Canadian Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) celebrated the biggest success of his career on stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphine. He attacked with Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) from the group of favourites in the final kilometre of the small mountain finish and relegated the Frenchman to second place in the final sprint. Three seconds later, third place went to Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education EasyPost), who led the group of favourites with all the big names.
The stage led over 181.7 kilometres through the Massif Central. Although there were no very difficult climbs in the day's profile, with five categorised mountain classifications, there were still over 2800 metres in altitude. The finish was in the small mountain village of Les Estables. However, the final ascent of 3.8 kilometres and a gradient of around five per cent was not a major hurdle. Accordingly, around 45 riders reached the final kilometre together.
With his stage win, Gee also took the overall lead. Thanks to the time bonus at the finish, he pushed the previous leader Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) into second place.
Criterium du Dauphine 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 3
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) 4:22:18
- Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) +0:00
- Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education EasyPost) +0:03
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +0:03
- Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:03
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:03
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:03
- Clement Champoussin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +0:03
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:03
- Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:03
The current standings in the overall standings
- Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) 11:45:20
- Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X Mobility) +0:03
- Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) +0:04
- Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:07
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:09
- Lukas Nerurkar (EF Education EasyPost) +0:09
- Clement Champoussin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +0:13
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +0:13
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:13
- Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:13
How the 3rd stage of the Criterium du Dauphine 2024 went
After the start in Celles-sur-Durolle, it took around 30 kilometres and several attacks before the day's leading group was formed. Eventually, Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Harry Sweeny (EF Education EasyPost) managed to break away from the peloton. Their lead quickly grew to over three minutes.
With five medium-difficulty climbs, there were plenty of mountain points to be won along the way. Prodhomme secured the first mountain classification after 22 kilometres on the Cote d'Augerolles (4th category), the other climbs were all in the second half of the stage. In the peloton, the Uno-X Mobility team led by overall leader Magnus Cort Nielsen took over the chase early on.
The most difficult mountain stage at Saint-Victor-sur-Arlanc (2nd category) was won by Rochas from the escape group after 87 kilometres - meanwhile Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) secured fourth place and the last remaining point in the mountain classification with an attack from the peloton. The Frenchman thus defended his lead in the special classification. On the Cote de Retournac (3rd category) after 125 kilometres, Rochas once again secured the two points.
With 40 kilometres to go, Christopher Juul-Jensen (Team Jayco-AlUla) broke away from the peloton and reached the three original breakaway riders a few kilometres later. The lead at this point was still around one minute, the mountain classification at Cote de Valogeon (4th category) after 147 kilometres went to Prodhomme. In the meantime, French champion Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) also tried to catch up to the front, but had to abandon his endeavour without success.
The terrain initially remained challenging even without a categorised climb, which meant that Rochas lost contact with the leading group. The remaining three escapees saved a few seconds until the foot of the 3.8 kilometre final climb on the Cote des Estables (3rd category), before their escape was over. The classification riders then took over the race. However, the final climb was not challenging enough for time gaps.
