Alexis Vuillermoz legs it to the line on Stage 2 of Criterium du Dauphine as breakaway beats bunch to finish

A perfectly timed surge from Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) in the closing metres of the Criterium du Dauphine on Stage 2 delivered the Frenchman to a surprise stage victory from the breakaway.

Having helped his fellow escapees in sealing the fate of the onrushing bunch behind, the veteran rider’s legs were second to launch their sprint but first to the line, as he claimed a famous late career win.

It was his team’s first in the race since Thomas Voeckler nine years earlier, and brought with it their first leader’s jersey since David Veilleux wore it for three days of the same edition.

Despite originally being set up for another showdown between the biggest names from the biggest teams, Criterium du Dauphine’s second stage went to one rider from a breakaway of five – none of whom seemed to have read the day’s script.

In terms of its profile, Stage 2 of the Criterium du Dauphine was almost a reverse of Stage 1. On Sunday the race had travelled largely from East to West, with most of the climbing booked in towards the beginning and end of the stage; on Monday the course traced an easterly route, drawing back towards the foothills of the Alps, and had the four hardest of its hills all within the central 100km of the race.

That meant that the reverse result was a distinct possibility too, with Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) hoping to at once outsprint Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) to victory and displace him at the top of the overall standing. Both teams had an interest in making the racing hard enough to neutralise the ambitions of the pure sprinters, Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) first among them to fall off the back.

It was therefore up to those riders’ teams to commit to chasing down a strong breakaway of five. As deep into the stage as 60km from the finish in the Hautes-Loires town of Brives-Charensac, Olivier Le Gac (Groupama – FDJ), Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) Anthony Delaplace (Team Arkéa Samsic) Xandres Vervloesm (Lotto Soudal) Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM) held a lead of more than four minutes.

Only on the 11km long, category 2 Col de Mezilhac did the peloton really get to work, with Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) raising the tempo high enough to at least dampen the break’s spirits and tear their advantage in two.

On the extended plateau ahead of the descent the quintet were able to slow their losses from a flood to a trickle to a drip, but not stem them entirely.

As the road finally dropped downwards the gap hovered around ninety seconds, while the firepower in the peloton was decidedly reduced, and the stage hung in the balance.

With the race descending at 80kph, and just one categorised test and 20km of road remaining, the breakers were committed. But the bunch had swollen again in numbers.

It was coming down to a simple battle of distance and time – whether the road would run out first, or the lead.

Over the category 3 Cote de Rohac, with Trek-Segafredo on a Jasper Stuyven-directed mission, the break’s lead was 30 seconds and still it was too close to call.

Only with 5km to go, with the bunch looking around at each other more than the breakers, was Eurosport’s commentary team sure which way it would go: “They’re not going to get caught,” said Carlton Kirby.

Jumbo-Visma took to the front to try to change that equation, but it was a desperate, futile attempt. Into town and the cameras clearly showed how impossible the gap was to bridge.

A five-up sprint assured, tactical savvy went up against brute force. Olivier Le Gac went first and longest. He looked to have a large enough gap over the other four to take it to the line. With Skaarseth in his wheel Vuillermoz, however, had enough left in the legs to take advantage of some slipstream, drag the Groupama rider back, swing round him and out-sprint both for the line.