Champéry (Switzerland) (AFP)

The Dauphiné under control: Dane Jakob Fuglsang won Sunday in Champéry (Switzerland) the alpine race, deprived of great summits and his favorite number one, the British Chris Froome.

In the absence of Froome, his teammates from Ineos (ex-Sky) did the job. Dutchman Dylan van Baarle won on Sunday the eighth and final stage, the day after the success of his compatriot Wout Poels in the only finish at the top of the event, at Les Sept Laux (Isère).

"Chris's accident has not changed our fitness," said van Baarle, a rider who has been turned to the paved classics (4th in the Tour of Flanders 2016). "We had come for him, but we have remained united, we are ready for the Tour", added the Dutch, who hopes to be in the selection of the British team.

Fuglsang, for one, has long been assured of being the leader of the Astana team in the Great Loop. Although he never knew success in the Tour (7th in 2013 for best result), often raced as a team-mate for Italians Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru.

"This year, everything is fine," said the 34-year-old Danish. His performance curve impresses: since the end of February, he ranked at the worst 4th (the Tour of the Basque Country) and has pinned his track record a "monument", Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

To remove Dauphine a second time, two years after his first victory, Fuglsang relied on a strong Astana team (Lutsenko, G. Izagirre, Cort). In the final stage, the Kazakh team discouraged their rivals' attacks for the overall standings, with Britain's Adam Yates, who started second at 8 seconds, left the race less than 50 kilometers from the finish. because of stomach pain according to his team.

- Fuglsang in advance -

"We were expecting a much harder stage," admitted Thibaut Pinot, first Frenchman in the final standings (5th). The 113.5 kilometers, certainly hilly (seven climbs listed), were overlooking the very steep slopes or the high passes, like this Dauphiné who favored the middle mountain and was mostly made difficult by the weather (cold and frequent rain).

"It's a shame to have a last step like that, it was rolling, I do not see what we could do," said Pinot, implicitly approved by Fuglsang: "I thought it would be more difficult during the latter. It had nothing to do with the last stage of 2017 ", the final of which was played in the climb to the Plateau de Solaison in Haute-Savoie.

Two years later, the Dane feels "stronger", leading a team that is also growing. "Today's cycling is no longer an individual sport," says Fuglsang, who declares the goal of a "top 5" in the next Tour de France and admits to podium and yellow jersey ambitions.

Less than three weeks before leaving Brussels, it is in any case ahead of other podium candidates. "This is not a good record, we must not hide," reacted Romain Bardet (10th), although substantially at the level of the Irish Dan Martin (8th) and Colombian Nairo Quintana (9th). "The week has been a bit difficult, we have to keep working."

? 2019 AFP