Quintana Wins Stage Six, Wiggins in Control of Critérium du Dauphiné

Movistar’s Nairo Quinatna descended brilliantly to win Stage Six of the Critérium du Dauphiné, attacking at the crest of the final climb and leaving everyone behind in a brilliant display of descending. The Colombian Movistar rider negotiated several very tight hairpins in the midst of the 60-70 mph ride down from the Col de Joux Plane to take the stage win by 16 seconds.

Team Sky kept the pace so high no one could attack on the Col de Joux Plane, ensuring Bradley Wiggins maintained a firm grip on the race lead.

Wiggins heads into the final stage with 1:20 on teammate Michael Rogers and 1:36 on BMC’s Cadel Evans who had hoped challenge for the General Classification win but lost too much time in the Stage Four time trial.

Stage Seven features four categorized climbs including an ascent of the Cat 1 Col du Corbier, and an uphill finish, but there is no way Evans can use any of these climbs to make up enough time to catch the two Sky riders.

Team Sky showed immense power in Stage Six, controlling the race, and pushing so hard up the final Hors Categorie Col de Joux plane that only nine riders were left in the leading group by the summit, and none of them could do anything but hang on.

Evans attacked on the descent and gained eight seconds over Wiggins, simply because Evans was willing to take chances on the very fast, very dangerous descent, while Wiggins, secure in the leader’s yellow jersey, was content to ride carefully.

If Sky can maintain this form through the Tour de France, which starts June 30, then Cadel Evans is almost certainly not going to defend his title, instead handing it off to Sky’s Bradley Wiggins. Sky is just too strong and too well coordinated.

Evans’s BMC squad doesn’t have the firepower to protect its leader or to push the pace to crack the opposition. It isn’t a question of one or the other team leader being on better form; Sky is simply the dominant team in professional cycling right now. If they can hold out through July, the will have the laurels to prove it.