the final metres to surrender places and hand the Italian the tie-break edge and the daily media responsibilities that go with the yellow jersey. The eight-day race, with four hilly stages, a time trial and three final days in the Alps, has attracted an A-list roster of 154 riders from 22 teams. It offers Tour de France contenders a chance to hone their form and gain a psychological edge before the main event starts on 5 July. Pogacar, who won his third Tour de France last year ending Vingegaard's two-year reign, had struck the first blow the previous day, edging the Dane to take the opening stage and the overall lead. On Monday, support riders for Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike spent much of the stage jostling, sometimes angrily, for position at the front of the pack. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion The stage was briefly animated when the local boy Romain Bardet, riding the final race of his 14-year professional career, launched an attack on the last small climb just before a corner where his fanclub was waiting with a huge banner. The 34-year-old was caught with 10km to go as Milan's Lidl-Trek team took control. The Frenchman will have another chance on Tuesday when stage three starts from his home town of Brioude for a hilly 207.2km run to Charantonnay.

'... fortunately, I had good legs' — Tadej Pogacar celebrates unexpected sprint win at the Critérium du Dauphiné
'... fortunately, I had good legs' — Tadej Pogacar celebrates unexpected sprint win at the Critérium du Dauphiné

Independent Singapore

time2 days ago

  • Sport
  • Independent Singapore

'... fortunately, I had good legs' — Tadej Pogacar celebrates unexpected sprint win at the Critérium du Dauphiné

RHONE-ALPES, FRANCE: Tadej Pogacar clinched the victory in Stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné with an impressive sprint. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider outpaced top contenders Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the final sprint to seal the stage win and the race's first yellow jersey. Moreover, this sprint finish was unexpected for Pogacar, marking his strong start to the eight-stage race. With this, Pogacar expressed: 'Obviously, it's good, but the real test is coming at the end of the weekend… I was not [expecting it]. I was all prepared to come back to the bus pretty fast after the finish, to take a shower in the bus, take a comfortable seat, and enjoy the rest of the day. But I don't mind being here as well.' Highlights of the race Pogacar's victory came from a breakaway led by his opponent, Vingegaard. He made an unusual attack after the peloton slowed at the top of the Côte de Buffon, wherein Van der Poel and Pogacar followed. More so, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) caught up to join the group of five top riders. See also After her best year ever, what's next for Shanti Pereira? Van der Poel launched a sprint to try and beat Pogacar and Vingegaard with 1 km left. It was an intense moment, but Pogacar remained calm and surpassed Van der Poel to claim the stage win. Pogacar admitted: ' I followed the moves on the steep part of the climb, and then, Visma were clearly going for the stage win. They were trying, with everybody, to attack from the top. And that one was painful… And fortunately, I had good legs, and I covered all the attacks, and then, even Jonas, for the last one, for the cherry on the top, he attacked.' He added, 'Around 2 km to go, I was starting to think more about the sprint than just the GC, and I knew that Van der Poel was the fastest, obviously, in this group, but after a finish like this, you cannot count all of the rest out, they can be fast as well after a tough day.' Furthermore, Vingegaard admitted: 'I had a good day, to be honest. I'm happy with how it went today. Happy that I could make a difference, so yeah, I guess it's the first time I finished second in a bunch sprint. So I'm happy.' Stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné will happen south of the suburb of Prémilhat, having 204.6 km of challenging, hilly terrain. The route includes six climbs, setting the stage for a tough day in the saddle before finishing in the town of Issoire. In a social media post, Pogacar shared his win and said: 'Stage 1 ✅ Great legs, great team, great start. A bit off-script, but super racing between the rivals in the final🤝 Onwards we go 💪.' Netizens commented on the post: 'Now a sprinter World champ 🌈🌈🔥🔥,' 'Great job Tadej 🌈🤍💪🏻👑,' 'It is going to be a fun tour 🙌🙌,' and 'On another level yet again. What a sprint finish amongst the best rivals 💪.'

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