Van Den Broeck Climbs to Victory in Stage 1 of Criterium du Dauphine 2011
Team Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jürgen Van den Broeck of Belgium held off a late charge from a small group of riders in the final climb to win the first stage of the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine earlier today, while Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan and Team Astana took the yellow jersey.
Team Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jürgen Van den Broeck of Belgium held off a late charge from a small group of riders in the final climb to win the first stage of the 2011 Criterium du Dauphine earlier today, while Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan and Team Astana took the yellow jersey.
Van den Broeck, who finished fifth in last year's Tour de France, completed the 144-kilometer stage in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 42 seconds.
"The group almost came back," Van den Broeck said and added "Then I said 'I play all or nothing.'"
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Spain and Team Katusha took second place, six seconds behind Van den Broeck, and one second clear of former World Champion Cadel Evans of Australia and Team BMC Racing.
Vinokourov was fourth in the same time as Evans and overtook Dutch rider Lars Boom for the overall lead. Boom won Sunday's prologue ahead of Vinokourov.
The trio of Sven Vandousselaere, Leonardo Duque and Vincent Jerome broke away after 20 kilometers and built a lead as large as 5:50, but were reeled in 10K from the finish.
Kanstantsin Sivtsov of Belarus went on the attack in the climb of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse and was later joined by Van den Broeck and Thomas Voeckler of France.
"During the race, the legs were OK," Van den Broeck said, "and I thought 'why not attack in the finale if I'm good.' Then I saw (Sivtsov) going. My teammate (Jurgen) Roelandts said 'come on, go.' When he said that, I went."
"It was a difficult situation to make a move in a final like that," Evans told Roadcycling.com and continued "Congratulations to Van den Broeck and (Alexandre) Vinokourov. There is still a long ways to go, with the time trial Wednesday and many more mountains before the final stage."
Some of the favorites could not keep pace in the final climb. Robert Gesink of the Netherlands, Tony Martin of Germany, and Samuel Sanchez of Spain were dropped on the category-two ascent.
Sanchez finished 58 seconds behind Van den Broeck while Gesink trailed the race winner by 01:31. Martin crossed the finish line 2:40 after Van den Broeck.
On Tuesday, riders have a 179-kilometer stage from Voiron to Lyon. The race ends on June 12.
Many riders use the Dauphine Libere as a warmup race for the 2011 Tour de France.
