Israeli champion, Omer Goldstein, showed off his national jersey in the breakaway on stage 3 of Critérium du Dauphiné, while team leader Ben Hermans did well to finish as the best Israel Start-Up Nation rider on the day.

Early in the stage, Goldstein managed to distance the peloton together with one other rider. The duo quickly opened up a gap of a couple of minutes, which they kept for the majority of the stage. However, after missing out the last two days, it was clear that the teams of the sprinters weren’t going to let a third opportunity slip away, and with 20 km left to go, it all came back together again.

Ultimately, Hermans finished in 28th place on the uphill finish, making sure not to lose any time to the other GC riders, as Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) won the stage. Lukas Pöstlberger (BORA – hansgrohe) kept his overall lead.

Omer Goldstein: “I followed the rider from Intermarché when he attacked, hoping that others would do the same, but when I looked back, I realized it was only me. However, I was optimistic because we knew it might be crosswind later on, so it would be better to be at the front in case the peloton split. At the end, it never split, and we got caught again towards the final, but I still got some KOM points, which may come in handy later in the race. I definitely felt better today than yesterday and I’m happy about that.”

Tomorrow, Critérium du Dauphiné continues with a 16.4 km long time trial.