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June 3 ^rd 2023 - 17:16

The 75th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné starts on Sunday with a 158-km stage 1 around Chambon-sur-Lac. The battle for the overall victory, all the way to Fort de la Bastille on Sunday 11th, will be closely watched ahead of July. "I’d like to win", says Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) but David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is also ambitious after he got the best of the Danish winner of the Tour de France earlier this year in Paris-Nice. Used to chasing glory in France, Ineos Grenadiers back three leaders for the overall standings: the former winner Dani Martinez, as well as Egan Bernal and Dani Martinez. The former world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) returns to competition and to the Critérium du Dauphiné to open a new cycle with big goals ahead: "I’m tired of speaking of bad luck."

GILLES MAIGNAN : "LEG SAPPING, BUT NOT TOO MUCH"

The first leader’s jersey of a high-end stage race often inspires the sprinters… But the characteristics of stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, this Sunday around Chambon-sur-Lac, could either favour them or launch attackers towards glory, with a punchy course over 158 kilometres, including a final loop of 23 kilometres to be covered three times. "We could have done some harder climbs in the area but we don’t want the overall standings to be stuck after stage 1", explains Gilles Maignan, the director of the race. "So we balanced the challenges. It will be leg sapping but it’s not too much. And the scenario will mostly depend on the pace set during the day. It’s a demanding route but it won’t make much of a selection if the pace is low." The final circuit will be decisive in the way the battle for the stage plays out, Maignan antixipates. "Teams without a sprinter should be interested in getting rid of the fast men on the ascent of the Côte du Rocher de l’Aigle [to be summited 11km away from the finish line]. We can imagine that a rider like Ethan Hayter has the skills to survive that climb better than the pure sprinters, for example."

VINGEGAARD: "TO FIGHT EVERY DAY"

For the third year in a row, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) visits France in June, with July already on his mind. On Friday, he went up the ascent of Puy-de-Dôme with his sports director Grischa Niermann. "It looks like a super hard climb, he dropped me", the Danish star said with a grin before shifting his focus to the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he claimed his best results last year (2nd in the overall standings, winner of the last stage at Plateau de Solaison). As the reigning winner of the Tour de France, the Danish star is more ambitious and confident than ever. "If I have to chose, I want to win the Tour", he says. "Winning it gives you a lot of confidence and I believe I can do it again." But why not go after many conquests? "I’d like to win the Dauphiné but it’s not to send a message or to take some sort of revenge. I just like to win races", he says ahead of his return to competition, two months after he won Itzulia Basque Country and finished 3rd of Paris-Nice. "I always enjoy racing in France and this is a very nice race. There are super hard stages and normally some good weather. The time trial is an advantage, but we’ve seen every once in a while you can do a bad TT. A lot of stages will be decisive. You have to be there and to fight every day."

CUMMINGS: "WE PROTECT EGAN, DANI AND CARLOS"

"We almost have too many guys to protect", Steve Cummings says with a laugh. The sports director of Ineos Grenadiers, a former stage winner himself in the Critérium du Dauphiné, comes to the 2023 edition with three different options to battle for the higher positions of the overall standings: "They’re all a bit in the same position, where everybody is improving. Obviously, Egan [Bernal] is still coming back. He’s done amazingly well, we can feel he’s really close. We can’t put a time scale on how long it will take him but he’s a special guy. Dani [Martinez, winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2020] had some sickness in the spring. And Carlos [Rodriguez] hasn’t raced since Strade Bianche. But we know their base condition is good so we protect the three riders and move day by day." And on top of the battle for the overall standings, stage hunting could be fruitful: "Ethan [Hayter] is pretty fast, Omar [Fraile] is pretty fast… Stage 1 has 3,000 metres of elevation, so it’s important to already be attentive and to start the way we want."

ALAPHILIPPE: "I FEEL FRESH AHEAD OF A VERY IMPORTANT PERIOD"

"The last time I felt like this was a long time ago." Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) doesn’t say when exactly, but the 2-time world champion expresses his optimism on the eve of his return to competition, a month and a half after Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "I’m tired of speaking of bad luck", he says after his spring campaign was affected by another crash. "I feel really good and I’m fresh. I took some easy days after Liège to recover from the first part of the season. And then I did the recon of the first two stages of the Tour in Bilbao and San Sebastian and I went to an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada. I feel fresh, I’m motivated and I want to race. It’s a good sign ahead of a very important period with many hard races that I like: the Dauphiné, the Nationals, the Tour, the Worlds… I’m already happy with how I feel. Now I want to enjoy racing. I want to be back at my best level." The French puncheur sees "many opportunities to take a victory with the team during the week. That would be super nice for me." It would also be his third stage win in the Critérium du Dauphiné, after he raised his arms aloft in Lans-en-Vercors (2018) and Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (2019). Both these successes were followed by some of his greatest performances in the Tour de France.

DAVID GAUDU: "TAKE A WIN AND MAKE IT TO THE PODIUM"

Fresh off an altitude training camp and after a final part of the spring campaign hampered by allergies, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) returns to a terrain where he’s used to shining. His last appearance on French roads, this year in Paris-Nice, saw him take the 2nd position overall, behind Pogacar but ahead of Vingegaard, with a strong performance at La Loge des Gardes, in the neighbouring department of Allier. He’s also "been through everything at the Critérium du Dauphiné", including a stage win last year at Chastreix-Sancy, on roads visited this Sunday, some 20 kilometres away from Chambon-sur-Lac. "There are some punchy stages, it will be important to be up there", Gaudu said as he described his ambitions: "We aim for the general classification, of course. Vingegaard is there so it will be interesting to assess where I stand. I was a little better in Paris-Nice, he was better in Basque Country… And there’s also a host of contenders with Landa, Yates, Mas, etc…" With such competition and with strong ambitions, Gaudu says "the perfect week would be to take a win and to make it to the podium. To be on the podium would already make it a more than successful week."