Latest news with #Dauphiné
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
Bahrain Victorious stands tall
Lenny Martinez produced a stunning solo ride to win the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday, marking his third WorldTour stage victory of the season and salvaging what had been a frustrating week for the French climber. The stage, finishing atop Plateau du Mont-Cenis, held sentimental value for the 20-yearold Groupama-FDJ rider, who trained there with his father as a teenager. Having fallen out of General Classification (GC) contention after a tough Queen Stage, Martinez bounced back in style. Making the Break Count The final day's early breakaway gained a three-minute advantage on the peloton, and with 8km to go, only Enric Mas of Movistar remained ahead. Martinez launched his decisive move at that point, dropping Mas and attacking solo up the Col du Mont-Cenis — a 9.6km climb with a punishing average gradient of 6.9%. Despite the looming threat of GC heavyweights Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard behind, Martinez held a steady pace, crested the climb with over 40 seconds to spare, and maintained his lead to take a memorable stage win. Redemption for Martinez An emotional Lenny Martinez at the finish line said, 'Earlier, I was really bad, and I hadn't been feeling great the days before either. So I wasn't expecting much. But then I finally felt good at the start, so I decided to go for it. At one point, I thought Van der Poel was going to win, then I thought I was going to get caught by the Pogacar-Vingegaard duo a little later. It would have been a real shame, but it worked out! I was going all out until the last kilometre and it was only at the end that I really believed it was possible to win. I'm very happy with my performance in the Dauphiné. I came here for the overall classification: it didn't work out, but I've salvaged the week. The team told me never to give up, so that's why I tried again. Now we can be proud of what we've done here with this victory. I hope to win in the Tour too, we'll see.' Bahrain Victorious Impresses While Martinez took the headlines for the stage, Bahrain Victorious continued to make an impression throughout the race. Their aggressive tactics and strong team performances reinforced their presence in the peloton, setting the stage for a promising summer campaign. Pogacar Seals the Title Overall honours went to UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar, who secured his maiden Dauphiné crown with another dominant GC ride, holding off Vingegaard and the rest of the elite field across the week. With the Tour de France fast approaching, the Critérium once again proved its value as a proving ground — and for Martinez and Bahrain Victorious alike, it offered a timely reminder of what's possible when the strategy is right and
Independent Singapore
6 days ago
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Remco Evenepoel takes yellow jersey after a 'perfect plan' at the stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné
Remco Evenepoel, riding for Soudal Quick-Step, has recently won Stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné as he finished the 17.4km course with a final time of 20 minutes and 50 seconds. This victory led him to lead the overall race standings and granted him the yellow jersey. 'I think the advantage I had was a lot of headwind in the valleys… I used that to really take the benefit of my position, and then the climb, I just went as fast as possible,' the rider said. He added, 'We had a perfect plan for the pacing strategy. I'm very happy to have put over one second a kilometre on everybody, and for some more than two… I'm super proud and happy with the feeling I have now. I'm feeling pretty good, and it's always nice to bring home a world tour victory.' Evenepoel: 'Much better than I was last year' Evenepoel was 21 seconds faster than Jonas Vingegaard, who is riding for Visma-Lease a Bike and placed second. Furthermore, he is also 49 seconds ahead of Tadej Pogacar, who is riding for the UAE Team Emirates XRG and finished fourth. The Soudal Quick-Step rider shared that he has been preparing really hard for the races. 'In terms of weight, I'm already pretty good… Much better than I was last year at this point, so I'm just happy that I've been working super hard behind the scenes. 'I'm feeling good on the climbs, on the flats and on the descents as well, so it's a good step forward to what we have to expect for the next days… We just have to keep building and take it day by day. For sure, there will be a lot of pressure in the weekend from other teams, but with the victor,y I'm confident I can do well,' he added. Evenepoel shared a social media post with a caption 'Flying to victory.🥇🌈🟡🔥… Special feeling to take win #1000 for @soudalquickstepteam, one for the entire team, one for Patrick, one for history.🏆🐺… We stay focused for the rest of the week.👊🏼' See also Speedway SEA Championship returns for OCBC Cycle 2024 Netizens celebrated Remco's stage win with enthusiastic messages of support, calling it both thrilling and well-earned. Praise also poured in for the Soudal team as they gear up for the upcoming mountain stages. One user wrote, 'Congratulations Remco – what an exciting and convincing stage victory 👌🏼,' while another said, 'Rooting for you & entire Soudal team, great job, keep up the good work. Best of luck in the Mountains, let's go🙏🙏🔥🔥.' Moreover, the Visma-Lease a Bike team still had a good race despite not winning the first spot. Jonas Vingegaard managed to clinch the second spot, and teammate Matteo Jorgenson in third. Despite losing against Evenepoel, Vingegaard remained calm. He shared, ' I can be pretty satisfied with how today went… Remco is the best time trialler in the world, so to only lose 20 seconds is pretty decent…I n the end, I think I can be pretty happy with my performance.'
