Bouwman and Vermeulen were two of six riders to make the breakaway after two kilometres of racing, with Delko Marseille Provence KTM also providing two riders in Quentin Pacher and Edvaldas Siskevicius, and Bryan Nauleau (Direct Energie) and Frederick Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) completing the move.

Despite a fast start to proceedings, the gap was more six-and-a-half minutes for much of the stage, with Bouwman – wearing the polka dot jersey as he trails De Gendt in the mountains classification – adding more climbing points to his total.

Lotto-Soudal led the bunch, meanwhile, with Pacher starting the day 5’57” in arrears to the Belgian, and therefore virtual leader as it stood.

With the GC teams looking to protect their leaders, the sprint teams struggled to retain control on the front of the bunch too, handing the initiative to the escapees.

The six were still together under the flamme rouge with Vermeulen on the front, controlling proceedings for Bouwman.

And his team-mate repaid his efforts by accelerating away and claiming victory, just as the peloton became visible in the distance.

Demare led them over, but it was only good enough for seventh place – a missed opportunity for the fast men, who now have just one more stage, stage five, to bag a pre-Tour victory.

Criterium du Dauphine 2017: stage three – result

1) Koen Bouwman (NED) – LottoNL-Jumbo – 4.06.06hrs
2) Evaldas Siskevicius (LTU) – Delko Marseille Provence KTM – ST
3) Frederik Backaert (BEL) – Wanty-Groupe Gobert
4) Bryan Nauleau (FRA) – Direct Energie
5) Alexey Vermeulen (USA) – LottoNL-Jumbo
6) Quentin Pacher (FRA) – Delko Marseille Provence KTM
7) Arnaud Demare (FRA) – FDJ +11”
8) Bryan Coquard (FRA) – Direct Energie – ST
9) Pascal Ackermann (GER) – Bora-hansgrohe
10) Phil Bauhaus (GER) – Team Sunweb

General classification

1) Thomas de Gendt (BEL) – Lotto-Soudal – 12.37.04hrs
2) Axel Domont (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +48”
3) Diego Ulissi (ITA) – UAE Team Emirates +1.03
4) Pierre Latour (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +1.07
5) Emanuel Buchmann (GER) – Bora-hansgrohe – ST
6) Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) – Bahrain-Merida +1.09
7) Ben Swift (GBR) – UAE Team Emirates – ST
8) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) – Movistar
9) Tony Gallopin (FRA) – Lotto-Soudal
10) Guillaume Martin (FRA) – Wanty-Groupe Gobert