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After almost two years away from the races, I was thrilled to be at the start of the Criterium du Dauphine in Issoire.
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Stage one winner, Brent Van Moer:
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Stage two winner Lukas Pöstlberger was whooping and hollering as he crossed the finish line, and then it was hugs all around.
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Pöstlberger spotted his countryman Sebastian Schonberger in the finishing straight and threw his arms wide for a hug:
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When his breakaway companion, Shane Archbold, finished 11 minutes later, Pöstlberger interrupted his tv interviews to come and embrace him:
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And even the podium lion got a hug.
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The verdant countryside provided a lovely background for Sonny Colbrelli’s stage three win ahead of Alex Aranburu and Brandon McNulty.
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For the stage four time trial, I tried out a few different viewing spots along the final kilometer.
Shane Archbold:
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Lawson Craddock:
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Michal Kwiatkowski:
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Anthony Perez:
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Brandon McNulty:
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Sander Armée:
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Ion Izaguirre, about to catch his minute man, Enric Mas:
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Wilco Kelderman:
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Alex Aranburu:
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Lukas Pöstlberger:
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The old man’s still got it! Alejandro Valverde showed the youngsters a clean pair of heels in the stage six finish at Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse.
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Jack Haig, Steven Kruijswijk, and Geraint Thomas:
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Richie Porte and David Gaudu:
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Chris Froome finished with Sean Bennett and Greg Van Avermaet, 2’43” down on Valverde.
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