Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has won Stage 5 of the Dauphine Libere. The Frenchman attacked on the Category 1 Col d’Allos and held off the peloton to win the mountainous, 161-km stage from Digne-les-Bains to Pra-Loup in 4:31:22. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) finished second at 0:36, and Chris Froome (Sky) took third at 0:40. Van Garderen’s finish has made him the maillot jaune.

This stage and Stage 17 of the 2015 Tour de France have the same route. For that reason, today’s ride was viewed with anticipation. The riders did not disappoint. They started the fireworks early, at four km, when Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), Pieter Serry (Etixx-Quick Step), Romain Sicard (Europcar), Arnaud Courteille (FDJ), Albert Timmer (Giant-Alpecin), and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) sallied off of the front. The peloton, which was led by BMC, kept the break on a short leash, and the escapees’ advantage maxed out at 5:05 at 82 km.

On the Col d’Allos, with 42 km remaining, Riblon was dropped. Six km later, Serry rode away from his companions, but Wellens, Sicard, and Timmer eventually bridged up to the move. With 28 km left, the quartet led the bunch by 2:30.

Sky took over at the front. The British squad’s pacemaking dropped Bauke Mollema (Trek) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale), among others. Eventually, maillot jaune Rohan Dennis (BMC) yielded to the tempo. Two km from the summit, the 30-rider strong peloton caught the break.

Just before the summit, Bardet made his move. He opened a gap on the descent and led the peloton by 1:20 at the base of the climb to the finish. Behind, Sky pursued carefully on the descent.

On the climb to Pra-Loup, Sky ramped up the pressure again. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) fell off of the pace. With two km left, Froome attacked. For a time, van Garderen followed at his own pace, but the American and Benat Intxausti (Movistar) then pursued the Briton. Van Garderen caught Froome with less than a km to go and passed him to take 0:04 and the bonus seconds that gave him the race lead.

Bardet surprised himself with his victory. “It's kind of hard for me to realize what just happened,” he said. “I told myself I'd attack and when I saw that no one was following in the downhill I tried to increase the gap. I don't feel like I've taken any risk, I even think I rode cautiously, knowing that it was my first time on that road. I paid attention to my trajectories. When I realized that I had more than a minute lead, I knew it was enough to manage and keep something over six kilometers.

“I didn't have the yellow-blue jersey in mind but only the stage victory. Towards the end, I had the feeling it was never ending. It's fantastic to win a mountain stage of that importance, ahead of the favorites of the Tour de France. It's really good for my career. Not a long time ago, I told myself that I hadn't won anything this year yet and I had to wake up. It's a psychological relief. It's by far my best win up to date. It was the right strategy. Now that I know that I can win this kind of race, I can raise the bar a bit higher. I'm third on GC now with three difficult stages to go. I'll try to do better than last year (5th) and I'll keep attacking.”

Van Garderen said that today’s result told him that his preparation for the Tour de France is on track. "I think everyone kind of wants to strut their stuff a little bit before July, and I think I showed I am right up there with them," he said. "Everyone has their different methods. You can never read too much into the Dauphine as far as what their form is going to be in the Tour. But I definitely take some satisfaction and confidence out of today."

In the overall, van Garderen leads Intxausti by 0:17 and Bardet by 0:20. The 183-km ride from Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur to Villard-de-Lans will feature six categorized climbs including the Category 1 Col du Rousset at 132 km and the Category 3 ascent to the finish. Who will win? Who will wear the maillot jaune at day’s end? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!