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Andrew Talansky wins Dauphiné in astonishing final stage

June 15, 2014
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Young American Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) nicked the title of the 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné from Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) in Sunday’s dramatic and compelling final stage. While Sky’s Chris Froome (Great Britain) had a bad day on the bike, his Spanish teammate Mikel Nieve, a Euskatel refugee, took the stage victory.

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel’s breakaway didn’t stick after the starting gun, but another much larger escape formed on the Cat. 2 Cote de Domancy climb and was bolstered after. The contents of the break was shocking: 3rd place Talansky along with his teammate Ryder Hesjedal, and three other riders in the GC top ten. Talansky was 39 seconds behind Contador at the start of the stage.

The break’s gap increased to 3:30, so 2nd place Chris Froome (Great Britain/Sky), wearing the green points jersey, initiated an elite chase group that included Contador. Suddenly Contador was completely isolated with no teammates in either the break or the chase. Froome’s Sky men did the work in the rain to wear down the gap, while up ahead Hesjedal laboured to keep it.

Before the final two Cat. 1 climb, Froome and Contador marked each other, but neither would go with 6th place Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) when the Italian rode away from them at the 28 km to go mark. Fourth place Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) joined Nibali. The brinkmanship was to Talansky’s advantage. Finally, when it looked too late, Contador ripped up the road on the lower slopes of the Cote de Montagny and Froome was unable to follow. The crash near the end of stage 6 had obviously effected Froome.

Hesjedal burned out but Talansky’s breakaway beat on with Nibali and Kelderman coming and Contador eating up the riders in between. Talansky’s group crested the Montagny with 16 km to go and Contador 1:20 behind. A short, mild downhill led to the race’s last climb, a Cat. 1 ascent to Courcheval. Talansky and breakmate Romain Bardet (France/AG2R La Mondiale), 7th place at the beginning of the day, hung it all out on the descent.

The 5.9 km climb of 6.2% would be the final battleground. Talansky, Bardet and company started to clamber skyward with a 1:04 lead over Contador. After a kilometre of climbing, Contador hadn’t made any inroads on the gap. With 3.5 km remaining, Sky’s Mikel Nieve (Spain) left the Talansky group in a bid for glory. The Talansky-to-Contador gap swung a few seconds one way and then the other.

Just before the red kite, Bardet scooted away from Talansky. Nieve salvaged something for Sky by taking the stage victory. Contador crossed the line 1:06 behind Talansky to finish 27 seconds in arrears of the American on GC. The Pitbull becomes the first American to win the Dauphiné since Levi Leipheimer in 2006. Hesjedal placed 25th on the final GC.

Contador’s form is fantastic, but with Froome’s injuries ultimately taking him out of the top 10, it’s hard to say who is better prepared for the Tour de France. Froome was imperious in the first two stages, but rode in pain for the last two. One rider who doesn’t look quite ready to contest for July’s yellow jersey is Vincenzo Nibali.

2014 Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 8
1) Mikel Nieve (Spain/Sky) 3:20:29
2) Romain Bardet (France/Ag2r-La Mondiale +0:03
3) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Orica-GreenEdge) +0:05
30) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Garmin-Sharp) +11:53


2014 Critérium du Dauphiné Final GC
1) Andrew Talansky (USA/Garmin-Sharp) 31:08:08
2) Alberto Contador (SpainTinkoff-Saxo) +0:27
3) Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium/Lotto-Belisol) +0:35
4) Wilco Kelderman (The Netherlands/Belkin) +0:43
5) Romain Bardet (France/Ag2r-La Mondiale) +1:20
6) Adam Yates (Great Britain/Orica-GreenEdge) +02:05
7) Vincenzo Nibali (Italy/Astana) +2:12
8) Mikel Nieve (Spain/Sky) +2:59
9) Daniel Navarro (Spain/Cofidis) +3:04
10) Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark/Astana) +3:17
25) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Garmin-Sharp) +22:10

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