Young French rider Julian Alaphilippe took his turn at 161.5km Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 7 as the OPQS rider representing his team in the breakaway. While he was unable to keep pace with the escape group as the race went into the back-to-back HC climbs at the end of the parcours, he was not caught by the peloton until the final kilometers. He finished 33rd.
Lieuwe Westre (Astana) won the stage in dramatic fashion, catching Katusha riders Yuri Trofimov and Egor Silin in the final meters of the steep finish only to pass them to cross the line in 1st place.
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) exploded the race behind the leaders, as the select group formed by the high pace of the peloton, due to Team Sky leading Chris Froome, was together until he attacked with about 2 kilometers to go in the stage. He finished with about 20 seconds of a gap on Froome. Contador now holds the race lead by 8" over Froome as the race heads into the final, 130.5km high mountain stage. The stage includes consecutive Category 1 climbs, including the summit finish on Courchevel Le Praz (5.9km, 6.2%).
Michal Kwiatkowski did not take the start.
