Roglič overall winner of Criterium du Dauphine
Annecy - Slovenian rider Primož Roglič won the eight-day Criterium du Dauphine road cycling race after letting Jumbo Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark take the final mountain stage between Saint-Alban-Leysse and Plateau de Salaison.
The 32-year-old three-time winner of La Vuelta is the second Slovenian to win this race leading up to the Tour de France after Janez Brajkovič attained the feat 12 years ago.
It is Roglič's 64th career victory and the fourth this season. He is only the fourth rider in history to win the biggest week-long races in France, the Paris-Nice and the Dauphine, the same year after French Jacques Anquetil (1963, 1965), Belgian Eddy Merckx (1971) and Briton Bradley Wiggins (2012).
Coming in second today, Roglič finished the race with an overall lead of 40 seconds ahead of Vingegaard. The pair reached the top of the Plateau de Solaison hand-in-hand but the Dane was the first to cross the finish line. Australian Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen) finished the stage and the race third.
"Finally I got to win a few races in France, the feeling is really great," Roglič said in his first comment.
He praised the whole Jumbo Visma team for their excellent joint effort as they controlled the stage the whole way from the start to finish.
"Jonas was very strong on the last climb, it was really a crazy, amazing finish for the team," he added after his last test ahead of the start of the Tour of France in Copenhagen on 1 July.