Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 1 Preview

A hilly day with some climbs in the finish. If enough teams want to leave Jonathan Milan adrift on the bourbonnais hills they can.

Today’s stage has an early finish before 3.00pm CEST.

The Route: 189km, many miles from the actual Dauphiné region and 2,580m of vertical gain.

Find a map of France, stick your finger in the middle and you’ll land on the course, indeed the route passes just by Nassigny, the geographic centre of metropolitan France if you like this sort of trivia.

The start in Domérat, is famous for hosting a time trial during the 2022 Paris-Nice and the birthplace of actress Audrey Tatou and little else. Then it’s north for a long loop before returning to Montluçon and a finishing circuit.

There are two full laps of the 32km circuit and two notable features. First is the climb up into and out of Domérat, listed as 1.9km at 4% but is really double that and has some 6% sections. Soon it’s downhill into Montluçon. Once in town there the Buffon climb, Listed as 600m at 8.6%, it’s an irregular road that pitches up with 12% sections, levels out briefly when a side road approaches, then kicks up again to 15% before easing.

The last time up there are 6km to the finish. The road gets narrow outside of town before a big boulevard finish once back in Montluçon.

The Contenders: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is the bookmaker’s pick and he can win today but the course is hilly and if rival teams get to work they can eject him. He does climb well for a giant, especially in short efforts but twice up the long Domérat road and three times up the Rue Buffon on a day with 2.5km of vertical gain chould be too much but it’s conditional, rival teams have to put him away.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has a broken wrist so we’ll see if he wants to sprint, both the fight for position and pulling on the bars, if so he’s an obvious pick. Axel Laurance (Ineos) is suited, especially if the team pile on the pressure.

Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull) would like an uphill finish, the same for Tadej Pogačar (UAE).

If the hilly circuit is a challenge for Milan, then Søren Wærenskjold has the same issues but Uno-X have Magnus Cort as another card to play. Groupama-FDJ’s house sprinter is Paul Penhoët and this is a problem for them as he’s struggling for wins. But he might have an opening on a hilly day as he’s a lighter rider.

	–
	Van der Poel, Laurance
	Milan, Penhoët, Cort, Pogačar, Van Gils

Weather: sunshine and 21°C

TV: KM0 is at 10.00am, the final 90 minutes are live and the finish is due around 2.50pm CEST.

Postcard from Montluçon
Still home to a vast but crumbling Dunlop tire factory, Montluçon used to rhyme with the Premier Pas Dunlop, (“Dunlop first step”) a junior race that ran here from 1923 to 1982 and become the official French junior road race championships in 1952. Many riders made a name for themselves.

Montluçon is also where Roger Walkowiak was born and lived. His triumph in the 1956 Tour de France was mocked and this turned into a sadness that weighed on him for years. At the age of six Julian Alaphilippe moved to Désertines, a suburb of Montluçon and grew up here.

It’s more an observation than fact but riders today don’t have the local identity they once did. For years riders were given poetic nicknames by the media like the “Eagle of Toledo” but the practice is almost gone. Many riders have moved to live in tax havens, or just in search of better weather, so the sense of place less obvious.

Alaphilippe isn’t racing here today but there is the Alaphilippe Bike Store a spin away from the finishing circuit, it’s owned by his brother Bryan but the giant lettering on the store front just features the family name. It still counts, of course.