Stage 5 neutralised after crash
June 6 th 2024 - 15:33
The 167-km 5th stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné was neutralised after a crash in the peloton and organisers decided that no times would be taken on the line in St Priest while no winner would be crowned. The peloton rode to the finish line under the escort of the Garde Republicaine. The crash took place with 21 km to go and sent many riders to the ground. Among them, Dutch riders Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan van Baarle (both Visma-Lease a bike) were forced out. At the moment of the crash, KOM leader Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) were leading the race, the Frenchman having strengthened his polka-dot jersey along the way. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) will lead the race with a 33-seconds lead over Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) at the start of stage 6 in Hauterives on Friday.
Three in the lead
The start was given at 10:33 to 147 riders. Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla) did not start. KOM leader Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) went from the flag with Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck). They were rapidly joined by Adne Holter (Uno-X) but the peloton was jittery and refused to let them go at first. They finally received the go-ahead after 14 km and held a maximum lead of four minutes after 20 km. Bayer was fastest at the intermediate sprint (km 32) as the gap with the bunch had settled at around three minutes.
Le Berre collects KOM points
Le Berre used the break to make a clean sweep of KOM points and picked one in the 4th category Cote de Croix de Signy (Km 49.7), five on Cote de Duerne (2nd cat. Km 76.2), two more in Cote de Givors (km 111.5) and a last one on Cote de Bel-Air (Km 144). On 24 points, the Frenchman is virtually certain to retain his polka-dot jersey at the end of stage 6 as only 21 points will be up for grabs and none of the GC contenders (except Aleksandr Vlasov - 1) have scored KOM points yet. The chase was mostly led by Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) and Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R), working for their sprinters Mads Pedersen and Sam Bennett. With 75 km to go, Holter slipped, crashed and lost contact with his breakaway companions but closed the gap 10 km further down the road.
Race neutralised
The rain played a major part in the finale as Bayer took advantage of the slippery descents to drop Le Berre and Holter, while a first crash in the bunch halted Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost), Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) or Harold Tejada (Astana), forcing the pack to slow down. Bayer and Le Berre joined forces again with 33 km left and went on until the final climb. With 21 km to go, a massive pile-up took place in the peloton and organisers decided to neutralise the race. Remco Evenepoel, the overall race leader was involved in the crash, as well as other GC contenders like Primoz Roglic, Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates) or Powless. None of them were seriously injured but Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan van Baarle (both Visma-Lease a bike) were forced out of the race.
