In this morning’s edition of the CyclingTips Daily News Digest: Chris Froome wins the Criterium du Dauphine; Tom Dumoulin leads the Tour de Suisse after two stages; Caleb Ewan wins the Tour de Korea; Kasia Niewiadoma wins Euskal Emakumeen Bira; Jolien d’Hoore wins the Diamond Tour; Tom Boonen wins the Rund um Köln; Chris Froome likely to stay in a motorhome during the Tour de France; Alessandro Petacchi confirms retirement from cycling; Tom Veelers out of Tour de France; Roadtripping Tasmania; Romain Bardet’s stage-winning Dauphine descent; Battle Mountain - Graeme Obree’s Story.

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Chris Froome wins the Criterium du Dauphine

Chris Froome (Sky) has won the Criterium du Dauphine for a second time, overhauling erstwhile leader Tejay van Garderen (BMC) after winning the final two stages of the Tour de France warm-up race.

Friday’s sixth stage of the race was won by former world champion Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) while a second place for last year’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was enough to see the Italian take the leader’s jersey off Tejay Van Garderen.

Froome went into stage 7 of the eight-stage WorldTour race in seventh position overall, 1:21 behind Nibali. On the penultimate stage Froome’s Sky teammates whittled down the lead group and caught the breakaway in the closing stages, dropping Nibali and others in the process.

Then, with 4km to go in the climb to the finish, Froome attacked and only Van Garderen was able to follow. Froome would go on to win the stage after dropping Van Garderen with 1.5km to go, but the American would move back into the overall lead.

On the final stage Froome left it until 2.6km to go on the summit finish to launch his attack and this time Van Garderen couldn’t follow. Froome went on to win the stage by 18 seconds ahead of Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), stage 6 winner Costa and Van Garderen. While Van Garderen had been leading by 18 seconds going into the final stage, the 10-second win bonus saw Froome win the Dauphine overall.

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Tom Dumoulin leads the Tour de Suisse after two stages

With two stages of the nine-stage Tour de Suisse now complete, Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) leads proceedings, thanks to victory in the prologue ITT and an impressive ride on stage 2.

Dumoulin completed the 5.1km prologue in a time of 5:41 (53.8km/h), just two seconds faster than local favourite Fabian Cancellara (Trek) and another two seconds ahead of former hour record holder Matthias Brandle (IAM).

Stage 2 was taken out by Tour of Turkey winner Kristijan Durasek (Lampre-Merida) who broke clear of an elite lead group in the closing kilometre to finish four seconds ahead of Dani Moreno (Katusha), Julian Arredondo (Trek), overnight leader Tom Dumoulin and five others.

The nine-rider group had come together after a big attack from Jakob Fugslang (Astana) on the Michaelskreuz climb dragged a few riders out of the whittled-down peloton, with a few more coming across on the following descent.

Dumoulin’s ninth place was enough to see him hold on to the overall lead going into today’s third stage, a 117.3km effort from Quinto to Olivone.

Click here to read more at VeloNews.

Caleb Ewan wins the Tour de Korea

Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) has taken his first overall stage race victory, sewing up the Tour de Korea in Seoul yesterday off the back of four stage wins in the eight-stage race.

Ewan took the overall lead back on stage 3 when he took his second stage win for the race. The 20-year-old was able to hold on through the following five stages.

Over the weekend Drapac’s Wouter Wippert won stage 6 ahead of Shiki Kuroeda (Nipo-Vini Fantini) and stage 4 winner Paddy Bevin (Avanti). Ewan returned to the winner’s list with victory on stage 7 ahead of Bevin and Wippert. Tino Thomel (RTS-Santic) won the final stage ahead of Bevin and Wippert while Ewan overcame a mechanical in the closing kilometres to finish fifth.

“The team wanted me to get at least one stage win so to come away with four and also the Young Rider, GC and Sprint classifications is a massive bonus,” said Ewan post-race. “It was a nice surprise having (my parents) here, and I’m glad I could pull off the overall for them - it’s really nice.”

