Saint-Christo-en-Jarez (dpa) - Germany's bike hope Emanuel Buchmann mastered the first mountain stage at the side of the top stars on his debut after the Corona break without any problems, the four-time tour winner Chris Froome, on the other hand, let go again.
On Wednesday, Buchmann took 16th place on the first stage of the 72nd Dauphiné Tour with a top class. Milan-Sanremo winner Wout van Aert (Belgium) won ahead of South African Daryl van Impey and Tour Champion Egan Bernal (Colombia).
In the last of a total of seven mountain classifications, Froome lost contact with the leading group a good three kilometers before the finish line. In the end, he was 5:23 minutes behind. At the weekend, the Briton had already crossed the finish line at the Tour de l'Ain on the mountain stages behind. Recently there had been rumors that Froome might not even be nominated by the Ineos racing team for the Tour of France. The 35-year-old, who has not been in good shape since his bad fall at the Criterium du Dauphiné, is leaving the team at the end of the season anyway.
Tour fourth Buchmann, who drove his last race on February 26th at the UAE Tour, was positive after his debut. "That was a quick stage. The Jumbo-Visma team put a lot of pressure on. I am very satisfied with the result. My team put me in a good position," said Buchmann.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200812-99-143078 / 2
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