Critérium du Dauphiné: Roglic package, Pinot new leader!

The 72nd Critérium du Dauphiné is therefore a real trap for the leaders. After the abandonment on Saturday of the Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos), officially for back pain, it is the turn of the undisputed boss of the race, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) to withdraw this Sunday morning in Megève, scene of the start and finish of the last stage.

Roglic has not recovered from his violent fall the day before. This Sunday morning, he preferred not to leave. The blow is very hard for the Dutch team, announced main opponent of Ineos de Bernal on the next Tour de France. Especially since she also lost Saturday, another huge asset, Steven Kruijswijk, third in the 2019 Tour and who broke his shoulder in another fall ...

The absence of Roglic at the start benefits Thibaut Pinot. (Groupama-FDJ) which was in 2 nd place 14 seconds behind the Slovenian. He is the new leader with 10 seconds ahead of his compatriot Guillaume Martin and 12 over the Spaniard Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren). “I felt a little surprised when I learned of this package,” admits Pinot. I know what bad luck is. It's a huge goal because this race is very beautiful. I've never known her so hard. It would be a pride to win. Now we are changing the tactics and we will have to be smart. "

"He feels good this morning"

“We had anticipated Roglic's package, recognizes Philippe Mauduit, the sporting director of Groupama-FDJ. Roglic fell in front of us and we saw that his fall was violent and that he would have consequences. It’s a shame that it’s going that way, but now we’ll have the opportunity to defend a leader’s jersey. It's good for the team's learning. It's a nice rehearsal. On Saturday, Pinot had also fallen, but in smaller proportions. “He feels good this morning (Sunday), loose Mauduit. But now, without the Jumbo-Visma who padlocked the race, we can have a somewhat crazy stage ”.

It has been exactly 13 years, and Christophe Moreau's victory in 2007, that a Frenchman has not won the Critérium du Dauphiné.