British champion Peter Kennaugh won stage one to enjoy a stint in the yellow jersey, Chris Froome won the final two stages to win the jersey outright and Simon Yates finished as best young rider. it’s been a good week for the Brits at the Criterium du Dauphine.
And they weren’t the only ones to shine either, with Steve Cummings twice in the break for MTN-Qhubeka, and also contributing to the pace-setting on the front of the bunch for the African team, who will make their Tour de France debut in July.
Having finished sixth at Tirreno-Adriatico thanks to a great ride in the mountains and a strong time trial, and also just missing out on a top ten finish at the Tour de Yorkshire, Cummings looked a shoo-in for a Tour spot having earned a place on MTN-Qhubeka’S 11-rider shortlist.
But competition is fierce after Daniel Teklehaimanot became the first African rider to win the King of the Mountains jersey at the Dauphine, after several days in the breakaway, while South Africa’s Coppi e Bartali winner Louis Meintjes climbed well on stages five and seven – finishing third on the latter.
The team’s sprinters, too, gave a good account of themselves with Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Tyler Farrar and Edvald Boasson Hagen well involved in the sprints, and seemingly just one more cog in the system away from being serious contenders.
Being the first African team at the Tour, the expectation from sponsors will be for African riders like Meintjes, Teklehaimanot and the Janse van Rensburg brothers to be selected.
Boasson Hagen and Farrar, meanwhile, give the team options in the sprints in their hunt for stage wins.
So does Cummings fit in? His strength on stage eight will have done him plenty of favours, showcasing the team’s striped kit up the road after his ballsy attack on the run-in to the final climb.
And with a prologue kick-starting the Tour this year – the short time trials having served Cummings well in recent times – British fans will be hopeful the 34-year-old Liverpudlian will be on the Utrecht start line on July 4.
