Primoz Roglic Holds On To Win Second Critérium du Dauphiné
Primoz Roglic Holds On To Win Second Critérium du Dauphiné
Slovenia's Primoz Roglic held off a late surge by American Matteo Jorgenson to win his second Critérium du Dauphiné by just eight seconds on Sunday.
Slovenia's Primoz Roglic held off a late surge by American Matteo Jorgenson to win his second Critérium du Dauphiné by just eight seconds on Sunday in an eventful 160-kilometer mountainous run from Thones to Plateau des Glieres.
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Roglic, who rides for Bora-Hansgrohe, went into the last day of the pre-Tour de France race with a lead on Jorgenson of 1 minute, 2 seconds, but the American put in a fine performance to come second in the eighth, and final, stage. Jorgenson finished just behind stage winner Carlos Rodriguez of Spain.
"It's crazy to be able to win the Dauphine after everything that happened - the crash (on Thursday) and everything that came in between. It's incredible," said Roglic. "I was hearing all the gaps all the time. It was close, but finally, I'm satisfied for the team. It's definitely something we needed with the team to be able to win the Dauphine.
"I first want to be happy, because you don't win a race like this every day."
The 34-year-old Slovenian came in sixth on the day after forcing his way up the final ascent, just in time to ensure he added a second Dauphine victory to his win in 2022.
Comfortable Roglic
After being caught up in the mass fall in Thursday's stage, Roglic showed no signs of hurt as he won back-to-back stages Friday and Saturday to stake his claim on the race lead going into the final stage.
After having previously lost the race on the last day in 2020, Roglic looked comfortable as the riders set off from Thones. He began to falter in the final climb, before recovering to fight hard in the last 500 meters to maintain his grip on the yellow jersey.
Jorgenson, 24, of Visma, just failed to add a Criterium win to his Paris-Nice title this year, as he ended up second in the overall classification.
Derek Gee was dropped by the leading group of Jorgenson and Rodriguez shortly before the finish line but rolled through in third place for the stage to finish 36 seconds behind Roglic and become the first Canadian to make the overall podium in the Criterium.
Ineos' Rodriguez claimed a career-first Criterium stage win Sunday to jump to fourth in the overall ranking.
Italian Lorenzo Fortunato clinched the polka dot jersey from Roglic on the final day as the race's best climber with 40 points overall.
Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who also crashed Thursday in his first race back after breaking his collarbone in the Tour of the Basque Country in March, suffered a disappointing last three days in the Dauphine and finished seventh overall.
Evenepoel will have his eye on the Tour de France, which starts June 29, where he again will be among the favorites, alongside his rivals Tadej Pogacar and Roglic.
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