Veilleux takes yellow, green, polka dots in Dauphiné MyZA

David Veilleux (Photo credit: Petit Brun)

Twenty-five years after Steve Bauer won the prologue of the 1988 Criterium du Dauphiné, David Veilleux became the second Canadian to wear yellow at the start of the French alpine race.

At the end of a 118km long breakaway, including 47km on his own, the Europcar rider preceded the peloton of favorites by almost two minutes.

“This is a fantastic feeling,” Veilleux said in Champéry, Switzerland.

“This is my first time taking part in the Dauphiné. The standard of the race is extremely high, that’s why I didn’t have any expectation at this level.

“It was worth trying. I’ve started to believe that something would be possible when our breakaway gained more than nine minutes.

“But later, it was only in the last 300 metres that I realised I’d won. It’s an enormous satisfaction.

“It comes from a lot of sacrifices and huge amounts of work. I’m happy that it pays off.”

Veilleux was the first man to attack after only three kilometres of racing.

He was soon joined by Ricardo Garcia (Euskaltel), Thomas Damuseau (Argos-Shimano) and Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne-Séché) as they began their effort with the first category climb côte de Morgins where Bideau passed in first position.

They reached a maximum advantage of 10.10 at kilometre 40. After one hour of warming up, the peloton got organised.

Used to longer stage distances, the top pro teams underestimated the capacity of Veilleux whose record book was limited to four wins: Roue tourangelle in 2011, stage 1 and GC of the Mi-Août bretonne last year as well as the Tre Valli Varesine in Italy.

“For us Canadians, the most difficult part of our career is to put the foot in the door,” the 26-year-old explained.

“It’s a question of seizing opportunities. I joined Europcar in a period of redevelopment.” – Cyclingnews