2017 Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 4 Results & Recap
Stage 4 of the 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Porte powers to time trial win Bourgoin-Jallieu
De Gendt keeps yellow another day
Richie Porte (BMC) motored across 23.5 kilometres of a deceptively challenging time trial course at the Criterium du Dauphine to take first ahead of world TT champion Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) by 12 seconds. The Australian’s performance moves him up to second overall, 27 seconds behind Thomas De Gendt, who is still holding onto yellow.
“I already felt during the recon that I had good legs,” De Gendt said. “I had to give it all. I had a good feeling. I caught Axel Domont after the first time check. He was a good point to focus on. I still have half a minute left onto Richie Porte. I'm really happy with the result I got today and I keep the jersey for at least one more day.”
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) turned out a good ride to finish third, 24 seconds off Porte’s pace. The Spaniard moves up to third overall and like Porte, he’s within striking distance of the yellow jersey tomorrow.
“I didn't expect to win today and certainly not by this much onto the other GC contenders,” Porte said after the race. “I really worked hard on my time trial this year. I hadn't ridden any time trial for a long time, so I'm really happy with what I did today. Of course it's always nice to win races. Winning a time trial probably gives even more confidence. I'm happy with where I am at so close to the Tour de France. With a bit of luck, it can be a good Tour de France for me this year. The team has put a lot of faith in me. I'll be the sole leader and I have a great team behind me. Whatever happens, I'll go to the Tour with a fantastic form and a great team to support me.”
How it transpired
With 169 riders setting off at just one minute intervals, the 23.5 km route was buzzing with riders. Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek-Segafredo) was the early fastest through the 12.5 km intermediate time check with 16’17. The Japanese rider finished with a time of 31 minutes and 29 seconds, averaging 44 kph.
Amund Grøndahl (LottoNL-Jumbo) was the next to set a fast time, 31:22 which bested Beppu by just one second. Then Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) did one better, clocking a 29:46.
As suspected, the South African TT champion, Daryl Impey crossed the line 44 seconds faster than the Cofidis rider and sat in the hot seat to watch the GC and stage favorites take the start gate.
American Chad Haga was the next to arrive with a time 23 seconds faster than Impey, replacing him as the top rider until world champion Tony Martin came through with a 28:19 as Porte left the gates.
Alberto Contador came across the line with a very good time, 28:42, slotting him into fifth place overall at the end of the day, 1 minute and 2 seconds down.\n. \nDefending champion Chris Froome didn’t fare quite as well and finished his time trial in eighth place, 37 seconds off Porte’s pace. \n
Get our full coverage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
