Nikias Arndt (Giant-Shimano) sprinted to victory after a frantic finale to the third stage of the 2014 Criterium du Dauphine.
Arndt was led out to perfection by his team-mates, who held position well in a technical final kilometre, and narrowly held off the challenge of Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Belisol) to take the stage win by a tyre’s width.
The German proved his team’s extraordinary sprinting depth, with team-mate Reinardt Janse van Rensburg earning third place – with Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb and Luka Mezgec having already enjoyed sprint success for the team this season.
Chris Froome (Team Sky), meanwhile, finished safely in the bunch to retain the yellow jersey in Le Teil. Tomorrow’s 167.5km medium mountain stage from Montélimar to Gap is likely to see the GC contenders reclaim centre stage.
The stage in detail
Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp-Endura) and Natnael Berhane (Team Europcar) formed the day’s early break on a very hot day in France.
The three were allowed to go clear almost from the flag, with Team Sky, defending for Froome, helped by Trek Factory Racing and FDJ.fr in setting a moderate pace at the front of the bunch.
A steady pace to the day’s proceedings was disturbed only by a crash on the sticky, gravelly road surface – Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing) forced to abandon as a result of the injuries he sustained.
Several riders were caught up in the incident, including Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) and team-mate Winner Anacona, but it was Nizzolo – seen as one of the favourites for the stage – who was the only one forced from contention.
Team-mate Jens Voigt had been setting the pace on the front of the bunch, and remained there as it hit the day’s final climb, but unsurprisingly eased off thereafter after learning that team-mate Nizzolo had abandoned.
It was the heat, rather than the pace, which posed the biggest problems to the riders – with Jerome Coppel (Cofidis) retiring as a result of a previous injury and Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing) among the riders dropped.
FDJ.fr continued to chase, up until the catch was made with 24 kilometres remaining, before Team Sky took over on the front.
Trek appeared determined not to allow FDJ.fr and Arnaud Demare an easy passage however, with Voigt – who else? – bursting clear with 20 kilometres to go, having earlier had to change his wheel due to a puncture.
Several riders spotted the move, as Voigt hauling four riders on his wheel, while two groups set off in pursuit.
Omega Pharma-Quickstep responded immediately, sending two riders to the front of the bunch while FDJ.fr and Giant-Shimano – neither of whom were represented in the break – also moved forward.
The front group quickly earned more than half a minute on the peloton however, Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Pim Ligthart (Lotto-Belisol) and Andriy Grivko (Astana) joining Voigt.
Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Kristijan Koren (Cannondale), Elia Favili (Lampre-Merida) and Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) rounded off the strong leading group.
Katusha – who had also missed the break – put a big effort in on the front of the bunch too, as did Tinkoff-Saxo and Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and the gap came down slightly as they hit the 10 kilometres-to-go mark.
All of the teams to have missed the break were called forward in the end, the gap eventually dropping to just ten seconds as Katusha, in particular, put the hurt on.
Edet was the first of the escapees to go clear – making a slight mess of his peel off as he negotiated some road furniture – with Favilli joining him but the remains of the move were caught moments later.
Omega Pharma-Quickstep took over at the front, catching the two remaining escapees in the final six kilometres, but with big efforts having been put into the chase, there was a lack of cohesion as some sprint trains formed.
Tinkoff-Saxo hit the front of the highly strung out bunch, Alberto Contador getting out of the saddle to maintain his road position.
When it mattered however, the sprint trains of the chief contenders for the stage managed to get organised as the pace remained high.
A solo dig by Lieuwe Westra (Astana) earned him a small gap inside the final three kilometres but the pace behind remained formidable.
The Dutchman did well to hold off the bunch for a short time, but he sat up with 1500 metres to go as the race headed towards a bunch sprint.
The highly technical final kilometre cost several teams position at the front – including FDJ.fr and pre-stage favourite Arnaud Demare, as Orica-GreenEDGE took advantage to hit the front.
The Australian team, with Jens Keukaleire, led the sprint out but Arndt took advantage of a superb lead-out by his own team to power beyond the German.
It required a photo finish to separate him and Boeckmans, but the Lotto-Belisol man’s attack had come just a fraction too late as Arndt held on to the stage win.
Criterium du Dauphine 2014: stage three – result
1) Nikias Arndt (GER) – Giant-Shimano – 5.30.03hrs
2) Kris Boeckmans (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol – ST
3) Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (SAF) – Giant-Shimano
4) Yannick Martinez (FRA) – Team Europcar
5) Davide Cimolai (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
6) Jens Keukeleire (GER) – Orica-GreenEDGE
7) Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) – Team Katusha
8) Arnaud Demare (FRA) – FDJ.fr
9) Gianni Meersman (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep
10) Marco Marcato (ITA) – Cannondale
General classification
1) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – 10.07.47hrs
2) Alberto Contador (ESP) – Tinkoff-Saxo +12”
3) Wilco Kelderman (NED) – Belkin Pro Cycling +21”
4) Andrew Talansky (USA) – Garmin-Sharp +33”
5) Jurgen van den Broeck (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol +35”
6) Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) – Astana +50”
7) Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) – Trek Factory Racing +1.22
8) Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) – Astana – ST
9) Adam Yates (GBR) – Orica-GreenEDGE +1.31
10) Tanel Kangert (EST) – Astana +1.35
