Wilco Kelderman moved up to 20th overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné today thanks to an 18th place at Pra Loup, but the time between him and the overall leader increased.

LottoNL-Jumbo’s leader sits just over two minutes behind Tejay van Garderen (BMC), who took over the leader’s jersey from team-mate Rohan Dennis.

Frenchman Romain Bardet of AG2R soloed to the stage win at Pra Loup. He attacked just before the summit of the Col d'Allos, the penultimate climb, and built up a big enough lead in the descent to stay ahead of the first chasing group on the road to Pra-Loup. Van Garderen finished second to take the leader’s jersey.

Wilco Kelderman

Kelderman had to let the chase group go in the final kilometres. “The pace was very high today,” the 24-year-old said. “On the last climb I was suffering from cramps. Even in my arms. That means I’m not at my top and that I should improve. We continue to look at things day by day, and maybe I will feel better already tomorrow.”

Erik Dekker

“A first mountain stage is always exciting,” Sports Director Erik Dekker said. “Wilco’s cramps prove that racing is more intense than training. That is nothing new, we knew that, though of course you always hope to be top straight away after a training period. It’s a sign that things can only get better over the next few days.”

Aggressive racing

The 183-kilometre sixth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné goes up and down – five categorised climbs – all the way up to the summit finish in Villard-de-Lans - Vercors.

“The racing gets heavier every day this week,” Dekker said. “Today we had no intention of getting in the breakaway, but tomorrow is a different kind of stage and there should be more room for aggressive racing.”