Arthur Vichot gives hope to French cycling at the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012

Friday 08 June 2012 at 19h31

After Giovanni Bernaudeau and Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) in the polka dot jersey and Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan) in Green, Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) continues to keep the hopes of French cycling alive by taking the stage victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012 after a stage which contained the Grand Colombier which will also be part of the stage Macon > Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in the Tour de France 2012 on 11 July.

The yellow jersey stays on Bradley Wiggins' (Team Sky) shoulders, the white jersey on Wilco Kelderman's (Rabobank) who took it with a superb time trial yesterday, while the polka dot jersey will now be worn by Cayetano José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale) who was part of the same breakaway as Arthur Vichot.

The summary of the 5th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012: Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans > Rumilly

The start of today's stage took place this morning in Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans, close to the MAVIC factory, bike accessory supplier but also the neutral assistance in all races organised by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO).
This was by the way for the Manufacture d'Articles Vélocipédiques Idoux et Chanel or simply MAVIC the occasion to sign a contract extension for 5 years with ASO, in presence of Yann Le Moenner (general director of ASO), after a visit of the factory.

4 riders abandoned after yesterday's time trial: Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Barracuda) who was sick since a few days and really didn't feel well, Simon Geschke (Team Argos-Shimano) who crashed after his time trial because of the wind and who has a fracture in his hand, just like the time trial revelation of this Dauphiné, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEDGE) who apparently had a problem with his Achilles tendon and the Belgian rider Sébastien Rosseler (Garmin-Barracuda).

The first attacks took place in the rain (just like the abandon of Arnaud Gérard (FDJ BigMat)). These breakaways all remained unsuccessful, until 8 riders got away from the peloton just after the summit of the Côte de Corlier. Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana), Kévin Reza (Team Europcar), Cayetano José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale), Rémy Di Gregorio (Cofidis), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Arthur Vichot (FDJ BigMat), Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank), Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur-Sojasun) got company from Alberto Losada (Katusha Team) and Maxime Médérel (Saur-Sojasun) a little bit under 130 kilometers from the finish. Despite Team Sky's work at the head of the peloton to control the gap with the breakaway, this gap rapidly went up anyway, to its maximum of 6 minutes close to the foot of the Grand Colombier.

Before the riders started the ascent of the Grand Colombier, the FDJ BigMat team lost another element, with the sprinter Nacer Bouhanni who abandoned because of problems with his knee after his crash in the time trial yesterday.

In the climb of the Grand Colombier the peloton was still led by Team Sky of the general classification leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), but a small group started the chase. In this group we found Maxime Bouet (on his training routes) and Mikael Cherel for the AG2R La Mondiale team, David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Rémi Pauriol (FDJ BigMat), Marco Marzano (Lampre-ISD), Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) and Alexandre Geniez (Team Argos-Shimano) and a little bit later also Christophe Kern (Team Europcar).
Before they arrived on top and while Juan José Cobo (Movistar Team) is said to have abandoned the race, this group of chasing riders is taken back by the peloton however. In the leading group, the young Columbian Cayetano José Sarmiento decides to accellerate just before they arrive on top of this first category climb, to grab the points for the King of the Mountains classification and thus take an option on the first place in this classification. On top, the gap of the breakaway on the peloton is still 3'55".

Just like in the Tour on 11 July, the riders of the Dauphiné continued their trip north to go find the Col de Richemond where Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) tried to get away from the peloton in which Bradley Wiggins' Team Sky is still leading. The Australian rider got company from several other riders but as a real strong man, Bradley Wiggins simply came back to this group as to show that he wouldn't let Evans surprise him like that and the British rider thus bridged the gap alone.

On top of the last climb, the Columbian rider of the Liquigas-Cannondale team again took the points and thus the polka dot jersey at the finish in Rumilly! Just after the summit, Maxime Médérel than decides to attack from the leading group but in the end this leading group came back together until Arthur Vichot decides to also get rid of the other riders of the group at a little bit less than 7 kilometers from the finish. As a real puncher, the young rider of the FDJ BigMat team goes on until the finish and arrives alone on the finish line in Rumilly!

Behind him, Egoi Martinez won the sprint of the initial breakaway, ahead of Dmitriy Fofonov and Rémy Di Gregorio.

The classifications of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012 after the 5th stage

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The classification of stage 5/ Saint-Trivier-sur-Moignans > Rumilly

Here's the top 10 of this 5th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012:

1/ Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) - 4h42'17"
2/ Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - +0'26"
3/ Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana)
4/ Rémy Di Grégorio (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne)
5/ Cayetano José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale)
6/ Alberto Losada (Katusha Team)
7/ Daniel Navarro (Saxo Bank)
8/ Maxime Médérel (Saur-Sojasun)
9/ Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) - +0'46"
10/ Bruno Pires (Saxo Bank)

The general classification

In the top 5 of the general classification there were no changes:

1/ Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) - 18h54'23"
2/ Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +0'38"
3/ Michael Rogers (Team Sky) - +1'20"
4/ Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) - +1'44"
5/ Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) - +1'45"

King of the Mountains classification

Cayetano José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale) takes the lead in the King of the Mountains classification by taking the points on the two last climbs of the day:

1/ Cayetano José Sarmiento (Liquigas-Cannondale) - 47 points
2/ Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) - 46 points
3/ Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar) - 38 points
4/ Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) - 38 points
5/ David Moncoutié (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) - 37 points

Best young rider classification

After his very good time trial yesterday, Wilco Kelderman today kept the white jersey as best young rider in the general classification. After the finish, the young Dutchman declared: I hope to keep the jersey but tomorrow's gonna be a very hard stage, we'll see!

1/ Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) - 18h56'08"
2/ Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) - +1'18"
3/ Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan) - +1'39"
4/ Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) - +4'46"
5/ Egor Silin (Astana) - +4'50"

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Classification by points

Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan) keeps the lead in the classification by points and will thus again wear the green jersey of this classification tomorrow:

1/ Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan) - 51 points
2/ Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) - 44 points
3/ Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) - 39 points
4/ Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) - 36 points
5/ Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 36 points

The photos of the 5th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2012

The photos taken on the Grand Colombier and at the finish in Rumilly are now available in the corresponding photo category:

>> Critérium du Dauphiné 2012: 5 - Grand Colombier & Rumilly

And to see the stage finish from another viewpoint, I suggest you to discover some photos by Colin Flockton below:

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Critérium du Dauphiné 2012 | Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré