Van Gils wins on wild day at Dauphiné as Tuckwell takes surprise lead

Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is the new leader of the Critérium du Dauphiné after stage 6 to Côte de Crest-Voland, where his teammate Maxim Van Gils claimed victory, while Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) were the strongest of the GC favourites.

The first day in the mountains was a tumultuous one, with the peloton splitting in two in the opening kilometres. That left a front group of some sixty riders, and the survivors would fight it out for stage victory on the category 1 climb to the line. 

The GC favourites were all in the second group, and Seixas’ Decathlon CMA GCM team was compelled most of the day on the front in a bid to keep the Frenchman in contention for final overall victory. 

The break splintered on the penultimate climb of the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugin before Van Gils launched what proved to be the winning attack at the base of the following Côte de Crest-Voland.

The Belgian bridged up to Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) in the company of Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), and they were later joined by Tuckwell.

In the final kilometre, Tuckwell set a searing tempo to tee up his teammate Van Gils, who outsprinted Johannessen to take the stage honours.

Further down the mountain, Seixas sprang onto the offensive with 5km to go, setting a tempo that only Del Toro and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) could initially follow, with Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) battling to limit the damage.

Jorgenson was burned off with 3km to go, and Seixas would eventually seek help with the pace-making from Del Toro. The duo crossed the line 3:15 down on Van Gils, with Jorgenson finishing at 3:28 and Ayuso coming in 3:37 down in the company of teammate Mattias Skjelmose. 

Previous leader Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) came in 4:47 down to surrender the maillot jaune. Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) dropped out of the GC battle when he crashed on the descent of the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugin, and he would in almost half an hour down.

In the overall standings, Tuckwell has a 1:12 lead on Bruno Armirail (Visma), while Jorgenson is now fourth at 2:35 and Seixas is seventh at 3:06.

There was a blistering start to the first mountain stage of the Dauphiné, with some 52.1km covered in a tumultuous opening hour of racing. Even the terrain wasn’t the most demanding, the peloton split in two in the early kilometres, with some 60 riders forging clear. 

None of the GC favourites were in the front group, nor was maillot jaune Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), but Decathlon CMA CGM were the only team not represented in front, which meant Paul Seixas’ team would spend the day engaged in a high-speed pursuit.

Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was the best placed man on GC in the move, with Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) also present, and the group had two minutes in hand after 50km.

The gap would increase to 2:40 over the category 2 Col du Granier, and the intensity didn’t relent over the other side on the long, flat run-in to the final two ascents. The peloton’s deficit would hit four minutes with 50km to go, which prompted EF to join Decathlon in marshalling the chase.

Out in front, escapee Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) had abandoned after he crashed out of the break. In the main peloton, meanwhile, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) was forced into a long chase after he crashed into a traffic island. 

Come the foot of the category 1 Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugin with 20km to go, there were 54 riders out in front with a lead of 4:45 over the peloton. The front group broke up as soon as the gradient began to bite, but they remained a coherent force on the 5% slopes of the ascent. 22 riders were still together in front when Clement Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ) led them over the top, and they still had 4:20 in hand on the bunch.

The only frissons in the group of favourites on the climb came when Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) attacked in the company of Carlos Rodriguez (Netcompany-Ineos), but they never had more than a dozen or so seconds in hand as Decathlon CMA CGM policed affairs on behalf of Seixas ahead of the short, sharp final climb up the Côte de Crest-Voland.