Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) won stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné in Le Coteau on Tuesday. Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) placed second and third, but were later relegated to last within their group for irregularities in their sprint. Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) and Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny) were later awarded second and third.
Most of stage 3 was uneventful, except for some inconsequential crashes and a worker protest that the riders had to slow down for at around 100km mark. It was the final few kilometers and the dash to the line that brought the drama. Two crashes occurring inside the 3 kilometer mark seemed to portend and set the tone for the erratic riding that followed.
It was Sam Bennett who set it all off when he started his sprint early, but then veered to the right as he realized he was losing ground. The effect was felt the most by Groenewegen who became boxed in and tried unsuccessfully to create a hole by pushing Matevz Govekar with his shoulder.
In the end, it was Laporte, not the favorites, who profited from Bennett’s erratic move by having a clear path to the line. As Laporte succinctly put it afterwards, “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.”
