The race heads to the Alps with a classic stage finish in Gap with the Col de Manse followed by a steep descent to the finish. It’s a tricky stage with the action packed in the finish. There’s also a new leap in the evolution of TV today.
Dauphiné
New Names in the Dauphiné
Read the results and you can see who won yesterday but also who might win tomorrow. Yesterday’s stage of the Dauphiné saw several promising riders in the top-20.
Dauphiné Stage 3 Preview
A fast and flat finish, today’s stage says bunch sprint in every language. But the race has a shortage of sprinters and sprint trains. Could Chris Froome go for a third stage win in a row? Just joking.
Dauphiné Stage 2 Preview
One day in and a summit finish already. The Col du Béal is a long slog on a rough road and if it’s not Alpine, it’s still a tough climb. It won’t select the winner it will thin down the list of contenders and pretenders all while offering some scenic roads.
Dauphine Stage 1 Preview
The Tour de France visited Lyon last summer and was greeted with huge crowds. Now the racing is back and so is summer with scorching temperatures forecast for the opening time trial.
Who Will Win The Dauphiné?
Who Will Win The Dauphiné? Perhaps it’s the wrong question because what we really want to know is who has won the Dauphiné so we can extrapolate into July. But this is a problem because the upcoming week brings one of the best stage races of the year and it ought to be enjoyed in its own right.
2014 Critérium du Dauphiné Route
ASO have announced the route for the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. The race is a concentrated version of the Tour de France and this year’s edition is no exception. If the upcoming Paris-Nice has an experimental route, this is a more traditional course that will offer selective racing ahead of the Tour de France.
Riders To Watch for 2013 – What Happened?
Last year I nominated a dozen riders to watch in 2012, from promising neo-pros to Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali. Having looked at the six big names, now it’s time to review how the neo-pros got on in 2013.
The Moment The Race Was Won: The Dauphiné
Chris Froome rides to third place on Stage 4, a 32km time trial. The ride left him five seconds off the yellow jersey taken by the impressive Rohan Dennis but Froome well clear of his rivals for the overall, with 1.25 on Michael Rogers and then more on the likes of Dani Moreno and Alberto Contador. This was the moment the race was won.
Over the following days Froome won a stage, took the race lead, put time into his rivals and even helped team mate and friend Richie Porte secure second place overall. It was a mixed race with a variety of stages but an inevitable conclusion.
Dauphiné Stage 8 Preview
The final day of the Dauphiné is still a big mountain stage but easier than the previous day. It’s shorter, there are fewer climbs and vertical metres, plus the final climb is a regular affair. But it’s still a race.
If Chris Froome looks comfortable, a prestigious mountain stage victory is up for grabs and Saxo-Tinkoff’s work to get Michael Rogers into third place remains provisional given several riders are only seconds away from the Australian.