Spain’s Alejandro Valverde rolled back the years to edge Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart to victory on stage six at the Criterium du Dauphine.
The 2008 and 2009 race winner, 41, came through in the final 200m to win a sprint with the Ineos Grenadiers rider.
It came after a tough uphill finish to the 167km stage from Loriol-sur-Drome to Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse.
Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko took the overall lead after finishing alongside Geraint Thomas, who moves up to fourth.
Lutsenko is now eight seconds ahead of his Astana-Premier Tech team-mate Ion Izagirre, with Thomas 13 seconds off the lead before the big mountain tests to come this weekend.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider, 35, was sixth overall after winning stage five, with Lutsenko one second behind leader Lukas Postlberger.
Postlberger had led the race after winning stage two from Brioude to Saugues but the Austrian was dropped on the Col de Porte, the main test on stage six, and arrived at the finish having lost more than eight minutes.
Geoghegan Hart, 26, made the first move on the uphill sprint finish but last year’s Giro d’Italia winner was caught by veteran Movistar rider Valverde just before the line.
“I’m super happy,” said Valverde. “[Geoghegan Hart] opened up really strongly, and I saw Thomas was separated from him, so I couldn’t hesitate – I had to go. I tried to keep it steady at first but when I saw the barriers I just went all out.”
Saturday’s penultimate stage is 171.5 km, with two ‘hors-categorie’ climbs, from Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux to La Plagne.
Stage results
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) 3hrs 52mins 53secs
2. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
3. Patrick Konrad (Aut/Bora-Hansgrohe)
4. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe)
5. Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa/Movistar)
6. Sepp Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Visma)
7. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana-Premier Tech)
8. Jack Haig (Aus/Bahrain Victorious )
9. Ben Hermans (Bel/Israel Start-up Nation)
10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma)
General classification after stage 6
1. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana-Premier Tech) 20hrs 52mins 16secs
2. Ion Izagirre (Spa/Astana-Premier Tech) +8secs
3. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +12secs
4. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +13secs
5. Ilan van Wilder (Bel/DSM) Same time
6. Richie Porte (Aus/Ineos Grenadiers) +15secs
7. Patrick Konrad (Aut/Bora-Hansgrohe) +27secs
8. Jack Haig (Aus/Bahrain Victorious) +34secs
9. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +39secs
10. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/Movistar) +42secs
