Navarro said he would toast his first pro win with a glass of champagne

Daniel Navarro triumphed in Friday's fifth stage of the Criterium du Dauphine as the big names sat back before Saturday's Alpe d'Huez stage.

Navarro, a team-mate of Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, broke clear late on to finish ahead of Italy's Eros Capecchi and Thibault Pinot of France.

"Alberto decided to take it easy today and I was given the go-ahead to attack on the last climb," said Navarro.

Prologue winner Contador remains third behind race leader Janez Brajkovic.

Contador is one minute 41 seconds behind Brajkovic and 26 seconds behind second-placed Tejay Van Garderen, with Britain's David Millar in fourth place.

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Geraint Thomas was the best-placed rider for the British-based Team Sky, coming in 18th, and picking up 18 points along the way to secure the overall lead in the points competition.

The main pack, including Thomas and his team-mates Peter Kennaugh, Sylvain Calzati and Edvald Boasson Hagen, reached the finish in Grenoble 3:04 behind Navarro.

Many riders will have been preserving their energy ahead of the demands of Saturday's gruelling 151.5km penultimate stage.

Criterium du Dauphine stage five result:

1 D Navarro (Sp) Astana 3 hours 26 minutes 16 seconds
2 E Capecchi (It) Footon-Servetto @ 34 secs
3 T Pinot (Fr) Francaise des Jeux @ 34 secs
4 D Champion (Fr) AG2R-La Mondiale @ 1:39
5 E Martinez (Sp) Euskaltel @ 1:39
6 C Moreau (Fr) Caisse d'Epargne @ 1:39
7 B Kadri (Fr) AG2R-La Mondiale @ 2:40
8 P Rolland (Fr) BBox Bouygues Telecom @ 2:40
9 L Pasamontes (Sp) Caisse d'Epargne @ 2:40
10 C Riblon (Fr) AG2R-La Mondiale @ 2:40

Overall race standings:

1 J Brajkovic (Slv) RadioShack 19 hours, 55 minutes, 4 seconds
2 T Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Columbia @ 1 minute 15 seconds
3 A Contador (Spn) Astana @ 1:41
4 D Millar (GB) Garmin @ 1:56
5 N Vogondy (Fr) BBox Bouygues Telecom @ 2:43
6 D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank @ 2:55
7 C Riblon (Fr) AG2R-La Mondiale @ 3:05
8 J van den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lott @ 3:06
9 C Knees (Ger) Milram @ 3:10
10 R Taaramae (Est) Cofidis @ 3:28

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