AP – Bradley Wiggins is expected to be one of Cadel Evans’ sternest Tour de France challengers this year and he lived up to the billing at the Criterium du Dauphine.
Wiggins won the Criterium du Dauphine for the second year running at Chatel on Sunday, as Spain’s Daniel Moreno won the seventh and final stage.
Evans was third overall, 1min 26sec adrift of Wiggins, and made no excuses after failing to rein in the British Team Sky rider.
“I came here to try and win, but I was beaten by a better team and a better guy,” admitted Evans.
Katusha rider Moreno edged ahead of compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez and Evans – last year’s Tour de France winner – to win the 124.5km ride from Morzine to Chatel in the French Alps.
Wiggins’ triumph capped a fantastic race for his Team Sky, who had three of the top four riders in the general classification.
Australia’s Michael Rogers finished second, 1min 17sec behind Wiggins, while Briton Chris Froome was fourth at 1:45.
After paying tribute to his teammates, Wiggins said he was reassured to have defended his title.
“I think it’s always harder to do it a second time,” he admitted.
“Last year I didn’t come into the race as the favourite so to do that this year and know from day one, from being second in the prologue, that I was one of the favourites, it’s a better and harder way to win.
“Obviously we’ve had a few goes at it now so I think we’re getting better at it if anything. It’s probably gone better than the other races have gone this season, it’s been a lot smoother.”
Evans, a four-time runner-up, had lost most of his time to Wiggins in Thursday’s 53.5 km time trial, leaving the Australian with no choice but to attack in the remaining stages in a bid to close the gap.
“It was a week of hard racing and a good bit of training toward July and hopefully my big form of the year so far,” Evans said.
Wiggins seized the overall lead on Monday’s first stage and all but assured victory after his performance in Thursday’s time-trial in Bourg-en-Bresse.
This was an eighth win of the season for the triple Olympic track champion, who will now be among the leading contenders to win this year’s Tour de France, which starts in Liege, Belgium, on June 30.
“The Tour de France is on the horizon. It’s a lot more complicated as a race but we’re where we want to be, in a good position and looking forward to it,” Sky sports director Sean Yates said.
“The riders need to recover from this and keep the legs turning. You’re not going to improve your condition between here and the Tour.
“It’s only around the corner. Going in as one of the favourites is going to be a lot of hard work.”
