Ferron takes breakaway victory – van Aert defends Dauphiné yellow

The French professional cyclist Valentin Ferron won the sixth stage at the 74th Criterium du Dauphiné as a breakaway.

Escape successful: Valentin Ferron rolls into Gap.

IMAGO / Sirotti

–

On Friday, after 196.5 kilometers from Rives to the well-known Tour de France stage town of Gap, the 24-year-old was able to assert himself ahead of his two compatriots Pierre Rolland and Warren Barguil. The yellow jersey of the overall leader was defended by the Belgian Wout van Aert, who crossed the finish line 32 seconds after the day’s winner Ferron in the peloton. The two-time stage winner leads Mattia Cattaneo from Italy by 63 seconds and his Slovenian Jumbo Visma teammate Primoz Roglic by 66.

On the seventh stage on Saturday, the field will be on familiar Tour terrain three weeks before the start of the Tour of France. Then on the penultimate stage of the 134.8 kilometers from Saint-Chaffrey to Vaujany the 2642 meter high Col du Galibier and the 2067 meter high Col de la Croix de Fer are on the program.

The heavily occupied World Tour race through south-eastern France ends on Sunday. The Dauphiné tour traditionally serves as the last test for many riders before the Tour de France, which starts this year on July 1 in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.

6th stage Rives/France – Gap/France (196.50 km)

1. Valentin Ferron (France) – Team TotalEnergies 4:22:17 hrs; 2. Pierre Rolland (France) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 3s; 3. Warren Barguil (France) – Team Arkea-Samsic; 4. Andrea Bagioli (Italy) – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl; 5. Geoffrey Bouchard (France) – AG2R Citroën Team; 6. Victor Lafay (France) – Cofidis; 7. Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Colombia) – UAE Team Emirates +32; 8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) – Team TotalEnergies; 9. Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands) – BikeExchange; 10. Matis Louvel (France) – Team Arkea-Samsic; … 56. Nils Politt (Huerth) – Bora-hansgrohe; 69. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis; 100. Jannik Steimle (Weilheim) – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl + 49; 105. Miguel Heidemann (Trier) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 1:24 min.; 127. Marco Brenner (Ansbach) – Team DSM + 5:07; Leon Heinschke (Cottbus) – Team DSM eliminated

Overall standings after the 6th stage:

1. Wout van Aert (Belgium) – Jumbo-Visma 21:27:20 hrs; 2. Mattia Cattaneo (Italy) – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl + 1:03 min.; 3. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) – Jumbo-Visma +1:06; 4. Ethan Hayter (Britain) – Ineos Grenadiers +1:32; 5. Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen (Denmark) – Jumbo-Visma +1:36; 6. Damiano Caruso (Italy) – Bahrain Victorious +1:49; 7. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Britain) – Ineos Grenadiers +1:55; 8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) – Movistar Team +2:00; 9. Ben O’Connor (Australia) – AG2R Citroën Team + 2:10; 10. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands) – Bora-hansgrohe + 2:12; … 33. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis + 4:05; 50. Nils Politt (Huerth) – Bora-hansgrohe + 5:41; 96. Jannik Steimle (Weilheim) – Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl + 15:15; 118. Marco Brenner (Ansbach) – Team DSM + 29:41; 128. Miguel Heidemann (Trier) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 35:12

–