Gaudu snatches Dauphine third stage win, Van Aert takes race lead / Photo: Marco BERTORELLO - AFP
Gaudu snatches Dauphine third stage win, Van Aert takes race lead
David Gaudu snatched victory ahead of Wout van Aert who took the race lead after the third stage of the Criterium du Dauphine on Tuesday at the ski resort of Chastreix-Sancy.
Groupama-FDJ rider Gaudu caught Belgian Van Aert in a sprint finish but the Team Jumbo–Visma rider claimed the leader's yellow jersey after the mid-mountain stage concluding at an altitude of 1,396 metres.
Overnight race leader Alexis Vuillermoz of France was left behind with 2.5km to go after the 169km ride from Saint-Paulien.
Gaudu, 11th in the Tour de France last year, claimed his ninth victory and second of the season after a stage in the Tour of Algarve in Portugal.
The survivors of the day's breakaway, Pierre Rolland, Jonas Gregaard and Sebastian Schonberger were joined at the foot of the final climb, a 6.2-kilometre slog with a gradient of 5.6 percent.
Wednesday's fourth stage is a relatively flat 31.9km time-trial from Montbrison to La Batie d'Urfe.
D.Camden--MC-UK