Kasia Niewiadoma wins Euskal Emakumeen Bira

by Jessi Braverman

Kasia Niewiadoma (Rabo Liv) has won the five-stage Euskal Emakumeen Bira in Spain after taking the overall lead on stage 1 and holding it through to the finish of stage 4 in Markina yesterday.

With Niewiadoma in the lead going into stage 2 on Friday, Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) won the day in a photo finish ahead of Annemiek Van Vleuten (Bigla) after the latter threw her hands in the air thinking she’d won the day. Johansson’s teammate Kat Garfoot was third on the stage as part of a 10-rider group that hit the line together.

That was close today #Bira

A photo posted by Bigla Pro Cycling Team (@bigla_cycling) on Jun 12, 2015 at 10:35am PDT

Stage 3 was won by Boels-Dolmans’ Chantal Blaak who emerged strongest from a group of three that made it to the finish together.

Blaak, Elena Cecchini (Lotto Soudal Ladies), Kat Garfoot and Shara Gillow (Rabo Liv) had broken clear from a reduced bunch with roughly 30km to go before Gillow was called back to help the chase. The three remaining leaders caught then dropped the day’s earlier breakaway before going on to contest the finish. Blaak took line honours ahead of Cecchini and Garfoot while Niewiadoma did enough to hold on to her lead going into the final stage.

And on that final stage it was Emma Johansson that again took victory, proving quickest from a five-rider move that escaped from a reduced peloton over the final climb of the Basque tour. The stage win was the third victory for Johansson in the Basque Country in the past six days having won the one-day Emakumeen Saria in Durango on Tuesday and the second stage of the tour.

Race leader Kasia Niewiadoma finished in second place on the stage and celebrated her overall win on the line.

Click here to read more at Ella CyclingTips.

Jolien d’Hoore wins the Diamond Tour

by Jessi Braverman

Jolien d’Hoore lined up as the defending champion at the Flanders Diamond Tour on Sunday and the Belgian picked up where she left off, beating compatriot Kelly Druyts (Topsport Vlaanderen – Pro – Duo) to the finish line in Nijlen. Lisa Brennauer (Velocio-SRAM) rounded out the podium in the bunch sprint.

Image: Wiggle Honda

The race finished with six local circuit laps of 13.7 kilometres including two small climbs. The peloton arrived onto the local circuits as a single unit before several riders tried their luck at getting away in what remained of the race.

But the race was destined for a bunch sprint and the last of the breakaway attempts was nullified with 5km to go, setting the race up for the dash to the line.

Click here to read more at Ella CyclingTips.

Tom Boonen wins the Rund um Köln

Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick-Step) has won the 99th edition of the Rund um Köln on Sunday, sprinting to victory at the head of a five-rider lead group — the remainder of the original 23-rider breakaway. Edward Theuns (Topspoort-Vlaanderen) was second while Andreas Schillinger (Bora-Argon18) rounded out the podium.

The initial breakaway formed roughly 50km into the race before thinning steadily throughout the day. The leaders never had more than three minutes between them and the peloton but their advantage proved secure, with the quintet finishing exactly one minute ahead of a peloton led in by Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin).

“There isn’t often a chance to ride in Germany, so it’s great to win there when I have the opportunity,” Boonen said. “The first part was really up-and-down, left-and-right. There were steep and narrow roads, so it was a quite demanding parcours.”

“In the longest climb of the day Linus Gerdemann set a hard pace. The peloton exploded and we ended up with more than 20 guys ahead after this climb. Then we really went full gas and lost a few guys again. Then I eventually attacked, but I was followed by Gerdemann, Nikolas, and three other guys. We worked really well together, full speed, because the peloton was always chasing hard behind.”

Chris Froome to stay in a motorhome during the Tour de France

Criterium du Dauphine winner Chris Froome has said there’s a “good chance” he’ll sleep in a motorhome during the Tour de France, following in the footsteps of his Australian teammate Richie Porte who trialled the approach at the Giro d’Italia last month.

