Greig Leach

As Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) sped down the Cote de Saint Andre the rain finally began to fall on the Criterium du Dauphine. As we all know, the roads can get rather slick once it starts to rain after a long sunny spell. The guy wearing the Maillot Vert is also a very accomplished cyclo-cross and mountain bike competitor, so he had the skill to keep himself vertical after his rear wheel locked up on a slick turn. With forty-four kilometers to race in a mountain stage, Van Der Poel has built up almost a minute on his former breakaway companions and over two and a half minutes on the chasing peloton. It would be a long shot, but he is certainly hoping to either win the stage or gain as many more points as he can at the finish. I did explain the results in the previous post.