Mikkel Bjerg wins individual time trial at Critérium du Dauphiné 2023

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 4:40 PM

Mikkel Bjerg has booked the first professional victory of his career: he won the individual time trial of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Wednesday. The Dane completed the 31.1-kilometer course faster than Jonas Vinegaard and Rémi Cavagna. Bjerg also took over the leader’s jersey from Christophe Laporte.

After three stages that ended in a sprint, the Critérium du Dauphiné continued on Wednesday with a time trial of Course to Belmont-de-la-Loire. The course was mostly flat, but did have a climb in the form of the Col de la Croix (2.2 km at 4.7%). It would be an important day for the classification men.

One of the first riders to start was Dylan van Baarle. The Dutchman from Jumbo-Visma initially clocked the best time at the line, but soon lost the lead again. The same fate befell Ryan Mullen: he was also not allowed to enjoy the lead for long. Jonathan Castroviejo did a lot better than the Irishman from BORA-hansgrohe and took his place in the hot seat about. Meanwhile, reports of Ben Turner and Geoffrey Bouchard were reported. Both had crashed during the time trial and could not continue their way.

Cavagna clocked the top time
While Castroviejo still led the tables at the finish, Rémi Cavagna did a lot better at the intermediate points. The TGV from Clermont Ferrand also clocked the provisional fastest time after 31.1 kilometers. He needed 35 seconds less to complete the course than Nelson Oliveira, who had knocked Castroviejo off the throne just before. That would not happen so quickly with Cavagna, because one rider after the other bit his teeth on the Frenchman’s time.

Cavagna during his race against the clock – photo: Cor Vos

The classification riders were now also on their way, including Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane from Jumbo-Visma got off to an excellent start: at the first intermediate point he did twelve seconds better than Cavagna and Daniel Felipe Martínez. Adam Yates and Jack Haig, among others, were also close by, but Carlos Rodríquez, for example, already lost 42 seconds after just under eleven kilometers.

Bjerg is Vingegaard de baas
At the second intermediate point, Vingegaard gave up quite a bit on Cavagna. He was now one second behind, while Mikkel Bjerg – still twenty seconds behind Vingegaard at the first intermediate point – clocked exactly the same time as the Frenchman. In the last part of the time trial, the UAE Emirates pacemaker made the difference. He outperformed Cavagna by almost half a minute. A bomb of a time, Vingegaard also experienced. The Tour winner was eleven counts short of beating his compatriot Bjerg.

Vingegaard – photo: Cor Vos

Ben O’Connor also did good business as far as the classification riders were concerned. The Australian eventually finished third, two spots ahead of Adam Yates. Martínez and Hindley also limited the damage compared to Vingegaard, but riders like Rodríguez, David Gaudu, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas and Egan Bernal lost a lot of ground. Rune Herregodts, one of the last starters, meanwhile settled in the top ten. Julian Alaphilippe fell just outside of that.

Double stroke Mountain
After that it was mainly waiting for Christophe Laporte, the wearer of the yellow jersey. The Frenchman from Jumbo-Visma defended himself bravely, but lost too much compared to Bjerg. The Dane thus struck a double blow: he won the stage and became the new leader.