“There’s definitely a lot to be said for motorhomes,” Froome continued. “You can improve recovery and make things a lot more efficient and comfortable for yourself. Some hotels that you go into don’t have air con and in some the sanitation isn’t great.

“It’s just about being able to control the factors you can control. As an athlete, sleeping in the same bed every night for three weeks makes a lot of difference compared to being in a different bed every night.”

While Porte was alone in his RV during the Giro, Froome intimated that there might be a different setup at the Tour.

“Why would everyone be in a hotel? I might be sharing my camper van, maybe, we’ll see,” he said. “We might all be in camper vans.”

Click here to read more at Cycling Weekly.

Alessandro Petacchi confirms retirement from cycling

Alessandro Petacchi has called time on a long and illustrious career that has lasted 19 seasons and netted 22 stage wins at the Giro d’Italia, 20 wins at the Vuelta a Espana and six stage wins at the Tour de France.

Petacchi was scheduled to race the Vuelta a Venezuela for his Southeast team but didn’t fly to South America and instead told Italian website Tuttobici that his career was over.

“I’m still not well. I haven’t managed to shake off the virus that put me out of the Giro d’Italia on the Colle delle Finestre so it wasn’t right to take on a trip like that if I wasn’t going to be able to put in an honourable performance,” he said. “I’m still Alessandro Petacchi after all.”

“I won’t go out on the bike for a while, because I feel tired and without motivation. For the first time in my life, I feel sick of it, I really want to take a break mentally. In life there are moments when you feel clearly what you have to do. My moment has probably arrived now.”

Petacchi retired briefly in 2013 while riding for Lampre-Merida but rejoined the peloton later that year riding for Omega-Pharma-QuickStep. He rode for the Belgian squad last year before joining Southeast in 2015.

Click here to read more at Cyclingnews.

Tom Veelers out of Tour de France

by Shane Stokes

Already facing a big battle himself to try to be ready for the Tour de France, Marcel Kittel’s prospects of taking more stage wins have run into an additional complications with the news that teammate Tom Veelers will be forced to miss the race.

The German’s Giant-Alpecin team has confirmed that the Dutchman will not be able to line out in the Tour. The issue is a knee injury he suffered at the beginning of the year, a complication which already prevented him from starting the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d’Italia.

“Obviously I am very disappointed to be unable to start in the Tour de France, since I was really looking forward to this year’s start in my home country,” he stated, referring to the Grand Depart in Utrecht.

“We have cancelled my participation in a couple of races already, and it has become clear that the Tour is not within reach either,” he said. “So together with the team’s medical staff, we decided it was best for me to get off the bike and rest and recover. I will continue to work with the physio but not compete in races for a while.”

Veelers’ team leader Marcel Kittel has clocked up eight stage wins in the past two years, but has had a very difficult season thus far in 2015. He has been affected by a virus and has missed much of his racing calendar. His Tour participation is still not definite.

Click here to read more at CyclingTips.

Roadtripping Tasmania

There are few things we look forward to more here at CyclingTips than publishing a new Roadtripping article. The latest instalment comes after CyclingTips Andy van Bergen and two others ventured to the north east corner of Tasmania to explore the great roads in the area as well as some amazing MTB trails. Here’s a video from the trip:

Click here to read the full article and see plenty of photos.

Romain Bardet’s stage-winning Dauphine descent

To us, this year’s Criterium du Dauphine will be just as memorable for Romain Bardet’s daredevil descent and victory on stage 5 as it will be for the overall result. Bardet attacked near the top of the Col d’Allos — the day’s penultimate ascent — before flying down the serpentine descent at breakneck speed. It was both amazing to watch and downright terrifying. He later went on to win the stage.

Check out Bardet’s descent here:

Battle Mountain - Graeme Obree’s Story

This looks pretty great.

What You Missed

And finally this morning, here are a few things you might have missed at CyclingTips in the past few days:

• MAAP x CyclingTips collab kit: the échappée
• Taylor Phinney on enduring pain and a changed outlook on cycling and life
• Kristoff’s coach in favour of compulsory retrospective testing, but says improvements need to be made first

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