Dauphiné conclusion

A successful Dauphiné came to a close today with the seventh and last stage. Just like the previous days, Euskaltel were one of the more aggressive teams, placing Iñaki and Alan in the initial 17-man break. The break fell to pieces on the punishing circuit the riders had to ride five times as Edvald Boasson Hagen forced the pace and went on to win solo. Most of the riders in the break, including the orange duo, were swallowed up by the bunch, but that didn't mean Euskaltel gave up. On the last time up the Domancy climb, Romain attacked with force and really looked good for a while until the pack came back at him. Great attack though, he's in great shape at the moment. Romain, along with Samu and Egoi, eventually rolled in 1:04 down on Hagen. As a result he finished a strong 11th overall while Egoi took home the mountains prize. And, as anticipated, the team hung on to its lead in the team rankings and won that one as well. Awesome. Iván concluded a week of strong riding by placing 34th today, 2:13 down, while Gorka was 44th at 2:32 and Iñaki 57th at 3:06. That leaves Romain in 11th, Samu in 18th, Iván in 32nd, Gorka in 35th, Egoi in 40th and Iñaki in 78th. Like a large number of riders today, Alan and Jorge abandoned.