Fifty years after Brian Robinson won the race, Bradley Wiggins is poised to mark Sky Procycling’s 50th victory with overall success in the Critérium du Dauphiné in France.
The Briton faces the tough mountain stage to La Touissure but, if he climbs as he did on yesterday’s race to Collet d’Allevard, should be able to defend the yellow jersey. He started the day with a comfortable one minute 26 second lead over Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and is a further 26 seconds ahead of Alexandre Vinokourov (Team Astana).
Stage one winner Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and stage five victor (Christophe Kern) are both over two minutes back, and would need a very strong display to challenge.
Wiggins rode strongly in yesterday’s race, instructing team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen to set a tough pace on the final climb, and then covering the most dangerous moves in the final few kilometres. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was the only one to gain significant time, with the Catalan finishing 54 seconds ahead of the race leader.
Vinokourov battled hard on the climb, seeking to use his explosive power to put the diesel Wiggins in trouble but, despite numerous attacks, was only able to claw back four seconds. Evans was the other big threat yet he was on a bad day and cracked, conceding 15 seconds to Wiggins and leaving himself with a lot to do.
“It was a perfect day. I did my [own] climb, I did not react to attacks. I focused on what I had to do,” Wiggins told L’Equipe. “I have to ride like that if I want to win this race. I lost some time at the top but I gained time on Cadel (Evans), Brajkovic.”
Today’s race is another very tough one. The peloton faces the hors category Glandon/Col de la Croix de Fer, which is 22 kilometres long, averages seven percent and reaches 2067 metres in altitude, then will swoop down a long descent before the final 14.8 kilometre uphill slog to the La Toussuire finish. This is less difficult, being ranked as a category one climb and averaging 5.8 percent.
Wiggins believes that the worst is behind him now, but doesn’t want to take things for granted. “This stage was the most formidable of the Dauphiné,” he said after reaching the Collet d’Allevard. “Tomorrow (Sunday), there is the Glandon and then La Toussuire, which is less steep. But fatigue can play a part…it’s not over until you have crossed the line…”
Sky Procycling directeur sportif Sean Yates was impressed by how Wiggins and the other riders performed yesterday. That gives him encouragement for today’s stage. “It was a bloody hard day for the boys but they did some incredible work,” he said. “Then Bradley finished it off, retained the jersey, and put some more time into his nearest challengers.
“We’ve still got one day to go and we know what are tactics are going to be. We can’t count our chickens before they hatch and we’ve got to try and at least limit our losses on another tough stage.
“Vinokourov and Evans are unlikely to hit out on the Col du Glandon because it’s miles out, and we’re expecting the fireworks to come instead on the Montée de la Toussuire. It’s up to the boys to do their best again and give Bradley the best possible chance of bringing it home. If he can do that, it will be amazing.”
Few would have predicted Wiggins could take the overall classification in the race. While he was fourth in the 2009 Tour de France, he had a more difficult year last season and never showed the same form in the mountains. Sky Procycling race coach Rod Ellingworth told VeloNation last week that he believed a top ten result was possible.
“He wants to go for GC. He will give the prologue 100 percent and then continue on like that,” he said. “That is what we want to get from Bradley, that he goes 100 percent in every stage. He has got the form, he has just got to get that final bit of condition before the Tour.
“In general, GC is definitely the preferred goal in the Dauphiné, rather than the prologue or time trial. I think top ten would be good. If you are top ten, it is WorldTour points. I think top ten would be reasonable, and if you get that, you are racing in the sharp end, which is important.”
Things have worked out even better than Ellingworth anticipated. Should Wiggins hold on, victory today would be a major boost for the team heading towards the Tour, and would show that he is once again in shape to chase a high placing in the race.
It would also be very significant for British cycling, which has had just two previous winners in the Dauphiné; Robinson, 50 years ago, and then Robert Millar 29 years later.