Roglic came back 13 seconds from Verona, survivor of a long breakaway, in this 134.8 kilometer stage which crossed two out-of-category passes, the Galibier and the Croix-de-Fer.

The Slovenian, number one favorite of the event, preceded his Danish teammate Jonas Vingegaard and the Australian Ben O'Connor by a dozen seconds.

In the final climb to the Vaujany station, Verona presented himself at the foot in the company of Frenchman Kenny Elissonde, whom he distanced on the first slopes, some 5.5 kilometers from the finish.

In the general classification, Roglic is now 44 seconds ahead of Vingegaard and 1 min 24 sec over O'Connor.

Verona, 29, claimed his first win since making his WorldTour debut in 2013.

The Belgian Wout van Aert, who wore the yellow jersey, gave up in the group of favorites two kilometers from the top of the Croix-de-Fer and finished late.

The yellow jersey of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Belgian Wout van Aert, during the 7th and penultimate stage, disputed between Saint-Chaffrey and Vaujany, on June 11, 2022 Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Sunday, the last stage ends at the Plateau de Solaison, a hard ascent of 11.3 kilometers (at 9.2%), at the end of a route of 138.8 kilometers which also crosses Plainpalais and Colombière, two passes of first category.

© 2022 AFP