Carlos wins final stage at Dauphine

Carlos Rodriguez and the INEOS Grenadiers made it a perfect end to the Criterium du Dauphine with victory on the final stage.

An attacking team plan paid off handsomely as Laurens De Plus and Rodriguez served up a brilliant one-two punch on the race's final climb, allowing Rodriguez to push clear and take victory.

The Spaniard was able to see off Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) in the two-up sprint atop the Plateau des Glieres, with the result also elevating the Grenadier up to fourth place overall.

De Plus would finish fourth on the stage, 35 seconds back on his team-mate, and also jumped two places up the GC to secure fifth spot. It was De Plus who upped the tempo significantly with 6km to go, causing panic in the lead bunch and dislodging a number of riders, including the yellow jersey of Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe). Rodriguez then hit the front, splitting the group.

Despite being distanced, Roglic was able to dig deep to secure victory by a reduced margin of eight seconds. 

Earlier the team worked hard to put Omar Fraile up the road in the day's 11-man breakaway. Not content with that, the team also set about pushing the pace on the day's penultimate climb, laying the ground work for what was to come.

Reaction

Carlos Rodriguez

"It’s true that I wanted to get more during the race, and in the end it was a good race. I’m really happy and thankful to the team for making it possible. They really sacrificed themselves for me. Since the start we had a plan and we executed it to perfection. We gave everything and I’m really happy to finish it off.

"We wanted to put people in the breakaway, to fight for the break. And then if they could help us as we came up the final climb then perfect. Then we wanted to make the race hard, and see what we possible if we felt good. In the end we felt really good on the last climb. The whole team was looking after me perfectly to the finest detail. I wasn’t wanting for anything at any point in the race – I had everything I needed so I’m really happy. I’m really thankful to all the riders and staff for making it possible.

"I worked hard and it’s good to have the legs responding in the right way."

Laurens De Plus

"It was an amazing performance by the team. I think it was a very hard day. On the final climb it was a good attack by our team, and in the end Carlos benefitted from that. After 2km on the climb he said he felt really good, and that maybe it was a good idea for me to make a hard pacing. After that he was able to go with three guys and finish it off.

"We wanted a hard race, I think that suited us better. With a high pace all day I think it was in our favour."