Young German sprinter Phil Bauhaus has taken the first WorldTour victory of his career when he sprinted to victory on stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné today.
The Team Sunweb rider managed to outsprint the French pair of Arnaud Démare (FDJ) and Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) at the finish of the 175km stage from la Tour-de-Salvagny to Macon.
A breakaway of four riders – Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac), Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Julien El Farès (Delko Marseille) – broke clear after 15 kilometres and gained a maximum lead of over five minutes.
Van Baarle was the last of these to stay clear, finally getting caught with just six kilometres remaining. After a technical final few kilometres, Bauhaus surged through the middle of the fast men contesting the finish to take the win despite a late challenge from Démare.
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) maintained his 27 second lead over Richie Porte (BMC Racing) by 27 seconds ahead of tomorrow’s 145.5km stage from Parc des Oiseaux to Villars-les-Dombes which includes the hors-categorie climb of Mont du Chat fifteen kilometres from the end.
After the stage Bauhaus said: “I felt good from the beginning today. The team protected me well. The guys start pulling at the right moment and did a great job. At the Giro d’Italia I came close to the podium twice. Now with the support of the team, I take the biggest win of my career so far. It’s a great feeling to win here at the Dauphiné.”
Team Sunweb coach Morten Bennekou added: “We are all very happy here with the victory of Phil and we’re proud of the way the guys fought today. We supported him as much as possible during the day and also towards the finish and we can go into the coming stages with confidence now having achieved a stage victory here. On top, Sam secures the white jersey for another day, so we can be very satisfied with the team performance.”
