Richie Porte wins Criterium du Dauphine as Mark Padun wins Stage 8, Geraint Thomas remounts after crash scare

Updated 06/06/2021 at 14:45 GMT

Richie Porte held on to the overall victory at the Criterium du Dauphine after Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious) won Stage 8 in Les Gets – his second win in as many days. Porte assumed the role of race leader on Saturday and Ineos produced a resolute defensive performance to deliver the Australian the overall win. Not that it was a day completely without drama, as Geraint Thomas will attest…

Highlights: Thomas takes tumble as Porte wins overall, Padun takes Stage 8

Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious) doubled up at the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday, adding a win on Stage 8 to the victory on Saturday’s queen stage, as Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) secured the overall win.

Porte, 36, assumed the leader’s yellow jersey on Stage 7, and held a 17-second advantage over Alexey Lutsenko ahead of the final stage. And despite a late spill involving Geraint Thomas, Ineos produced a typically resolute defensive ride to protect the Australian’s advantage.

The Australian rolled over the line some 2’10” in arrears of 24-year-old Padun, who collected also collected the king of the mountains polka-dot jersey.

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"Having been second here twice and one year losing second in the last kilometre, to finally win it I'm just over the moon,” said Porte after the race.

I'm under no illusions as to what my job is at the Tour, but to win this race means so much to me. It's a race I've always enjoyed and to finally win it at 36 years old is a sweet moment.

Porte: I'm under no illusions as to what my job is at the Tour

Porte was rarely troubled during a stage that included six categorised climbs, fending off attacks with ease when they did come towards the end of the 147km ride. However, it was not an effort without drama, with Thomas losing control on the descent of the hors catégorie Col de Joux Plane.

Thomas - the 2018 Tour de France winner and Ineos leader at this year's race - remounted to ferry Porte home to secure a first win at the Criterium.