Easy on paper, but those who follow local Dutch cycling scene closer are well aware a flat course can only mean one thing - never ending day of echelons. And that's precisely what riders get, and even more at the on-going ZLM Tour (2.1). Saturday's stage was one of those days, where peloton spent mo...

The final stage of the race and its mountainous but not as severe as the past two days. The finish is earlier once again.Soler energy: two stage wins in row for Rogli. Which was the more surprising? Two days ago he didnt seem so lively but still delivered. Yesterday it looked like the win was promised to Marc Soler who had over five minutes coming off the final descent, bookmakers must have been giving even odds or worse for his triumph.Only it was Soler, a fascinating rider capable of bold moves but also supernova-style implosions and we got the later as he cracked, he shattered on the final climb. Some of this happened because Bora-hansgrohe applied the pressure but still, five minutes in 20km.Once the final kilometre arrived the result from Rogli seemed inevitable, like watching a drama where you know a particular character has the plot armour to win. So it was and once he gets a small gap nobody can seem to come past. It was the kind of riding that, with hindsight must have his ex-Visma management green with envy, although presumably if he stayed with them hed have fallen off a ladder while changing a lightbulb etc. Still Dutch management can console themselves with Matteo Jorgenson who was second on the stage and second overall, a strong signing and instant delivery.Movistar ought to be delighted with Oier Lazkano finishing fourth, he was even attacking in the finale in case you are wondering there is only one Lazkano in the pro peloton, the same rider who was crushing the cobbles earlier in the spring but hes leaving and on many teams the moment a rider is known to be leaving they become a secondary presence. One place the Spaniard him was Derek Gee. Javier Romo did a solid ride for Movistar while Callum Scotsons impressive performance to Le Collet dAllevard didnt repeat but he was still 15th. Meanwhile Remco Evenepoel was adrift and again its hard to apportion form versus injury.The Route: after a downhill start on a big road its around to the Col de Forclaz de Montmin, a scenic pass that has been used before to take the race away from the opal shores of Lake Annecy. Its got a soft middle section before kicking up before the top again.From here on a series of hilly roads. Its easy to skip past them but theyre still roads that would be decisive in many another race, its just they are dwarfed but todays big climbs.The Salve a long climb with steep sections all the way to the top and then a balcony section across before a more gradual descent.The Finish: 9.7km at 7.1% but the first seven kilometres are regularly over 10%. After the gradual valley road approach the road kicks up and starts climbing the flank of the valley. Its steep from the start and on a narrow road. Its like this for 7km to the mountain pass and from here the road drops, the race profile doesnt capture this, and then it kicks back up to the line.Embed from Getty ImagesThe Contenders: Primoz Rogli (Bora-hansgrohe) for three in row? The finish suits with the uphill run to the line and his team are riding well. If theres a sprint among him and the rest its hard to see him losing.Breakaway picks include Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Romain Grgoire (Groupama-FDJ), Davide Formolo (Movistar) and Sep Kuss (Visma-LAB) on a route that gives the breakaway a good chance to form and get clear.Weather: grey skies and the increased chance of rain, 21C.TV: another early finish, forecast arriva; time is 2.50pm CEST with the last 90 minutes on TV. This frees up France TVs schedules for the Roland Garros tennis tournament.Theres a small irony as the tennis tournament is named after the stadium it takes place in which is named after Roland Garros who is celebrated as a first world war aviator. He had little to do with tennis and in fact enjoyed cycling, and become French schools champion in his youth but under the pseudonym of Danlor (an anagram of Roland). So all this clay court to-and-fro is a tribute to a cyclist.Postcard from the Plateau des GliresMuch of todays stage is on the same route as the final stage of the 2013 Tour de lAvenir. While winners of the race are supposed to go onto great things, the 2013 edition was won by Spains Rubn Fernndez who a decade later is still in a pro peloton having just finished the Giro for Cofidis but yet to land a win. Whats helped him along the way is consistency, hes had many top-10 finishes and so hes reliable and when it comes to scoring points, valuable.The stage that day was won by Julian Alaphilippe who broke a spoke on his back wheel and despite a wobbly wheel went solo for the win ahead of Matej Mohori. Adam Yates finished second and brother Simon took two stages; the prologue went to Alexis Gougeard, also with Cofidis today. Caleb Ewan took two sprint stages. Michael Valgren took the other stage which went to Albertville where yesterdays stage started and it was a remarkable win for he and the Danish team attacked together in a coordinated move on the Col du Frne and only the USAs Gavin Mannion could follow. The short version of what happened then was the Danish team rode a team time trial to the finish with riders peeling off to leave Valgren to outsprint Mannion, holding off the bunch by seconds. It would be fun to see a team repeat this kind of move but easier said than done.The post Critrium du Dauphin Stage 8 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

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