Photo Credit: Cor Vos

The penultimate day of racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné saw the peloton head into the mountains and the incredibly tough finish climb to La Plagne; averaging over seven percent for 17 kilometres and topping out at an altitude of over 2000 metres.

Like yesterday’s stage, it was a phenomenally fast start to the day with multiple attacks in the peloton. The team were very active, riding well as a unit and rotating through the moves. After a hard fought 70 kilometres, Martin Salmon rode strongly and made it into a five rider group. On the foot slopes of the Col du Pré a ten rider counter attack, which included Martijn Tusveld, broke clear of the peloton and set off in pursuit of those out front. On the tough climb, Salmon had to let go off the wheels as things reshuffled at the head of the race, with Tusveld making it into the front group of eight as they took on the descent.

The break and the peloton charged towards the incredibly difficult final climb of La Plagne, where unfortunately white jersey wearer Ilan Van Wilder had to let go of the wheels at 14 kilometres to go. Ahead, Tusveld was eventually caught by the peloton, where Felix Gall dug deep to stay in the ever reducing group for as long as possible, crossing the line in a respectable 20th place, not too far down on the stage winner.

“It was a super hard day but we worked together nicely as a team,” explained Gall. “Firstly, we were in the breakaway and then in the peloton we were sitting together in the bunch in a good way. Our positioning for the climbs was really good and also as we headed towards the last climb as well. I stayed as long as possible with the front group and personally it is nice to see some progress after the hard work with the team.”

Team DSM coach Wilbert Broekhuizen added: “It was a really hard start to the stage and it took a long time for the breakaway to go. We got Martin in there which we were happy with. A counter attack went, with Martijn in, and the groups came together on the HC climb. Martijn stayed in the front group for as long as he could, until the last climb, which was a good situation for us. Chad did a good job to guide the guys in the peloton, where we worked well together as a team. Unfortunately, with 14 kilometres to go Ilan had to drop the wheel. Felix did a really strong effort and showed that he has good climbing legs; and it is nice to see him making progress.”