Bouwman wins stage three with Froome in touch

KOEN Bouwman won stage three of the Criterium du Dauphine from the breakaway as Chris Froome and the general classification hopefuls crossed safely in the main pack.

The sprint teams were hoping to dominate on the 184km stage from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins but miscalculated the strength of the six-man break who held on in strong headwinds at the finish.

LottoNL-Jumbo’s Bouwman burst clear on the final straight to win ahead of Delko Marseille Provence’s Evaldas Siskevicius, while stage two winner Arnaud Demare (FDJ) beat Bryan Coquard (Direct-Energie) in the battle for minor places at the front of the peloton 11 seconds later.

It was a first professional win for the 23-year-old Bouwman.

This was the second of the first three stages to be won from the break, with Lotto-Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt, winner on day one, doing enough to retain the overall race lead.

Team Sky had guided Froome up to the front towards the finish to keep the three-time winner of this race safe, and he crossed the line in 40th place.

He and the other main contenders sit 69 seconds down on De Gendt after three days of this eight-stage race, with today’s 23.5km time trial likely to rewrite the standings completely.

Froome is aiming for a record fourth win in the Criterium, a race he won in each of the years he went on to win the Tour de France.

Looking ahead to the time trial, Froome said: “It’s going to be a huge dynamic of the race here. Whoever gets time tomorrow in terms of the GC battle won’t necessarily have to go on the offensive in the following days.

“It’s an important milestone in this week’s race, but it’s also an important test in terms of the Tour de France.”