Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard paid tribute to the victims of Thursday's knife attack in the French Alps after winning the fifth stage of the 2023 Criterium du Dauphine in the region.

The Dane pulled on the leader's yellow jersey to take control, before the race heads into the Alpine finale.

But his thoughts at the finish line in Salins-les-Bains were with the victims of a knife attack at Lake Annecy, 200km further south, where four children aged 22 to 36 months and two adults were stabbed by a Syrian refugee, whose motive remains unclear.

"I'm very happy with my performance, but on a day like today, with what happened in Annecy, cycling doesn't really matter," the 26-year-old young father said on the verge of tears. "My thoughts go out to all the families."

Jumbo-Visma's Vingegaard finished over half a minute ahead of a pursuing group, having made the break with 15km to go on the tough Thesy climb over 3.6km with an 8.8% gradient, after the 191.5-kilometer ride from Cormoranche-sur-Saone.

Vingegaard claimed his ninth win of the season to lay the groundwork for his Tour de France title defense from July 1-23.

With three stages still to go, including the last two in the high mountains, he cemented his status as a huge favorite by winning 31 seconds ahead of a group that included some of the main favorites, except David Gaudu.

"I didn't want to attack today, just defend my position, but Richard (Carapaz) left, so I followed him," Vingegaard said.

He is now 1 min 23 sec ahead of France's Julian Alaphilippe, second on the stage and overall.

"He was unplayable, a notch above on the climb, he was impossible to follow," Alaphilippe said.

French rider Gaudu lost further ground after struggling on Wednesday's time-trial, with the Groupama-FDJ climber 3 min 22 sec from the yellow jersey.

For Vingegaard, all the lights are green for his Tour defense in July against Tadej Pogacar, who is training in the Sierra Nevada after his left wrist fracture at the end of April.

"We already saw during yesterday's time trial that he was in good shape," teammate Christophe Laporte said. "It's definitely a good sign."

Second in the Dauphine last year, Vingegaard will have the opportunity to establish his domination this weekend during two very difficult alpine stages.

The peloton will begin to attack the mountains Friday, with an arrival in the small ski resort of Crest-Voland, at 1,218 meters above sea level, after three ascents in the final 20km, including the Col des Aravis.