8 days of action are over at the Critérium du Dauphiné with a decisive and important win for Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky. On the final day of action (117.5km Pontcharra – La Toussuire) Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) took the stage win but Wiggins had managed to stay ahead of his rivals since Wednesday’s Grenoble 42.5km Individual Time Trial to bag overall victory; making him only the third Brit to win the Dauphiné (a vital indicator of potential Tour de France mettle) after Robert Millar in 1990 and Brian Robinson in 1961. Team Sky’s Sports Director, Sean Yates, commented: “This is the biggest win Team Sky have had so far, there’s no doubt about that. The Dauphiné is a massive race with a super-strong field and pretty much anyone who’s anyone was here apart from Alberto Contador and the Schlecks. It’s often described as a mini Tour de France and you cannot underestimate the quality of this result, and the team’s performance.”
Cadel Evans of BMC, a runner up in Dauphiné between 2007 and 2009 and winner of this year’s Tirreno Adriatico and the Tour of Romandie, had, many thought, been the man to watch at this year’s event – but ultimately he had to settle for second place with Alexandre Vinkourov (Astana) taking third.
For full results and stage analysis see: www.letour.fr
