Britain’s Jake Stewart secured a landmark win on Thursday, powering through a tense sprint finish to take Stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The 25-year-old rider outpaced Axel Laurance and Søren Waerenskjold after a hilly 183km journey from Saint-Priest to Mâcon, marking his first career victory in a World Tour race.
“That one feels good,” Stewart said post-race, beaming with pride. “The boys backed me, the team backed me — they did an awesome job. I’m just so happy I could finish it off for them.”
The win was especially significant for Stewart and his Israel-Premier Tech team, who suffered a setback earlier in the stage when their lead sprinter, Pascal Ackermann, was forced to abandon the race after crashing. “It’s such a shame with Ackermann,” Stewart added. “He crashed again today, and the opportunity was handed over to me. It was shaping up to be a good day for him, too — I’m gutted he didn’t get to contest the finish.”
Meanwhile, race leader Remco Evenepoel managed to hold on to the yellow jersey despite a late crash in the final kilometre. The Belgian slipped while exiting a roundabout on wet roads but was able to remount and finish without losing time. “There are no major injuries, just small scratches,” Evenepoel confirmed. “I tried to accelerate but maybe I slipped off the handlebars — my hands were wet.”
Evenepoel continues to lead the general classification, with major contenders like Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar expected to challenge in the upcoming Alpine stages.
Elsewhere in the peloton, Stage 2 winner Jonathan Milan had been tipped as the favourite in the event of a bunch sprint. The Italian, well-positioned by his Lidl-Trek teammates, fought hard on the Côte des Quatre Vents — a 5.4km climb with a 4.6% gradient — holding off attacks from Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck squad. But the effort proved too costly, and Milan faded to fifth in the final dash.
With the race heating up and the mountains looming, Stewart’s win adds a fresh chapter to what is already shaping up to be an unpredictable edition of the Dauphiné.
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