Stewart sprints to Dauphine fifth stage win, Evenepoel holds lead
British rider Jake Stewart won a sprint finish to triumph in the fifth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine on Thursday as Belgian Remco Evenepoel held onto the race lead.
Israel Premier Tech rider Stewart claimed his first career victory in a World Tour race, edging the bunched finale ahead of Frenchman Axel Laurance and Norwegian Soren Waerenskjold after the hilly 183km run from Saint-Priest to Macon.
“That one feels good,” said the 25-year-old who finished fifth in Sunday’s opening stage in Montlucon.
“The boys backed me… and the team backed me, they did an awesome job, so I’m just so happy that I could finish it off for them.”
The Israel Premier Tech team managed to win despite the race retirement of its German sprinter Pascal Ackermann, who fell during the stage.
“It’s such a shame with Ackermann, he crashed again today, and it was handed over to me there for the final, but it was also a really good day for him, so I’m gutted that he didn’t get to contest the finish,” added Stewart.
Evenepoel, who took the yellow jersey since Wednesday’s time-trial, crashed in the final kilometre but was able to resume without difficulty and lost no time in the overall standings.
“There are no major injuries, just small scratches,” said the Belgian.
“I was coming out of the roundabout, I wanted to accelerate, and I slipped. My hands were slippery from the wet weather, so maybe I slipped off the handlebars or started pedalling too early.”
Evenepoel is expected to battle with Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar for the overall victory in the Alps.
Jonathan Milan, winner of the second stage in Issoire on Monday, was the favourite in the event of a bunch sprint.
On the Cote des Quatre Vents — the final climb of the stage over 5.4km at a 4.6 percent gradient — the towering Italian resisted the acceleration of Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates.
But he paid for his efforts afterwards, only finishing fifth in the sprint, despite having been ideally placed by his Lidl-Trek teammates.
Friday’s sixth stage is a hilly 126.7km run from Valserhone to Combloux near the border with Switzerland.
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