09/06/2023

Criterium du Dauphiné: Georg Zimmermann wins stage 6 out of breakaway, GC fight sees no differences in hilltop finish

Stage 6 of the Criterium du Dauphiné was a day that was expected to come down to a breakaway win and from there it was Intermarché-Circus-Wanty's Georg Zimmermann who succeeded, taking advantage of the hilly profile.

The stage was suited to a breakaway and that led to a very strong pace early on. Without surprise many tried to be in the front group, 14 riders eventually made the move. Alexis Vuillermoz, Matteo Trentin, Jonathan Castroviejo, Andrea Bagioli, Axel Zingle, Dries Devenyns, Matteo Jorgenson, Andrey Amador, Lawson Craddock, Mattéo Vercher, Simon Gugliemi, Georg Zimmermann, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Nans Peters.

Prize Money Critérium du Dauphiné 2023 - €144,024 to be split between teams

A strong group, but one which never got much of a gap. Team DSM and Uno-X controlled the race with the gap never growing much above the 3 minutes, however when the time came to reel the front group back in there weren't the legs, or intentions to do so.

The front group saw attacks starting before the ascent to the Col des Aravis with the gap to the peloton sitting on the 2-minute mark. Jonathan Castroviejo took advantage of the difficult climb to go off the front, joined by Mathieu Burgaudeau. Georg Zimmermann joined them soon after as Trek - Segafredo began helping in the chase behind, with some modest assistance from EF Education-EasyPost.

The gap was of 1:30 minute at the summit of Aravis, but the technical wet descent saw the gap growing, and was on 2 minutes at the base of the final climb. The trio out front collaborated well. Only with 1.9 kilometers did the first attack come, Georg Zimmermann had the legs and made a move which saw no direct answer.

There looked like there'd be a last-minute turn of the tables as Burgaudeau accelerated from behind and managed to bridge across with 500 meters to go, but after launching his sprint early he blew up in sight of the line, with Zimmermann riding for the victory.

Behind Jonas Vingegaard attacked in the explosive finale with Ben O'Connor being the only one to directly be able to respond, but with no real gaps forming the pace calmed down, most of the GC riders arrived together with Vingegaard keeping his yellow jersey.