Carlos Verona holds off Primož Roglič to win stage seven of the Critérium du Dauphiné

Carlos Verona held off a rampaging Primož Roglič to win stage seven of the Critérium du Dauphiné. 

The Spaniard proved to be the strongest rider in the 18-man breakaway as he time-trialled up the final climb to take an impressive solo victory. 

Jumbo Visma chased hard on the final climb with Jonas Vingegaard emptying himself to set up a late Roglič surge, but the Slovenian could not quite bridge the gap finishing thirteen seconds down.

However it was still a good day for Jumbo Visma who lead the race through Roglič with one day's racing left tomorrow. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Stage seven was always going to be targeted by the general classification contenders with two Alpine behemoths, the Col du Galibier and the Col de la Croix de Fer, packed into the 134km stage. 

The stage started on the lower slopes of the Galibier where multiple riders tried but failed to break away from the peloton. 

Eventually Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM) and Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe) escaped, and it was the Frenchman who summited the col first making his lead in the KOM classification unassailable. 

More attacks from the peloton followed and soon a large break of 18 riders formed, with Luis León Sánchez (Bahrain Victorious), Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) and Toms Skujiņš (Trek-Segafredo) the closest on GC at 2-47, 3-31 and 3-44 respectively. 

Mark Donovan (Team DSM) attacked at the bottom of Croix de Fer (29km @ 5.2%), while the other 17 riders in the break held a lead of three minutes over the peloton. 

The British rider opened up a handsome gap of one minute 20 seconds over the break, but was reeled back in promptly. In the peloton, Jumbo Visma hit the front and began setting the pace up the giant mountain. 

Gradually the gap began to fall and the break slowly disintegrated. First to go was Omer Goldstein (Israel Premier Tech) after crashing, followed by Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Andrey Amador (Ineos Grenadiers) and Laurens Huys (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux). 

With the air thinning, Kenny Elessonde attacked the break and went clear with four other riders who began attacking each other. Back in the peloton race leader Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) cracked from an already decimated peloton. 

Pierre Rolland led the quintet over the Croix de Fer with the gap to the peloton at 3-47. 

But it was Kenny Elessonde and Carlos Verona (Movistar) who emerged at the front of the race thanks to a rapid descent. The pair hit the final 5.7km climb to the finish in Jauvany together, but Verona dropped the Frenchman quickly with the peloton 1-30 down. 

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) attacked from the peloton with teammate and virtual race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo Visma) on his wheel. 

With 2km to go, Verona still had 45 seconds, but the gap was dropping fast.

Then Roglič launched a blistering attack and it looked as though Verona would be caught. 

However, the grimacing Spaniard managed to hold off Roglič and take a superb win for Movistar. 

RESULTS

CRITÉRIUM DU DAUPHINÉ, STAGE SEVEN: SAINT-CHAFFREY TO JAUVANY (134.8KM)

1. Carlos Verona (Esp) Movistar, in 3-53-35
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo Visma, +13s
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo Visma, +25s
4. Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team, +27s
5. Tobias Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, +39s
6. Esteban Chaves (Col) EF-Education Easy-Post, +40s
7. David Gaudu (Fra) Grouparma FDJ, same time
8. Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux, same time
9. Tao Geoghan Hart (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +48s
10. Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious, +56s

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE SEVEN

1. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo Visma, in 25-22-08
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo Visma, +44s
3. Ben O'Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team, +1-24
4. Tao Geoghan Hart (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +1-30
5. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorius, +1-32
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Grouparma FDJ, +1-40
7. Tobias Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, +2-05
8. Matteo Jorgenson (Usa) Movistar, +2-06
9. Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious, +2-12
10. Louis Meintjes (Rsa) Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux, +2-16