Critérium du Dauphiné

Attacks came as soon as the flag dropped in Brioude at the start of the third stage, and the two climbs that were tackled in quick succession led to many of the sprinters getting dropped. Remco Evenepoel couldn’t say no and made a move of his own just ahead of the intermediate sprint, where the Olympic Champion picked up one bonus seconds.

More attacks continued to fly at the front, and eventually, the peloton let a dozen or so riders take two minutes. It was an advantage that looked insignificant at that time, but which turned out to be decisive in the end, as it allowed the escapees to arrive in Charantonnay with a hefty gap and fight for the stage, won by Ivan Romeo (Movistar), who became the new leader of the overall standings.

The bunch concluded one minute later this insanely fast day, and Evenepoel made a big jump in the general classification, where he now sits just a couple of seconds from the top ten ahead of the race’s only individual time trial, an important 17.4km test which should reshuffle the ranking Wednesday afternoon.

“I think it will be important to not go over the limit until the bottom of the climb and then just go all out until the top. I’ll try to keep the pace until the finish for a good time trial. We’re confident I’m in good shape to get a nice result and I’m looking forward to it”, Remco said after the stage.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images