Jonas Vingegaard wins Critérium du Dauphiné as Tour de France looms large, Giulio Ciccone wins final stage

Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard, the winner of the 2022 Tour de France, took the overall win at the Critérium du Dauphiné today, with Trek-Segafredo's Guilio Ciccone winning the final stage at Grenoble Alpes Métropole, France.

And as the Tour de France approaches ever closer, the Dane lay down a marker for his rivals with a strong performance through the entire race — even securing his first stage win of the race while riding with a single chainring, although he appeared to have switched back to a 2x setup for the last two big mountain stages.

The general classification at the French stage race, unofficially known as the "mini-Tour de France", ended with UAE Team Emirates' Adam Yates in the second position, 2 minutes and 23 seconds behind Vingegaard. The British road and track rider, who joined UAE from Ineos Grenadiers last year, will be gearing up for Le Tour as well, where two-time winner Tadej Pogačar is expected to make his return as the leader for the team.

> Is Vingegaard going 1x for the Tour de France? Reigning Tour champion ditches a chainring at the Critérium du Dauphiné

🏆🙌 @giuliocicco1 prend la Bastille sur la 8ème étape du #Dauphiné

🏆🙌 @giuliocicco1 wins stage 8 of the #Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/eRncNnA7AB

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 11, 2023

Yesterday we reported that the Slovenian, who fractured his scaphoid bone in the wrist after an unusual crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, has been given the green light by his doctors to start training on the road.

Pogačar is currently in Sierra Nevada doing altitude training with his team and will head to the French Alps soon, before warming up competitively at the national championship in Slovenia in the third week of June: first with a time trial and then at a road race.

> Pogačar gets green light from doctors to train for Tour de France after broken wrist

AG2R Citroën Team's Australian rider Ben O'Connor was third in the GC, almost three minutes behind Vingegaard.

In today's final stage, Ciccone attacked from the breakaway on the penultimate climb before soloing down into Grenoble and then fending off Vingegaard on the steep final climb with a 13.1 per cent gradient up to La Bastille, overlooking the unofficial capital of the French Alps. 

Vingegaard himself had to respond to Yates' efforts to catch him on the final two climbs, with the Dane steering clear in the final kilometre and finishing 23 seconds behind Ciccone; Yates a further 10 seconds behind.

After winning the stage, Ciccone said: "I had 10 days off the bike, my condition wasn't 100% so started here with the Tour de France in the head but saw this week my condition getting better and better, so I'm really happy to close this week with a victory.

"The last 500 metres were really long, but with all the people there, it was really nice. I looked behind and saw I was still in front with some gap, so I just went straight. I'm really happy."

> Tour de France review: Jumbo-Visma, at last

🏆 Les vainqueurs de maillots:
🏆 The jersey winners:

💛 @MaillotjauneLCL:
🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard

💚 Maillot vert @WeLoveCyclingFR:
🇫🇷@LAPORTEChristop

🔵⚪️ Maillot à pois @auvergnerhalpes:
🇮🇹@giuliocicco1

👶 Maillot blanc @SavoieMontBlanc:
🇪🇸@_rccarlos#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/BSvY5RzLzN

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 11, 2023

This year's Critérium marks Vingegaard's third WorldTour stage race crown of his career. "It's very, very big for me to win this race. It's one of biggest races in the world, so I'm very happy to win," said Vingegaard

"Yeah in some kind of way I'm surprised [by the winning margin]. I knew I was in good shape but yeah. Now I relax for a few days then start preparing the last bit for the Tour de France. I still have a little bit of work to do but not a lot."

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