A mountainous finale at the Dauphiné
The last day of the race slotted four classified climbs in the space of just 138 kilometers, for a total of over 4000 meters of vertical gain: Col de Plainpalais, Col de Leschaux, Col de la Colombière and Plateau de Solaison. The last of these was back after having previously featured at the 2017 edition, when it weighed heavily on the final outcome, but this time its long, steep gradients didn’t bring any significant changes to the upper echelon of the general classification.
After the depleted bunch caught the remnants of the breakaway eight kilometers from the top of Solaison, the favourites began attacking, and in the end, it was Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) who scored the victory on stage 8, while Primoz Roglic sealed the win in the general classification.
Andrea Bagioli punched above his weight Sunday afternoon, making a jump of four places in the standings after a strong ride, despite being distanced from the main group before the start of the last ascent, and finished an impressive 16th at his very first Critérium du Dauphiné, thus ending this hard week of racing as the highest-ranked Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
