2018 Critérium du Dauphiné Prologue Results & Recap
Prologue of the 2018 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
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) wins Dauphine prologue\nBy Clara Beard
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) showed his excellent form in the lead up to the Tour de France today in Valence, winning the 6.6 kilometre flat and fast time trial with a time of 7:25, 1 second ahead of Jos Van Emden (LottoNL-Jumbo). Kwiatkowski’s teammate, Italian national champion Gianni Moscon was the only one to unseat the provisional top three in the latter part of the race, claiming third, three seconds off the pace.
European time trial champion Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) was one of the first riders to take the start, yet set a time good enough to finish fourth by the end. Patrick Bevin (BMC Racing Team) rounded out the top five.
“Both of us Geriant and myself, we came here to see how our shape was going before the Tour. We look forward to race hard, just want to enjoy this victory. It might be my last time trial in the national time trial jersey. I will try to defend it in a couple of weeks, but you never know," Kwiatkowski said.
Under sunny skies, 153 riders took the start of the 70th edition of the Criterium du Dauphine in Valance, a common host city for the warm up to the Tour de France. Not surprisingly, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) set the time to beat, 7:30 that held strong on the 6.6 kilometre course until Jos Van Emden took over the hot seat. BMC’s Paddy Belvin slotted in just behind Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) and that’s how the provisional top three stayed the majority of the race.
“It was a really nice course, Kwiatkowski said. “I was very motivated, coming into the race, I was in an altitude camp in Tenerife doing some hard training, so after 40 days of not racing I was happy with how I did.”
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) was the only rider to best Van Emden’s time, while his Sky teammate put in an excellent ride to bump Campenaerts to fourth. Another Sky rider and contender for the overall, Geraint Thomas didn’t fare as well. The Welshman slid out on a corner and took a tumble, however still finished 21 seconds back – same time as Adam Yates.
\nIt’s a rolling day tomorrow at the Dauphine. At 179 km from Valence to Saint Just Saint Rambert it looks to be a course for a breakaway to potentially stay away, but it will a challenge considering there are some sprinters who will be looking for an elusive win when they have the chance.
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