Jakob Fuglsang Astana

ne month ago not even Jakob Fuglsang would have put himself down as a contender for this year’s Tour de France. He hadn’t won a bike race since July 2012 and has always been happy in his role as domestique par excellence in his four and a half seasons at Astana. But winning the Critérium du Dauphiné automatically puts you in that bracket, like it or not.

Initially at the Dauphiné to help his team leader Fabio Aru — perhaps a more likely Tour contender if he recovers from his knee injury — Fuglsang took advantage when everyone ganged up on leader Richie Porte on the final stage.

Similar to Andrew Talansky’s 2014 Dauphiné win, you could argue that it is no gauge of his Tour credentials, as the ‘real’ favourites’ tactics cancelled each other out, handing him the win. But there is more to Fuglsang than this one result.

The Dane has ridden 10 Grand Tours and finished every one of them. That’s a level of consistency not many riders can equal but it’s essential for a genuine contender. He finished seventh in the 2013 Tour de France and has an 11th and 12th place GC finish from the Vuelta and Giro respectively.

A former mountain bike champion, he has the bike-handling skills to survive the cobbles — he came second on the 2014 Tour’s cobbled stage — and has the tactical nous for one-day racing, as evidenced by his second place at the 2016 Olympic road race.

In fact he pretty much has all the attributes required for success at the Tour. The only thing Fuglsang lacks is that winner’s killer instinct.

So if his win at the Dauphiné has installed a little more confidence in Fuglsang, and the belief in his Astana team to back him, there’s no reason why he couldn’t challenge for a podium slot.