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A powerful leadout by BORA-hansgrohe for their sprinter Sam Bennett looked to have the Irishman in the box seat for the win as he launched his sprint on the fast finale to Stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphine. He was challenged by Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) and moved to the right side of the road, obstructing them from passing him.
Meanwhile, Dauphine race leader Laporte burst through the centre of the road, just passing Bennett before the line as behind Groenewegen shouldered his way past Govekar and threw up his hands to protest Bennett’s movement.
Both Bennett and Groenewegen were relegated in a decision from the race jury, taking the final places within the peloton that contested the bunch sprint, with Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) and Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstiny) moved up to the podium positions.
Laporte took his fourth win of the season and now leads the overall standings by 11 seconds over Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep). The former world champion had an eventful day in the saddle, suffering a crash and then a late puncture, but was able to rejoin the main group before the sprint to avoid any time loss.
All the drama of the day mattered little to Laporte, who did his business without a Jumbo-Visma leadout into the final metres.
"I was looking forward to the sprint,” said Laporte. “I thought I wasn't fast enough to beat riders like Bennett and Groenewegen, but Groenewegen was blocked on the left and I was able to take the other side. It's unexpected and I'm very happy.
"We were protecting Vingegaard in the final. It wasn't all about the lead-out. I could take the benefits from that work. I was blocked at 500 metres to go and thought I was finished. It just opened up for me and then I was able to finish. It's a good day.”
Laporte’s slim lead at the top of the standings seems unlikely to last in view of the 31-kilometres time trial on Stage 4 of the race, with the general classification candidates expected to come to the fore alongside the specialists on a lumpy course.
"I like short time trials, but this is a long one,” said Laporte. “I think it will be very hard for me to hold on to the yellow jersey."
The sprint finish was the main point of interest in the stage, a duo of riders in the breakaway quickly became one, then none from 120 kilometres remaining. That left just a procession to the finish, briefly enlivened by protestors on the side of the road, which caused a short race neutralisation. There were a number of crashes in the run to the line, thankfully relatively isolated incidents that only saw a few riders caught up.
The Criterium du Dauphine continues with Stage 4, a 31-kilometre time trial from Cours to Belmont-de-la-Loire. The action gets underway at 10.55pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
