The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

2017 Criterium du Dauphine: Stage 5 live race updates, blog

8th June, 2017
Start: La Tour de Salvagny
Finish: Macon
Distance: 175.5km
TV: Live on SBS Viceland and Eurosport from 11pm (AEST)
Stage Betting: Demare $2.50, Bouhanni $5, Kristoff $5.50, Coquard $8
The Criterium du Dauphine continues today after Richie Porte's victory in yesterday's time trial (AAP Image/Dan Peled)
Editor
8th June, 2017
52

Aussie rider Richie Porte will be looking to build on his Stage 4 win as he continues to chase down race leader Thomas De Gendt, on a flat, yet potentially dangerous Stage 5 of the Criterium du Dauphine. Catch all the live coverage and updates on The Roar from 11pm (AEST).

The 175.5km trek from La Tour de Salvagny takes the riders north of Lyon to the finishing destination of Macon with a sprint finish.

The day kicks off with a leg burner of a climb to get the muscles kicking into gear at over eight percent gradient, but luckily for the field, it’s only a short one.

The opening 80km of the day will be a real test for the sprinters as the mountain men can look forward to multiple climbs.

The major hurdle of Stage 5 comes in the form of an 8.8km ascent up the side of Col du Fut d’Avenas, hitting the peloton with a grinding 5 percent incline.

After that, there will be a small handful of minor and short climbs throughout the second half of the day, including the Col du Bois Clair which presents itself inside the final 35km of the stage.

While not a long climb, it’s sharp enough to do damage to any tired legs that are reeling from earlier in the day and is likely to be the final field thinner leading into Macon.

Flat road inside the last leg of the stage becomes tricky to deal with through the streets of Macon and into the finish.

Advertisement

There are five key sharp turns inside the last two and a half kilometres, making it a tricky battleground for teams to fight into position.

The piece de resistance of a tricky lead up to the line is a well-placed roundabout with 600 metres to go which is likely to cause havoc to organisation and positioning leading into the jump.

It is all but guaranteed to be a sprint finish on this one.

The key for the main contenders is to stay patient in the pack throughout the first half of the stage, conserving energy over the few climbs they are hit with.

Arnaud Demare has proven his sprint finishes already in the opening stages this year and is lining up for another strong result today if he can get his lead out.

Richie Porte impressed big time with his time trial win yesterday, beating out time trial world champion Tony Martin and even upstaging multi-time Tour de France winner and time trial expert Chris Froome.

Porte is now in second place and just 27 seconds behind race leader De Gendt in the General Classification standings.

Advertisement
close