Vuillermoz caps comeback with Dauphine stage and race lead

BRIVES-CHARENSAC, France: Alexis Vuillermoz, a veteran who feared for his life after a crash last season, capped his recovery by winning a frantic sprint on Monday to take the overall lead in the Criterium du Dauphine.

The 34-year-old Frenchman broke a kneecap in 2020 and then crashed badly in the Tour of Switzerland last June.

“A year ago, I fractured my pelvis. The doctors said it was the end of my career. I was even afraid for my life, I ended up in intensive care,” he said at the finish on Monday.

“It’s amazing. After two years of hardship... I could have stopped my career. But despite everything I wanted to come back.”

Vuillermoz started the season strongly, with half-a-dozen top-10 finishes.

“All that was missing was the victory. This is the icing on the cake,” he said.

Vuillermoz was part of a small, early, breakaway in the 170km second stage to Brives-Charensac.

He was not supposed to join the escape, “to save strength for the next stage.”

“But the break went off and I said to myself ‘we’ll see, never mind tomorrow’,” he added.

“That’s the attacking bike racing I like.”

The five riders built a lead of nearly four and a half minutes before nursing their shrinking advantage over the final kilometers.

With the charging peloton closing in, Frenchman Olivier Le Gac of Groupama seemed to catch out the other breakaway riders with an early surge for the line.

But Vuillermoz, riding for TotalEnergies, and Norwegian Anders Skaarseth of Uno-X gave chase and passed inches from the line.

“The sprint was a bit messy,” said Vuillermoz.

“I saw Olivier launch the sprint from very far away at 300 meters, he opened a small gap. I didn’t think I would be able to come back, but I saw that he got stuck a little bit at