(Reuters) – Chris Froome took over as leader of the Criterium du Dauphine after beating former Sky team mate and now rival Richie Porte in a thrilling finish to stage five on Friday.
Tour de France champion Froome accelerated away 2.5 kilometers from the uphill finish in Vaujany and held off Porte (BMC) to claim the overall lead from Alberto Contador.
Froome and Porte were 19 seconds clear of Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) and Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) with Contador (Tinkoff) a further two seconds back.
With two stages left of the traditional Tour de France tune-up race Froome holds a seven-second lead over Porte.
Saturday’s stage is likely to decide the race with several tough climbs sandwiched into the 141km ride from La Rochette to the ski resort of Meribel.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
Reuters
