Critérium du Dauphiné: Geraint Thomas pounces to win stage 5

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Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) chose not to wait for the mountains at the Critérium du Dauphiné, springing a surprise final-kilometre attack to claim a sensational victory on stage 5.

The 2018 Dauphiné champion made use of a 180-degree turn to steal a march on the reduced peloton, and managed to hold off stage 3 winner Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) by a wheel.

Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech) claimed the final spot on the podium as Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall lead.

The race organisers had billed the steep late climb of the Côte du Montrebut – 1.3km at 12 per cent – as the undulating 175km stage's key flashpoint, but it passed quietly and a reduced bunch sprint looked inevitable after the peloton caught the only attacker, Lawson Craddock (EF-Nippo) with 2km to go.

Thomas, however, had other ideas. He hit the front just ahead of a 180-degree bend just inside the final kilometre and accelerated out of it as his teammates let the gap open.

It was a well-timed move but it was just as much a case of strength as it was ingenuity. Bahrain Victorious responded quickly, but by that point, they only had one man in front of Colbrelli, who was the heavy favourite with one stage win and two runner-up placings to his name already. That chaser was Jack Haig, who'd pretty done all the work on the run-in to bring back Craddock, and so Thomas managed to prize the gap open.

The Welshman rounded the final bend and dug in on the home straight, by which point it was a case of hanging on. Michael Valgren (EF-Nippo) increased the pace behind, and Colbrelli was forced into a long-range sprint. The Italian surged clear of the rest and closed in on Thomas, drawing up alongside as he threw for the line while Thomas began to celebrate.

He raised his arm to his head, instead of the sky, unsure whether he'd been denied at the last, but the photo finish confirmed he'd done it, with just a couple of metres to spare.

"It wasn't planned," Thomas said. "I knew Bahrain didn't have any guys left – only Jack Haig, who'd been riding. I knew it was all lined out and the last bit was a bit twisty so I just thought 'sod it, go for it'. I went with a kilometre to go, the boys said on the radio that I had a gap, and I just went all in.

"To be honest, I didn't think I had that on the line. I just sat up two metres from the line to start to give it the big one, but man, Colbrelli came past so fast he nearly took my helmet off. But it's really nice to get that win for sure."

With 10 bonus seconds for stage victory, Thomas moved up two places, above Ilan van Wilder (Team DSM) and his teammate Richie Porte, into sixth overall at 14 seconds.

Pöstlberger continues to lead by a solitary second over Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) as the race now heads for the mountains.

How it unfolded

The 175km stage from Saint-Chamond to Saint-Vallier featured more undulating terrain, with five categorized climbs, the most difficult being the late 'wall' of the Côte du Montrebut.

The stage started out with a climb from the gun, and the Côte du Planil (3.7km at 6.4 per cent) saw the first exchanges in a fraught battle for the breakaway.

Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), third overall and nine seconds down on Pöstlberger's lead, had an early attempt snuffed out but soon succeeding in getting into a larger group. Also in there were Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), Tsgabu Grmay (BikeExchange), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) and Cyril Gautier (B&B Hotels).

Pöstlberger's Bora-Hansgrohe team quickly came to the front and set about managing the gap, never allowing it to extend beyond two minutes as both groups barrelled through the opening hour. They were, however, powerless to stop Asgreen winning the intermediate sprint after 52km to claim three bonus seconds and reduce his overall arrears to six seconds.

Asgreen suffered a crash soon after, but managed to get back it. However, the race situation was about to shift, as Bora brought the gap down to less than 40 seconds. That was the cue for the Trek-Segafredo duo of Ryan Mullen and Jasper Stuyven to jump clear of the bunch, joined by Asgreen's teammate, Josef Cerny.

The trio made the bridge to make it eight out front, and they found some ground when a big crash disrupted the peloton's progress at the halfway mark. Ilan Van Wilder (Team DSM), wearing the white jersey as best young rider, was caught up but was able to continue, although the same could not be said for Lennard Hofstede (Jumbo-Visma), who abandoned with a broken collarbone and cuts to his face.

Bernard then led the break over the second climb of the day, the Côte de la Sizeranne (2.5km at 6.5 per cent), with a lead of two minutes, but that started to come down – steadily at first but then rapidly when the wind hit an exposed section of the course.

With 65km to go, Mullen and Cerny managed to move clear of the rest of the break, who were soon caught by the peloton. Mullen and Cerny had their own lead wiped out in an instant when Ineos instigated a huge surge in tempo in the crosswinds. The bunch never definitively split, but it was a tense, high-paced section of the race.

The Côte de Hauterives (2.1km at 5.2 per cent) was ticked off as if it wasn't there, while the next move came in the form of a solo from Sven Erik Bystrøm (UAE Team Emirates) ahead of the Col de Barbe Bleue (2.1km at 6.2 per cent) with just over 30km remaining.

Bystrøm took out a lead of 1:15 as Bahrain Victorious starting working en masse to control the pace in the peloton. Things seemed to be settling down but there was another crash, forcing the withdrawals of Kaden Groves (BikeExchange), Clément Venturini (AG2R Citroën), and Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates).

With 17km to go, the pace in the peloton suddenly surged again, as teams battled for position ahead of the steep and narrow final climb. Bystrom was caught with 13.5km to go, just shy of the start of the ascent, where FDJ set the early pace, before Ineos came to the fore.

After a few hundred metres, the first attack came from Craddock, who quickly opened a gap, but the rest either seemed content to follow Ineos' steadier tempo or were unable to push through on the narrow road.

There was another attacker near the top in Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels) but he was never able to get across to Craddock, who crested the climb with a lead of 14 seconds.

Bahrain Victorious then used their remaining riders to set about chasing, with Teuns working on the plateau before Haig took over on the 8km run-down into town. Craddock persevered and used the faster downhill sections to limit his losses but he was forced to relent with 2.2km to go.

At that point, Colbrelli looked primed, but Thomas pounced, setting up a thrilling finale and a dramatic photo finish.