Kennaugh wins Stage 7 as Richie Porte extends lead

Peter Kennaugh from Team Sky won at l'Alpe d'Huez in front of fellow Brit Bemn Swift (UAE) as Richie Porte extended his lead over his rivals

The excitement on stage 7 came as the breakaway started the final climb up the Col de Sarenne, the back door climb that climbs up to the famous resort of L'Alpe d'Huez.

The stage saw a large breakaway established with 17 riders; Diego Ulissi (UAE-Emirates), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Ben Swift (UAE-Emirates), Peter Kennaugh (Sky), Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r La Mondiale), Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Soudal), Ignatas Konovalovas (FDJ), Maurits Lammertink (Katusha-Alpecin), Lennard Hofstede (Sunweb), Antonio Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac), Romain Sicard (Direct Energie), Scott Thwaites (Dimension Data) Thomas Degand (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko Marseille Provence), Mauro Finetto (Delko Marseille Provence).

With 60 kms to go the breakaway had 6 minutes lead.

After the the peloton crested the Cote de Garcin, Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) attacked out of the peloton and tried to bridge across to the break.

In the breakaway only on the Hors Category Col de Sarenne, only Kennaugh, Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Soudal), Ben Swift (UAE) and Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) were still left in the lead group.

Kennaugh and Swift finally rode away from their companions at around 16 kilometers from the finish.

In the Peloton, Romain Bardet attacked to bridge the gap to the breakaway in ortder to improve from his ninth place in the overall standings.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) attacked out of the peloton but his effort was neutralized by several others including race leader Richie Porte of BMC Racing Team.

At the start of the 3.7km climb up the Alpe d'Huez, Swift and Kennaugh were still more than three minutes ahead of the Yellow Jersey group with Bardet and Andrew Talansky (Cannondale) in the middle.

The final move came shortly after the start of the climb as Kennaugh dropped Swift with about three kilometers to go.

In the group of favorites, Aru attacked and was soon joined by several others including Porte, Jakob Fuglsang and Alberto Contador, while Chris Froome and Valverde were visibly struggling to close the gap.

Kennaugh did well to stay ahead of Swift to take the stage victory ahead of his compatriot. Herrada won the sprint for third place ahead of Vanendert and Bardet, finishing at 1'11" from the stage winner.

Porte crossed the line with Astana's Jakob Fuglsang at 1'56", eight seconds ahead of Talansky and Contador. Froome lost about 24 seconds in respect to the race leader.

2017 Criterium Du Dauphine Stage 7 Top Ten

1 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 4:43:49
2 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE-Team Emirates 0:00:13
3 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:11
4 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:13
5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:14
6 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:56
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
8 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:02:04
9 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:02:13

2017 Criterium Du Dauphine GC after Stage 7

1 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 25:38:29
2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:02
3 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:15
4 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:41
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:43
6 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:55
7 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:07
8 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floora 0:02:31
9 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:53
10 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:43