Safety conscious Demare tops 2nd stage, De Gendt leads
ARLANC, France: France’s Arnaud Demare had safety on his mind after sprinting to victory on the second stage of the Criterium duu Dauphine on Monday as Thomas s De Gendt held onto the leader’s yellow low jersey.
FDJ’s Demare, 25, found ound space down the right-hand sidee of the barriers keeping back fans at the finish in Arlanc to win by two clear lear lengths at the end of the 171km stage.
It was Demare’s sixth win of the season and his first ever ver at the Dauphine.
Last year’s Milan-San San Remo ‘Monument’ winner usedd his victory to highlight the dangers lurking for cyclists when training and nd competing on the roads.
“This is not a rant, just st a request to pay attention to cyclistsyclists and motorists,” said Demare.
“Each one has to respect the other, we share the roads.”s.”
Demare’s comments came ame after Dauphine favorite Chris hris Froome claimed last month nth to have been deliberately ely rammed by a car while out ut training in France.
Italian Davide Cimolai ai was knocked off his bike e a couple of weeks ago o while Italian Michele e Scarponi was killed in a crash with a van in April while training near his home.
Former MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden n was also killed in a bicycle accident in Italy last month.
“There are lots of victims, ms, it’s something I think about a lot when out training,” added Demare. “I’m not angry y with motorists but it’s dangerous, gerous, it’s what we live through on a daily basis.”
Norway’s Alexander Kristoff was second with another Frenchman, Nacer Bouhanni, finishing fast to take third. Belgian De Gendt, who won Sunday’s opening stage, finished safely in the peloton to maintain his 48-second lead over Frenchman Axel Domont. A lone escapee, Kazakh Alexei Lutsenko, held off the charging peloton until the final 3km having previously forged out on his own from a four-man breakaway.
Tuesday’s third stage over 184km from Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins should again favor the sprinters. Briton Froome is aiming for a record fourth victory at the Dauphine, the main build-up race ahead of July’s Tour de France, which the Team Sky leader has also won three times.