Two months on from being caught up within the horror crash at Itzulia Basque Nation, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Fast-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) will return to motion at this significant pre-Tour de France preparation race.
The pair didn’t end stage 4 of Itzulia, with Evenepoel struggling a damaged collarbone within the incident, however will as soon as once more do battle on French roads with Roglič.
Jonas Vingegaard was additionally purported to be competing on the Critérium du Dauphiné, however is but to have recovered sufficient from his extra critical accidents, which he suffered in the identical crash.
Together with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Crew Emirates), the winner of the Giro d’Italia, the 4 are the favourites for Tour victory subsequent month. The Dauphiné is all the time a key staging publish earlier than the most important race of the 12 months, and Evenepoel and Roglič will wish to present that they are going to be capable of problem Pogačar.
There will probably be different basic classification riders there hoping to show their kind, together with Mattias Skjelmose and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
The route, as all the time, is a brutal one, with barely a flat street throughout the eight phases. There are 4 hilly days, a person time trial, after which three days within the excessive mountains to complete.
There may be not a day the place the GC hopefuls can afford to drop their consideration ranges, with 5 summit – or at the very least hilltop – finishes within the race. The flat finishes that do exist is not going to essentially be for pure sprinters, with stage one and 5 that includes a number of climbs earlier than the ultimate run-in.
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Even the person time trial is much from flat, with 427 vertical metres throughout 34.4km. It’s not a hill climb, but in addition may not favour pure rouleurs.
Alpine triple deal with
The week ends with three mountain-top finishes: Le Collet d’Allevard; Samoëns 1600, and the Plateau des Glières. The primary two are Hors Categorie climbs that can possible resolve the race, earlier than one ultimate first-category end on the final day. All three are fairly unheralded, so will probably be contemporary roads for lots of the contenders.
The Collet d’Allevard is 11.km at a mean gradient of 8.1%, on a day which acts as a heat up. Stage seven will see an elevation acquire of 4,268 metres over a distance of 145.5km, ending on the climb to Samoëns 1600 – 10km at 9.3%. Whoever conquers this climb will certainly conquer the Dauphiné.
Lastly, as some sort of dessert, there will probably be 3,856m of elevation on stage eight, concluding with the Plateau des Glières climb, an informal 9.4km at 7.1%.
Critérium du Dauphiné 2024 contenders
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Fast-Step) **** It’s tough to know what sort of kind the Belgian will probably be in when he traces up on the Dauphiné, provided that he has not raced since his Itzulia crash and damaged collarbone. Nonetheless, when Evenepoel races, he goes for the win, and so can’t be discounted. In his final accomplished stage race, Paris-Good, he completed second.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) **** There’ll solely be two dash alternatives on the Dauphiné, most, so the quick males must make it rely. On lumpy terrain, with few pure bunch sprinters current, it may be very a lot the race for Mads Pedersen, who has not raced since ending third at Paris-Roubaix.
Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) **** Similar to his massive rival Evenepoel, Roglič has not raced since that Itzulia crash, so how nicely he’ll fare is a thriller. His Bora-Hansgrohe profession is but to essentially ignite, with tenth place at Paris-Good disappointing for the multiple-time Grand Tour winner. Nonetheless, he’s actually good at week-long stage races, so anticipate extra.
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) *** Doubtlessly main Visma-Lease a Bike within the absence of Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss may shine as he’s given accountability in France. Alongside his American teammate Matteo Jorgenson, who gained Paris-Good, the Vuelta a España champion will probably be an fascinating one to look at.
Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) **** Winner of the Tour de Romandie in April, Carlos Rodríguez is clearly a person in kind, not like a few of his rivals. He completed second at Itzulia earlier than that, and may nicely lead Ineos on the Tour subsequent month. If he can show himself within the Alps on the Dauphiné, he may turn into a Tour favorite.
Critérium du Dauphiné 2024 phases
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Critérium du Dauphine 2024 phases
Stage
Date
Begin
End
Sort
Size
1
2 June
Saint-Pourčain-sur-Sioule
Saint-Pourčain-sur-Sioule
Hilly
174.8km
2
3 June
Gannat
Col de la Loge
Mountains
142km
3
4 June
Celles-sur-Durolle
Les Estables
Mountains
181.2km
4
5 June
Saint-Germain-Laval
Neulise
ITT
34.4km
5
6 June
Amplepuis
Saint-Priest
Hilly
200.2km
6
7 June
Hauterives
Le Collet d’Allevard
Mountains
173.2km
7
8 June
Albertville
Samoëns 1600
Mountains
145.5km
8
9 June
Thônes
Plateau des Glières
Mountains
152.5km
Critérium du Dauphiné earlier winners
Final 12 months’s high three
Earlier 5 winners
2022 Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) 2021 Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) 2020 Dani Martínez (EF Professional Biking) 2019 Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) 2018 Geraint Thomas (Sky)
