Greig Leach

Lieuwe Westra (Astana) has been in search of a stage win almost every day of the Dauphine. Yesterday he was just nipped at the line by the superior sprint of Jan Bakelants (OPQS) much to the Dutchman's frustration. He must have decided that he wasn't going to make the same mistake today. He was distanced by the attacks of both Yury Trofimov (Katusha) and later Egor Silin (Katusha), but he didn't give up. He kept riding as hard as he could, eventually catching the two Russians inside of the final kilometer. It was obvious by the way that he just stopped, almost hitting the wall as he crossed the line, I am sure if there had not been a helper to grab him he would have fallen to the ground right there. He had nothing left to even wave a victorious salute. The race organizers were prepare for how exhausted the riders would be, they had arranged helpers to catch the riders as they crossed the line and to push them over the crest of the mountain.