Attacking Porte takes Dauphine lead

A tenacious attacking performance from Richie Porte saw him take the overall lead on the penultimate stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. 

Porte accelerated on the summit finish to La Plagne, first going clear with a small group, before whittling his rivals away and pushing clear in the final kilometre to finish second on the stage and earn the leader's yellow jersey. 

Behind, Geraint Thomas was able to maintain a good position before attacking once Porte was across the line to move third overall on a successful Alpine afternoon for the Grenadiers. 

At the bottom of the final climb, the early break had been reeled in by a Grenadiers team looking to up the pace to thin the bunch. They met some competition with Movistar also pace-setting, but it was Porte's move that proved decisive. 

He attacked with just under nine kilometres remaining and was joined by a trio of riders, including Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious) who would go on to win the stage, Enric Mas and Sepp Kuss.

While Padun and Kuss were not an immediate GC threat, they went up the road as Porte and Mas stayed infront of the GC group. This led to a number of riders bridging to Porte's group, with Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart poised to respond behind. 

But Porte was able to hold off the others, before riding them off his wheel to finish second and enter the final stage as overall leader.