{"id":195884,"date":"2024-06-10T12:45:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T12:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=195884"},"modified":"2024-07-22T09:58:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T09:58:14","slug":"roglic-ekes-out-dauphine-win-remco-has-mountain-to-climb-for-the-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2024\/06\/10\/roglic-ekes-out-dauphine-win-remco-has-mountain-to-climb-for-the-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogli\u010d Ekes Out Dauphin\u00e9 Win, Remco Has Mountain to Climb for the Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d had seized the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 by the scruff of the neck in the two mountain stages leading up to Sunday\u2019s stage 8 finale. He led the GC by over a minute, with the least difficult of the three mountain stages left to ride. It was clear to everyone that he would complete his hat trick of wins on Sunday and send a signal to his future Tour de France opponents that he was back to his best.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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But something unexpected happened to the BORA-hansgrohe leader on that final climb to the finish line on the Plateau des Gli\u00e8res<\/em>\u00a0(9.3km @ 7.3%). When the rider sitting in second place in the GC behind Rogli\u010d, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike), broke away from the small lead group with 6km to go, Rogli\u010d asked his legs for more power, but they had nothing left.<\/p>\n

He had already lost his main mountain support rider, Aleksandr Vlasov, earlier on the climb. Vlasov had given everything on the preceding two stages \u2013 and so, apparently, had the 34-year-old Slovenian. As Jorgenson, Carlos Rodr\u00edguez (INEOS Grenadiers) and the astonishing Derek Gee (Israel\u2013Premier Tech) accelerated up the mountain, Rogli\u010d gradually lost ground and his lead over Jorgenson, 1:02 at the start of the stage, slowly melted.<\/p>\n

With a 10-second bonus given to the winner of the stage, Jorgenson had to beat Rogli\u010d by at least 52 seconds. As the American motored up the slope, accompanied now only by Rodr\u00edguez, the gap grew to 30 seconds, then 40 \u2013 and a second Dauphin\u00e9 victory seemed about to slip out of the BORA leader\u2019s grasp. But Rodr\u00edguez beat Jorgenson to the finish line, and Rogli\u010d had just enough left in the tank to hold on to his victory \u2013 by a scant 8 seconds.<\/p>\n

After the race, he told Eurosport that he hadn\u2019t expected his victory to be so close. \u201cIt\u2019s quite crazy to be able to win the Dauphin\u00e9 with everything that happened in-between,\u201d he said \u2013 and added: \u201cBeautiful.\u201d He admitted that he had \u201cdefinitely\u201d suffered on that final climb, as well on the other two mountain stages. But he was upbeat. \u201cThis was something we needed, for the team,\u201d he said, but refused to be drawn out about what this performance meant for his chances in the Tour.<\/p>\n

As for the other co-favorite for this Dauphin\u00e9, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep), he could not keep up with Rogli\u010d or Jorgenson on any of the climbs. On stage 6, he lost 42 seconds to the Slovenian on the slopes of the Collet d\u2019Allevard (11.2km @ 8.4%), and lost the yellow jersey he had taken over after the stage 4 time trial. On stage 7, he ceded 1:46 on the Samo\u00ebns<\/em>\u00a0(9.9km @ 9%), and tumbled off the podium.<\/p>\n

In the final stage, he finished 10 seconds behind the faltering Rogli\u010d and 58 seconds behind the winner, finishing seventh in the GC, 2:25 behind Rogli\u010d and 1:51 behind Gee, who finished third and revealed unexpected climbing chops.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udcf2 Phone
\ud83d\udcc1 Albums
\ud83d\udc9b Favourites#Dauphin\u00e9<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ndVxx0bhhY<\/a><\/p>\n

— Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 (@dauphine) June 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n