News

Less than a month remains until the start of the most important race of the year, the Tour de France, and everything that happens this month needs to be viewed in the context of the Tour. The preparatory phase for “la Grande Boucle” begins with Critérium du Dauphiné, which, along with Tour de Suisse, is one of the two races chosen by the top favorites to accumulate competitive kilometers in the legs. Also, this races allow fans to get an idea of the form of each rider and identify those who are in the best shape before the biggest event of the year.

Route

As usual in recent years, the Critérium du Dauphiné consists of eight stages, starting and finishing on Sundays. The route features a combination of medium mountain stages (stages 1, 2, and 5) and high mountain stages (stages 6, 7, and 8), with an individual time trial (stage 4) and a single opportunity for sprinters (stage 3). Undoubtedly, the queen stage of this edition will be the penultimate one: a purely alpine stage that smells like the Tour de France, including the Col de la Madelaine (24.8 km at 6.1%), the Col du Mollard (18.3 km at 7.4%), and the finish at the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer (13.1 km at 6.1%).

Favorites

The winner of the 2022 Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard (1200), has raced sparingly this year, following the same formula that worked for him last year to claim the yellow jersey. By focusing his entire season on the Tour and aligning all his races with this single objective, Vingegaard is likely to arrive in prime form at Dauphiné and is considered the top favorite. Other climbers who may try to conquer the general classification are Enric Mas (1000), Richard Carapaz (1000), Adam Yates (1000), David Gaudu (1000), Jai Hindley (800), Matteo Jorgenson (600), Ben O'Connor (800), Mikel Landa (800), Jack Haig (600), Carlos Rodriguez (800), and Daniel Felipe Martínez (800).

For the ITT, in addition to Vingegaard and Daniel Felipe Martínez, the start list also includes good specialists such as Rémi Cavagna (400), Ethan Hayter (1200), Ethan Vernon (200), and Lawson Craddock (200).

In the medium mountain stages, riders like Julian Alaphilippe (800), Andrea Bagioli (400), Valentin Madouas (400), Maxim Van Gils (400), and Marc Soler (600) could be aiming for a stage victory.

Finally, for the sprint on the third day, the top favorites are Dylan Groenewegen (600), Sam Bennett (600), Ethan Hayter (1200), Christophe Laporte (800), Matteo Trentin (600), Milan Menten (200), and Ethan Vernon (200).

Photo: © A.S.O. / Aurelien Vialatte