The race heads away from the mountains for the Rhone valley but takes a winding route over several small climbs. If the race took a straight line it would head over the awkward Vercors mountains, instead it avoids such testing roads but still, this is an awkward stage for riders and teams alike, none more than Luke Durbridge and Orica-Greenedge.
Today’s opening 5.7km prologue stage of the Dauphiné is straightforward. As the map shows the route has five corners but each turn is predictable, for example there’s no fast downhill section with a bend that tightens up. Instead the route is flat – the total vertical gain is just 11 metres – and should be a series of efforts of the corners to reach maximum speed before the next corner appears after a minute or so.
Several readers have been asking for a list of past book reviews. There is a search box on the right of the screen but it can bring up other results. So here is the list and I’ll try to keep this updated as more are reviewed. As well as the list I’ve added a few … Read more
The race starts this Sunday with a prologue but we’ll need to wait for the high mountains the following weekend to decide the winnner.
Bradley Wiggins is a favourite but he’ll face Tony Martin in the time trials and Cadel Evans and others in the mountains. Here’s a look at the overall contenders for the race plus some thoughts on the likely stage winners along the way.