After finishing outside of the top 100 four times to start the Criterium du Dauphine and only breaking through to 92nd on Thursday, Benjamin King had a great ride on Friday as the race entered the mountains and finished 29th, 1:48 back. The top American so far, Brent Bookwalter was over seven minutes further back in 78th with Alex Howes right behind him in 79th. Bookwalter remains the top American but slid to 66th overall, 15:20 back. King was one of the biggest climbers of the day moving from 114th to 87th.

The Criterium du Dauphine continues Saturday with the second mountain stage, 87.6 miles, and the overall race wraps up Sunday with a 93.8 mile medium-mountain stage.

Saturday will also be the beginning of the Tour de Suisse. Seven Americans are in the field for the nine stage race, including big names like Tejay Van Garderen, 5th in the Volta a Cataluyna, Joe Dombrowski, 34th in the Giro d’Italia, and Peter Stetina, 35th in La Fleche Wallonne. The race begins with a 4 mile individual time trial, one of two in the overall event, and continues through Sunday the 19th.

Previous Criterium du Dauphine Coverage:
Preview
Prologue Recap
Stage One Recap
Stage Two Recap
Stage Three Recap
Stage Four Recap