Ivan Romeo won the third stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné despite it being ‘one of the toughest days’ of his life

Ivan Romeo, racing for Movistar, has won stage three of the Critérium du Dauphiné after he rode alone to the finish line. 

The athlete has pulled ahead of a group of riders with about 6km left in the race at the 202.8km stage from Briode. Some riders, led by Mathieu van der Poel who led the group, had tried to catch him, but they were too late. In the end, Romeo finished the race 14 seconds in the town of Charantonnay ahead of Harold Tejada, Louis Barre, and Florian Lipowitz.

This marks the Spaniard’s second professional win and is now the overall lead, taking the yellow jersey from stage two’s winner, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan. 

“I don’t believe it… It was one of the toughest days of my life so far,” Romeo shared.

He added, “The breakaway, it was so hard to get into it, and I wasn’t feeling really good, so I waited to the last moment. I know in this kind of flat finish in a small break, I have good instinct, and that if they give me some seconds, I can make it.” 

“I’ve been thinking about this stage for a month now. I can hardly believe it. It was one of the hardest days of my life, I wasn’t feeling well… But I followed my instincts in the final. It’s the best day of the year for me. Hard work pays off.” 

Highlights of the race

Romeo finished the race with a final time of 4 hours, 34 minutes, and 10 seconds. Harold Tejada, who is riding for Astana, placed second, 14 seconds behind. Frenchman Louis Barre, who was riding for Intermarché, placed third. 

Moreover, the other group of riders, which included some of the race’s favourites, arrived at the finish line over a minute later. 

During the race, a breakaway group of 13 riders were formed as the race heated up on the Côte du Château Jaune, a steep climb with a 9% average gradient, located 19km from the finish.

After this climb, 10 riders remained to lead the group. Van der Poel was likely to win due to his speed, but Romeo attacked with 9 km to go, then made a move that resulted in a large gap, securing his solo victory.

In a social media post, Romeo shared his win with the caption: “This is what we live for 💭🤝🏼 Still sinking in, yellow jersey, just thanks for always believing”

Netizens showed their support in the comments and said: “Sooo niceeee!!! 👏🙌”, “It’s not the outcome, it’s how you did it.. 🙌👏💪”, and “Legend, congrats mate👌🏻”

Here is the list of the stage three winners: 

1. Ivan Romeo (Spa/Movistar) 4hrs 34mins 10secs
2. Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana) +14secs
3. Louis Barre (Fra/Intermarche-Wanty) Same time
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +27secs
6. Axel Laurance (Fra/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
7. Brieuc Rolland (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)
8. Julien Bernard (Fra/Lidl-Trek)
9. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)
10. Eddie Dunbar (Irl/Jayco-AlUla)

After the results of stage three, here are the rankings forthe  general classification: 

1. Ivan Romeo (Spa/Movistar) 14hrs 9mins 1sec
2. Louis Barre (Fra/Intermarche-Wanty) +17secs
3. Harold Tejada (Col/XDS Astana) +18secs
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) +24secs
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +29secs
6. Eddie Dunbar (Irl/Jayco-AlUla) +37secs
7. Brieuc Rolland (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) Same time
8. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)
9. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1min 6secs
10. Fred Wright (GB/Bahrain Victorious) +1min 12secs