Criterium du Dauphine: Wout van Aert's premature celebration hands stage 3 victory to David Gaudu of Groupama FDJ

An immaculate team performance on the final climb was enough to return Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) to the race lead, but the biggest of ball-drops by the Belgian allowed David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) to snatch stage victory. Before his arms were even above his head Van Aert had realised the magnitude of his error.

Looking to his right he could see Gaudu, a half wheel ahead and celebrating victory, correctly, after a perfectly timed bike throw for the line. Ad/> Out of contention, but equally aware of the situation, was Victor Lafay (Cofidis) who could content himself with third place and a big boost to his overall placing.

CyclingBlazin’ Saddles: The best riders and teams of the spring Classics – and biggest disappointments25/04/2022 AT 14:30 Stage three had, on paper, Wout van Aert’s name written all over it. And after two straight stages set up for punchy sprinters, why not a third? As the race headed away from the Alps and onto the aggressive verdant slopes of the Massif Central, the stage offered a change of scenery, even as the terrain remained less different than the similar to the days before.

B&B Hotels — KTM were the stage’s early animators, putting Sebastian Schönberger into the day’s first break with Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X Pro Cycling) and Omer Goldstein (Israel PremierTech), later sending King of the Mountains Pierre Rolland up the road after them. Rolland was accompanied by team-mates Alexis Gougeard and Miguel Heidemann who were tasked with working to cement his lead in the competition.

It was not soon enough for them to nick the early mountains points, which went to the two non-B&B riders on the category 3, Côte de Saint-Vert. While Rolland had his hopes on a stage victory, to go