Criterium du Dauphine

Tearful Talansky takes title as Froome struggles

ESPN staff

June 15, 2014

Andrew Talanksy was in tears as he crossed the line © Getty Images

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Andrew Talansky won the Criterium du Dauphine from Alberto Contador as Chris Froome finished outside of the top 10 on Sunday's final stage.

Contador took the yellow jersey from defending champion Froome, who had led from stage one to stage six, on Saturday but Talansky held off a late challenge from the Spaniard to claim the biggest win of his career by 27 seconds.

Froome's Team Sky team-mate Mikel Nieve won the final stage while Brit Adam Yates crossed the line in third.

"You put your whole life into something and it can be very hard at times. So moments like this make it all worthwhile," said Talanksy, who was in tears as he crossed the line.

"It was a very hard start today, but we saw the opportunity and had to try for it."

Froome crashed towards the end of stage six in Poisy on Friday and continued to suffer the effects of his shunt during the final day. He failed to keep up with the pace and fell behind Contador during the ascent of cote de Montagny, eventually finishing over four minutes after Nieve.

Froome, who won this event before going on to claim victory in the Tour de France in 2013, finished 12th overall, five minutes five seconds behind Talansky's total time of 31 hours eight minutes and eight seconds.

Would have loved to have been more competitive in the final but that crash took it's toll on me. Onwards & upwards, 20 days to go
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 15, 2014

Amazing team performance this week capped off with @NieveMikel winning today's stage in style. Small guy, big heart!!
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 15, 2014