Samuel Sanchez takes the stage victory on Superdévoluy

Saturday 08 June 2013 at 15h56

In this 7th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2013, which quite well respected the subtitle given to this race by the organisors - a pure concentrate of mountains - with the numerous climbs, a big group went off but didn't manage to go on until the finish. In the end it was Samuel Sanchez who won this stage in a duo formed with Jakob Fuglsang on the Col du Noyer.

The summary of the 7th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2013: Le Pont-de-Claix > Superdévoluy

Today's Critérium du Dauphiné 2013 stage started quite early, at 9.15AM, for a stage which started at Le Pont-de-Claix with several climbs, starting with the Alpe d'Huez followed by the Col de Sarenne and the Col d'Ornon followed by a flatter part before the difficult Col d'Ornon of which the descent immediately went on in the climb towards the finish at Superdévoluy.

Despite several attempts early in the stage, it was only when the riders approached Bourg d'Oisans that a group of no less than 22 riders managed to get away from the peloton. In this group were the three first placed riders of the King of the Mountains classification, Thomas Damuseau (Team Argos-Shimano), David Veilleux (Europcar) and Kevin Seeldrayers (Astana) but also riders like Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - at the initiative of this breakaway - Alessandro de Marchi (Cannondale) and Ivan Santaromita (BMC Racing Team), Tony Gallopin and Laurent Didier for the Radioshack-Leopard team, who started the climb of the Alpe d'Huez with a lead over 3 minutes over the peloton. This gap went up to 3'50", which made Kevin Seeldrayers the virtual yellow jersey of the race and on top of the climb, where Thomas de Gendt arrives first (ahead of Thomas Damuseau) the gap still is 3'40".

On the Col de Sarenne it's again Thomas Damuseau who arrives in second position, this time behind Kevin Seeldrayers, with a 4'20" gap on the peloton. On the Col d'Ornon, the climb in which the leading group lost some elements, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) arrives first on top, again ahead of Damuseau, while the gap is up above 5 minutes there.

While approaching the climb of the Col du Noyer, the peloton however manages to reduce a bit of the gap, at 2'40" at the intermediate sprint in Corps (sprint won by Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol)).

A few kilometers further, at 33 kilometers from the finish, Sylvain Chavanel attacks again and Alessandro de Marchi is the only rider who manages to follow the French rider and this new leading duo rapidly creates quite some gap on the former breakaway. While Chavanel seemed to be the strongest guy in this leading duo in the climb of the Col du Noyer, it's finally De Marchi who accelerates when the peloton comes too close, at 17 kilometers from the finish.

Before he arrives on top, the Italian rider is however taken back by the peloton as well and it's then Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)' turn to attack. The Spanish rider arrives first on top, accompanied by Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and followed at 7 seconds by Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) and the main favourites of this Dauphiné, including the yellow jersey, Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katsuha) attacks from this yellow jersey group to try to catch up with the leading duo but doesn't get back on them before the finish. Samuel Sanchez then shows he's the strongest of the two on the finish line and wins this forelast stage.

The classifications of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2013 after the 7th stage

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The classification of the 7th stage: Le Pont-de-Claix > Superdévoluy

Here's the top 10 of this 7th stage:

1/ Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - 5h26'14"
2/ Jakob Fuglsang (Astana)
3/ Richie Porte (Team Sky) - +0'15"
4/ Daniel Moreno (Katusha) - +0'16"
5/ Stef Clement (Blanco Pro Cycling Team)
6/ Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team)
7/ Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
8/ Daniel Navarro (Cofidis solutions crédits)
9/ Michael Rogers (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)
10/ Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) - +0'23"

General classification

Since Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) couldn't follow the rhythm in the climb of the Col du Noyer, the Australian rider lost his place in the top 5 of the general classification in which Chris Froome (Team Sky) keeps the lead.

1/ Chris Froome (Team Sky) - 25h00'13"
2/ Richie Porte (Team Sky) - +0'51"
3/ Michael Rogers (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) - +1'37"
4/ Daniel Moreno (Katusha) - +1'47"
5/ Daniel Navarro (Cofidis solutions crédits) - +1'49"

Points classification

No big changes in the points classification where the final win remains to be disputed tomorrow though with still 20 points to be taken at maximum by one rider (5 in the intermediate sprint and 15 at the finish) and the gap of only 9 points between Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Chris Froome (Team Sky):

1/ Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - 44 points
2/ Chris Froome (Team Sky) - 35 points
3/ Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) - 26 points
4/ Richie Porte (Team Sky) - 24 points
5/ David Veilleux (Europcar) - 20 points

King of the Mountains classification

Thanks to his presence in the big breakaway group, together with his main opponents, Thomas Damuseau defended his polka dot jersey of KOM leader:

1/ Thomas Damuseau (Team Argos-Shimano) - 105 points
2/ Kevin Seeldrayers (Astana) - 77 points
3/ Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) - 48 points
4/ David Veilleux (Europcar) - 45 points
5/ Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) - 35 points

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Young riders classification

Rohan Dennis thus lost his 3rd place in the general classification but keeps the lead in the young riders classification:

1/ Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) - 19h34'37"
2/ Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) - +1'04"
3/ Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) - +2'47"
4/ Warren Barguil (Team Argos-Shimano) - +4'39"
5/ Angel Madrazo (Movistar Team) - +4'59"

The photos of the 7th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2013: Le Pont-de-Claix > Superdévoluy

The photos taken at the finish of this 7th stage in Superdévoluy are available by clicking on the following link:

>> The photos of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2013 at the finish at Superdévoluy

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Critérium du Dauphiné 2013 | Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré