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Twice in three stages of this 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Critérium du Dauphiné has a rider infiltrated the breakaway in search of mountains classification points, only to wind up winning the stage itself. 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) still has the yellow jersey for his exploits on Sunday's opening stage, but while the Belgian is a dab hand in a break – a Giro d'Italia and Tour de France stage winner – 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) collected his first victory as a profess🦩ional on stage 3.

"Maybe I've said it 200 times already, but I can't believe it – I really can🐻't," the 23-year-old said, barely concealing his excitement in the winner's press conference.

Bouwman, in his second season as a pro, was part of a six-man breakaway that defied the odds and held off the peloton on what should have been a straightforward leg from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to Tullins. Wearing the polka-dot jersey on loan from De Gendt, Bouwman mopped 🐭up maximum points over all four categorised climbs. Job done – or so he thought.

As commitment waned in the peloton in the final 20km, the break continued to collaborate strongly and harmoniously, and they entered the final five kilometres with a lead of just under a minute. Bouwman had a teammate, Alexey Vermeulen, in the break, and the American, a year Bouwman's junior, led through to the final couple ofꦛ hundred metres.

"All six🍃 of us were pretty strong. The sprinters teams were going full gas and they couldn't close us down. At 5km to go, it was clear we could make it to the finish," said Bouwman.

"I didn't know what to expect in the sprint but I trusted my own strength – I felt really good today, a lot better than yesterday. I started the spꦰrint pretty early, be💧cause I didn't want anyone to surprise me. This is the first time I've been in a position to win a pro race, so I was really nervous, but in the end I crossed the finish line first, so I'm really happy."

Bouwman's family has no links to cyc🌃ling, nor much interest in it, but he begged for a bicycle from the age of four. As he started racing in his teens, he admitted a career as a pro cyclist didn't seem a realistic prospect.

"When I was young, I was very small, and I couldn't stay with the peloton, but as I got older I got stronger, and at U23 level I got better and better," ꦡhe explained.

He won a summit finish stage of the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, a prestigious U23 race, in 2015 and was soon a stagiaire at LottoNL, doing enough to earn a first pro contra🐲ct in 2016. "I started doing well in bigger races and then Lotto picked me up, and now I'm here, winning a stage in the Dauphiné. I can't believe it."

With the Valle d'Aosta stage under his belt, and the KOM jersey in his sights this week, he was asked if he's a natural climber and, as such, someon꧋e who could develop into a GC rider.

"For the moment I don't see my self as a big climber. If I have a really good day I can be in the first group really long, but to do a GC or something, for now i𒉰t's impossible," he said. "Maybe iꦿn the future but I don't think I'll be a really good GC guy, or climber, but hopefully I can be a good attack guy. If I make it to the finish I have a good sprint I can rely on."

De G🗹endt is perhaps the model Bouwman♍ can aspire to, but for now he envisages a battle with the Belgian over the King of the Mountains jersey.

"If De Gendt is not thinking about ♓GC then he's my biggest opponent. I'm going to try to get in the break again, but for me this Dauphiné is already a total success. Everything I achieve now is a bonus."