With just one stage to go at the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine, INEOS Grenadiers have two men sitting firmly in the top-10 of the general classification. With Carlos Rodriguez 5th and Laurens De Plus 7th, can the duo rise up to the podium?
“Hopefully I can move up a bit,” the ambitious De Plus insists in a pre-stage 8 interview with Het Nieuwsblad. “It is certainly a difficult ride and the legs are good. Maybe me and Carlos Rodriguez will try something, because whether we finish fifth or seventh doesn't matter. It's the stage that counts. It will be all or nothing.”
With Rodriguez starting the day 1:58 behind the Maillot Jaune wearing Primoz Roglic and just 45 seconds off the podium, De Plus sits 2:17 behind the overall race leader and 1:04 behind Derek Gee, who starts the final stage in 3rd place. Another mountainous challenge awaits on stage 8, with plenty of opportunity for the INEOS Grenadiers duo to launch a race shifting or stage winning attack.
“The last climb (to Plateau des Glières, ed.) is quite steep, especially towards the end. Maybe we'll wait until BORA-hansgrohe is alone with Aleksandr Vlasov and then try something. But that is of course easy to say in advance. It will be especially important to have the legs," previews De Plus. “When I was in the lead with Vlasov on Friday, I thought for a moment that it could be my day. I was disappointed at the time, because I don't often get such opportunities in a whole year. But who knows in the Tour, or today.”
As the Tour de France is hotly approaching, it's is the perfect time for the INEOS Grenadiers duo to show some form, with the likes of teammates Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock getting their Tour de Suisse campaign underway later this afternoon.
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