American cyclist Andrew Talansky is the surprise winner of the Criterium du Dauphine after he overcame a 39-second deficit to beat pre-race favourites Alberto Contador and Chris Froome.
The final stage had been expected to be a showdown between Tour de France champion Froome, who had led the race for the first six stages, and Spaniard Contador who had outclassed the Briton on the penultimate day to lead the overall standings by eight seconds.
But Talansky surged past the favourites during the 131.5-kilometre eighth stage from Megeve to Courchevel to win by 27 seconds.
While Contador trailed in more than a minute behind Talansky in the final stage, Froome struggled to maintain contact and ended up finishing outside the top 10 in the general classification.
Froome's fellow Team Sky rider Mikel Nieve won the final stage in three hours 20 minutes 29 seconds.
Froome says he's been suffering from a crash on stage six.
Looking ahead to the Tour de France, Froome says Contador's shown he's in great form ahead of the Tour and they'll definitely have a battle on their hands in July.
Talansky produced a stunning late breakaway to cross the line in fourth, nine seconds behind Nieve.
