These concerns were raised on the penultimate day of the race, when riders suggested that the fourth stage of the event was unsafe following a crash involving Steven Kruiswijk and Emanuel Buchmann.

It led to a protest at the start of the final stage in Megève where the field neutralised for the early kilometres.

Tom Dumoulin called the opening descent of yesterday's stage "a disgrace" after his Jumbo-Visma teammate Kruiswijk dislocated his shoulder in the crash, an injury which means he could miss the Tour de France.

According to CyclingNews, Dumoulin said: "The whole descent was really tricky but the first two or three kilometres were full of gravel, potholes, bumps in the road, 15 per cent drops down."

At Il Lombardia yesterday, Remco Evenepoel was ruled out for the rest of the season after falling from a bridge, while organisers were criticised for its safety when a car struck Max Schachmann in the latter stages of the race.

Last week, Evenepoel's teammate Fabio Jakobsen ended up in a coma after being squeezed in a barrier in a bunch sprint at the Tour de Pologne, which saw him hurtle through the air.

Perhaps the most crucial crash of the Critérium du Dauphiné was one involving yellow jersey leader Primož Roglič yesterday - with the Slovenian deciding not to compete in the final leg as a precautionary measure with the Tour de France around the corner.

That left France's Thibaut Pinot as the de-facto leader of the race with a 10-second gap back to his compatriot Guillaume Martin.

Yet it was the Colombian Martínez who showed his guts in the last stage, turning over the 12 second deficit he had to Pinot in a dramatic climax where he pulled away from a chasing pack that included Pinot, alongside American rider Sepp Kuss.

Kuss joined a leading six that also included Tadej Pogacar, Julian Alaphilippe, Pavel Sivakov and Miguel Angel Lopez, with Alaphilippe first to be dropped.

The American made his final big charge at eight kilometres to go to separate himself from a pack, with Martínez, now in a group of three, having the title in the bag, pending any heroics from Pinot.

He managed to hold off Pogacar and Sivakov in a sprint to take second place 27 seconds behind the stage winner Kuss with Pinot coming home a further 35 seconds behind the Colombian despite a late effort to push on.

Martin trailed Pinot by just two seconds to wrap up third place, with Pogacar's solid race enough for fourth and Lopez, who looked like a threat for the title in the latter stages, falling away to finish fifth.

Martínez also came in first in the young rider classification, while Belgian rider Wout van Aert snatched away the points title on the final day of competition.

Spain's David de la Cruz held on to his mountain stage lead to finish top, while Jumbo-Visma managed to win the team title despite the loss of Roglič.

"This morning they told me Roglič wouldn't start, so I knew the race would be hectic from the beginning," said EF Pro Cycling rider Martínez.

"My team worked very well for me in the first part and I was able to save strength for the finale and go for the win.

"I was at the limit, but I was determined to make it to the finish.

"It's one of the biggest races in the world and to be able to win this, coming from Colombia, makes me very happy."

Nairo Quintana also abandoned the race due to a small niggle - with an eye on the Tour de France, which is scheduled to run from August 29 to September 20.