"In the end I found myself alone at the front" - Paul Ourselin's solo adventure rewarded with a KoM leader jersey
Cycling
Paul Ourselin had a lonely day at the front of the second stage of Criterium du Dauphiné as no other rider was willing to join his breakaway adventure until the half-way mark of the stage when a group of three jumped over to the lone leader of the race. As most mountain sprints were placed in the first half of today's stage, the Cofidis rider's bravery was rewarded with a polka dot jersey.
"At the start of the stage, I was in a slightly more attacking state of mind, but in the end I found myself alone at the front," the Frenchman tells race organizer after the stage. At least he had no competition for the lead of King of the Mountains classification.
"That allowed me to pick up the points for the first four climbs, so it was the right strategy. It's true that being alone made it feel a bit long but after all it was nice, the weather was good. And then after that I was in the company of three other riders, which was quite nice. Even though I quickly realised that I couldn't go much further and that I wouldn't be taking the points on the cat-2 climb."
The next three stages won't bring an overwhelming amount of points to the table which gives Ourselin a good chance of keeping the prized jersey until the first mountain stage on Friday. "Now I can say that I'm getting the hang of it and I've thrown some strength into the battle. So I think I can try to keep the jersey until the stage after Mâcon."
KoM standings after stage 2 of Criterium du Dauphiné:
| Position | Rider | Team | Points |
| 01 | Ourselin Paul | Cofidis | 12 |
| 02 | Guernalec Victor | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | 6 |
| 03 | Juul-Jensen Christopher | Team Jayco-AlUla | 3 |
| 04 | Thierry Pierre | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | 2 |
| 05 | Bardet Romain | Team Picnic PostNL | 1 |
| 06 | Nerurkar Lukas | EF Education-EasyPost | 1 |
| 07 | Combaud Romain | Team Picnic PostNL | 1 |
| 08 | Price-Pejtersen Johan | Alpecin-Deceuninck | 1 |
Read also
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment