Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) came ever so close to claiming a surprise victory on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné where he was caught in the final 10 meters by the hard-charging peloton.
The Belgian was the last remaining rider of the five-rider breakaway that formed early after a fast start of the 158km stage around Chambon-sur-Lac. After his break companions sat up, Herregodts crested solo the Côte du Rocher de l’Aigle, the 1km climb at 6.1% on the third and final finishing loop.
“I knew that this stage had a chance for the break, often in the Dauphiné there are a lot of chances and certainly with this course. So we got away with a strong group but we didn’t get a lot of advantage. We had to really start hammering already the first lap here. One by one, my fellow breakaway companions dropped,” Herregodts told Cycling Pro Net at the finish line.
"At the end, it was just the goal to make the steeper climb, to maybe get to the top and then I thought maybe I could sprint in a reduced group.”
Hoping to repeat his victory at stage 1 of the 2022 Ruta del Sol where he held off a charging field, Herregodts refused to give up. He dove down the descent to the finish line, taking risks on the hunt for glory. The gap was 15 seconds with 15 kilometres to go and he headed into the final kilometres with a small margin.
“With 10 seconds in the last 2 kilometres, I knew I just had to go full. When you know you’ve done something wrong, you can be really disappointed, but I gave everything, so that’s life, that’s cycling. I took my chance and it was just not enough. Maybe the peloton underestimated me and that makes it even more of a missed opportunity. Once they know you, it gets harder and harder,” Herregodts said in a separate interview.
But the peloton led by the 2022 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team doubled down to barely deliver Christophe Laporte to victory.
The 24-year old rider was so close to the win that he hung on to finish third, surrounded by the best sprinters from the peloton, and also claimed the best young rider jersey.
“The white jersey and third place, it’s nice, but that’s not what I was hoping for in the last kilometre! When you say that Jumbo-Visma sacrificed the whole team, it’s a badge of honour but I would have preferred Jonas Vingegaard to say: 'I'm a GC rider, I don’t pull'! They’re too good of a team.”
