Dauphiné, Vingegaard against everyone in the direction of the Tour. Pogacar interested spectator

The Criterium du Dauphine it marks the start of the second part of the season, the moment in which “those of the Tour” start to move towards the Grande Boucle. One week, from Sunday 4 to Sunday 11 June, to refine your pedaling and see where the others are. This time with an extra spectator, very interested. Tadej Pogacar he won’t be in the game due to the injury to his left wrist but he will be in the front row, in front of the TV, especially when the stages of the Dauphine become more gluttonous. Cycling in the Alps and first on the climbs of the Puy de Dome, there will be his great adversary, Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane, outgoing champion of the Tour, shows up with all the Jumbo-Visma available apart from Wout Van Aert, who chose the Tour of Switzerland. He will be the lighthouse of the week. For Vingegaard three short stage races in the season: first at the Gran Camino, third behind Pogacar and Gaudu at Paris-Nice, first at the Tour of the Basque Country. One race a month, in full pre-Giro Roglic style, and it paid off for the Slovenian.

Gaudu and the others

One of the most aggressive among “those of the Tour” is right David Gaudu, the Breton with glasses attacking something important, so far always missed in his career. Waiting to know if Groupama-Fdj will also have Thibaut Pinot in the Tour, he will have the weight of France on his shoulders. At the Dauphiné there will also be Enric Mas, one of the eternal placed players in the era of phenomena, but ready (perhaps) for a qualitative leap, only touched upon in the finale of last year. In the Spanish house, too Mikel Landa look for the right pedal stroke in southeast France. And then there is the Ineos puzzle: with Thomas on vacation after the great Giro d’Italia, the July leadership depends on the results of the week. Bernal did the reconnaissance on the Puy de Dome, one of the hardest climbs of the next Tour de France, but to earn his grades after the serious injury in 2022 and the spring so far stingy (8th in Romandie, 8th in the Tour d’ Hungary, with many more crashes) will have to put his wheel ahead of that of his historic bodyguard Dani Martinez. And he who knows if Tom Pidcock, on stage in Switzerland, doesn’t want to try to make the rankings starting from the next Tour after the great victory on Alpe d’Huez a year ago. On the other hand, a former Ineos, Richard Carapaz, is very fit. And the Australians Jai Hindley and Ben O’Connor will be able to gamble for any chance of high rankings, both in the Dauphiné and in the Tour. In the Italian house we see each other again after the Covid that stopped him on the eve of the Giro Giulio Ciccone, one of the very few from the standings that we will be able to exhibit from 1st to 22nd July. No Italian has ever won the Daunphiné in the previous 74 editions.

Path

Three stages in the valleys, at the opening of Dauphiné: starting from Chambon sur Lac, on Monday then the uphill finish at La Chaise Dieu. On the fourth day the time trial (31 km) with finish line in Belmont de la Loire. The last three stages, all Alpine, are extraordinarily tough: on Friday the uphill arrival at Crest Voland, on Saturday the finish line is on the historic Croix de Fer, finally on Sunday 11th there are six climbs (Granier, Coucheron and Porte in the second part of day) before the very tough final ramp of the Bastille, above Grenoble.