Carpenter (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) was part of a remaining trio on the last climb to Crest-Voland over 170 kilometres and made the decisive attack two kilometres before the finish. Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), who is the new holder of the mountain jersey, came back shortly before the finish but no longer had the punch on the final straight and finished second ahead of Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers).
The top 10 of stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphine
- Georg Zimmermann (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) 4:02:50
- Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) +0:01
- Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:08
- Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) +0:48
- Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citön Team) +0:48
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +0:48
- Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) +0:48
- Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:48
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:48
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:48
The group of favourites with the yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), Bora captain Jai Hindley and the other top favourites such as Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) finished 48 seconds behind.
Vingegaard thus defended yellow, his team-mate Christophe Laporte green. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) continues to ride in the jersey of the best young pro.
The current overall standings
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumvo-Visma) 21:06:41
- Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen Team) +1:10
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:23
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +1:26
- Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:37
- Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) +1:44
- Daniel Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:07
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +2:54
- Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) +2:55
- Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +2:57
"I still can't believe it. As always, I gave my best and this time it worked perfectly," said Zimmermann directly after his second victory as a professional and his first on the World Tour. "I knew the course well. At the Tour de l'Avenir 2018, a stage also ended here and I was in a similar situation. The GC favourites passed me 200 metres before the finish. Today was different."
How the 6th stage of the Criterium du Dauphine 2023 went
Not at the start of stage 6 was Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco-AlUla), Natnael Tesfatsion (Trek-Segafredo), Manuele Boaro (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and also the wearer of the mountain jersey, Donovan Grondin (Arkea-Samsic), they did not finish. The trio, suffering from health problems, had to pay tribute to the high pace of the initial phase. In the first hour of the race, they averaged 49.5 km/h.
For this reason, no early lead group formed despite numerous attempts. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) therefore had the chance to take five points for winning the 2nd category mountains classification and thus at least virtually take the points jersey.
Only shortly afterwards did 14 riders break away and quickly built up a lead of three minutes. They were led by Georg Zimmermann (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty), who was the best breakaway rider in 38th place overall, six and a half minutes behind the yellow jersey and thus posed no direct threat to the GC riders.
The group fell apart on the climb to the Col des Aravis (2nd category). Zimmermann saved himself together with Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), who secured the five mountain points, and Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) crossed the summit with a one-and-a-half minute lead over a small peloton.
On the descent, the trio extended their lead once again and so they went into the final six and a half kilometres with a lead of 1:43 minutes, on which two mountain classifications with some extremely steep sections awaited. Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates took over the pace work for Adam Yates.
3.3 kilometres before the finish, the penultimate mountain classification (3rd category) had been passed, Burgaudeau collected two more points and had thus taken the mountain jersey from his team-mate Latour. The trio's lead had barely shrunk and the day's winner in Crest-Voland was expected to come from the leading group.
Zimmermann attacked with 2000 metres to go, but Burgaudeau was back in front with 450 metres to go. However, the German was faster than his rival in the sprint and celebrated his first win of the season.
