VAUJANY — Chris Froome took over as leader of the Criterium du Dauphine after beating former Sky teammate and now rival Richie Porte in a thrilling finish to stage five Friday.
Tour de France champion Froome accelerated away 2.5 kilometers from the uphill finish in Vaujany and held off Porte (BMC) to claim the overall lead from Alberto Contador.
Froome and Porte were 19 seconds clear of Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) and Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) with Contador (Tinkoff) a further two seconds back.
With two stages left of the traditional Tour de France tune-up race Froome holds a seven-second lead over Porte.
Froome holds a seven-second lead over second-placed Porte and is looking for his third victory in the Dauphine, a race viewed as an important gauge of form before July's Tour de France.
On both previous occasions that Froome has won the week-long stage race - in 2013 and 2015 - he has gone on to win the Tour.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Froome said. “It’s always good to win a race before the Tour de France. The team rode very well day to take me to the final climb in the best position. They set it up perfectly for me.
Richie (Porte) was able to follow me. I didn’t expect to gain time on Alberto Contador on such a short climb but I know from past experiences that he never gives up.
“We’ll see what he’s got tomorrow. There’s still a hard stage to come tomorrow so I haven’t won the Dauphiné yet.”
Saturday's stage is likely to decide the race with several tough climbs sandwiched into the 141km ride from La Rochette to the ski resort of Meribel. — Agencies
