Gilbert goes it alone
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Published 06/06/2006 at 14:31 GMT
Belgium's Philippe Gilbert took a long solo victory to snag the yellow jersey and a solid five minute lead at the Dauphiné Libéré on Tuesday. Gilbert took a commanding lead after breaking from a group of three riders, taking the final 35-kilometres on his
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
The victory was the 23-year-old's biggest since winning the Het Volk Classic in February.
Gilbert, his Française des Jeux team-mate Sébastien Joly and Cédric Vasseur (Quick Step) broke from the peloton just 44-kilometres into the 203-km trip from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Saint-Galmier.
Gilbert and Joly shed Vasseur 50-km left to ride, and Joly lost pace of his team-mate with just 35-km to go forcing the Belgian to ride out the final stretch of the race all alone.
One he reached the five kilometre mark with a six minute lead and victory virtually assured, however, it became clear that Gilbert's run into the finish line would serve as nothing more than a victory lap.
"I never expected to pull off a stunt like that," said Gilbert.
"I wanted to wait for Sebastian, then realised it was too dangerous."
"I've wanted a victory since Het Volk, and this is the first since then."
"The Ardennes Classics were initially my objective, but that didn't work out...a stomach virus caused me to suffer, so I was forced to rethink quickly."
Gilbert now moves five minutes and 22 seconds clear of Stage 1 victor Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) in the general classification, with Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) third overall 5:27 back.
Gilbert was not 100 percent confident of his ability to hold onto the yellow jersey through the race's final stages, with a difficult weekend in the Alps still to come.
"I haven't won in a long time and I wanted to savour it," Gilbert told Eurosport after the race. "This ride, I might pay for it - not tomorrow - but the day after and since I'm not a natural climber, I wanted to make the most of it."
"It's the first time I wore the leader's jersey in such a big race," Gilbert added. "I will give it 100 percent the rest of the way."
Follow LIVE coverage of the Dauphiné Libéré up through the final stage on Sunday at Grenoble.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement