2017 Critérium du Dauphiné 4 - 11 June

[Cav']

The 69th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné is held from Sunday, 4 June to Sunday, 11 June. The race – dating back to 1947 – takes place in the Dauphiné region in southeastern France. Billed as one the last big showdowns before La Grande Boucle, the startlist features Froome, Porte, Contador, Bardet etc. The last three days of racing are through the high mountains.


Stage 1 - Saint-Étienne › Saint-Étienne
Stage 2 - Saint-Champond › Arlanc
Stage 3 - Le Chambon-sur-Lignon › Tullins
Stage 4 (ITT) - La Tour-du-Pin › Bourgion-Jalieu
Stage 5 - La Tour-de-Salvagny › Mâcon
Stage 6 - Parc des Oiseaux › Villars-les-Dombes
Stage 7 - Aoste › Alpe d'Huez
Stage 8 - Albertville › Plateau de Solaison

http://www.steephill.tv/2015/volta-a-catalunya/preview-collage.jpg

[Cav']

The race sets off with a stage Saint Etienne-Saint Etienne on a route that takes in eight climbs – the last one is crested with 6.5 kilometres left. The 2nd stage and the 3rd stage should give the fast men chances to shine before the 4th stage brings an individual time trial of 23.5 kilometres on rolling roads. Stage 5 takes in six climb, yet we can expect a sprinters clash in the streets  of arrival place Mâcon.

The 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné is set to conclude with a tough 3-day finale in the Alps. Stage 6 is a test for the upcoming July showdown as the last 60 kilometres are a copy of stage 9 in the Tour de France. After tackling the steep Mont du Chat, a 8.7 kilometres climb at 10.3%, the finale is downhill.

The Queen Stage takes place on the 7th day. The ordeal is played out on a route with six peaks and a double-headed finale with a novel approach to Alpe d’Huez. Firstly, the riders hit Col de Sarenne which is a 15.3 kilometres climb at 6.9% before a rolling section travels to a final run up to Alpe d’Huez. The 21 hairpins are left alone, this approach equals 3.7 kilometres at 7,2%.

The last leg runs from Albertville to Plateau de Solaison on a route that is short (115 kilometres) but explosive (more than 4,000 vertical metres). The route takes in three intermediate climbs before the final toil up to Plateau de Solaison – 11.3 kilometres at 9.2%.

[Cav']

Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team
.. ARASHIRO Yukiya
.. BOLE Grega
.. BOZIC Borut
.. VISCONTI Giovanni
.. COLBRELLI Sonny
.. NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas
.. PER David
.. BRAJKOVIČ Janez

Team LottoNL-Jumbo
.. CLEMENT Stef
.. BOUWMAN Koen
.. VERMEULEN Alexey
.. VAN HOECKE Gijs
.. TOLHOEK Antwan
.. JANSEN Amund Grondahl
.. DE TIER Floris
.. BATTAGLIN Enrico

Trek - Segafredo
.. CARDOSO André
.. GOGL Michael
.. ZUBELDIA Haimar
.. IRIZAR Markel
.. CONTADOR Alberto
.. THEUNS Edward
.. BERNARD Julien
.. BEPPU Fumiyuki

 

Team Katusha - Alpecin
.. ZABEL Rick
.. LAMMERTINK Maurits
.. POLITT Nils
.. MØRKØV Michael
.. MARTIN Tony
.. MACHADO Tiago
.. BYSTRØM Sven Erik
.. KRISTOFF Alexander

Movistar Team
.. SÜTTERLIN Jasha
.. ARCAS Jorge
.. CARAPAZ Richard
.. ERVITI Imanol
.. MORENO Daniel
.. VALVERDE Alejandro
.. FERNÁNDEZ Rubén

Lotto Soudal
.. ARMÉE Sander
.. VANENDERT Jelle
.. VAN DER SANDE Tosh
.. VALLS Rafael
.. SHAW James 
.. GALLOPIN Tony
.. DE GENDT Thomas
.. BENOOT Tiesj

 

BMC Racing Team
.. WYSS Danilo
.. ROCHE Nicolas
.. ROSSKOPF Joey
.. PORTE Richie
.. MOINARD Amaël
.. HERMANS Ben
.. DE MARCHI Alessandro
.. BOOKWALTER Brent

Team Sky
.. FROOME Christopher
.. HENAO Sergio Luis
.. KNEES Christian
.. KWIATKOWSKI Michal
.. LOPEZ David
.. NIEVE Mikel
.. ROWE Luke
.. STANNARD Ian

AG2R La Mondiale
.. BARDET Romain
.. CHÉREL Mickaël
.. DOMONT Axel
.. DUMOULIN Samuel
.. GAUTIER Cyril
.. LATOUR Pierre
.. NAESEN Oliver
.. VUILLERMOZ Alexis

 

Quick-Step Floors
.. BRAMBILLA Gianluca
.. CAPECCHI Eros
.. MARTIN Daniel
.. MAS Enric
.. TERPSTRA Niki
.. VAKOC Petr
.. VERMOTE Julien

Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team
.. BETTIOL Alberto
.. BROWN Nathan
.. CANTY Brendan
.. LANGEVELD Sebastian
.. TALANSKY Andrew
.. VAN ASBROECK Tom
.. VAN BAARLE Dylan

Delko Marseille Provence KTM
.. COMBAUD Romain
.. EL FARES Julien
.. FERNANDEZ Delio
.. FINETTO Mauro
.. MADRAZO Ángel
.. PACHER Quentin
.. SISKEVICIUS Evaldas
.. SMUKULIS Gatis

 

Direct Energie
.. BOUDAT Thomas
.. COQUARD Bryan
.. MORICE Julien
.. NAULEAU Bryan
.. PETIT Adrien
.. SICARD Romain
.. TULIK Angelo
.. VOECKLER Thomas

Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
.. BOUHANNI Nacer
.. CLAEYS Dimitri
.. LAPORTE Christophe
.. NAVARRO Daniel
.. SIMON Julien
.. SOUPE Geoffrey
.. TURGIS Anthony
.. VAN GENECHTEN Jonas

Bora - Hansgrohe
.. ACKERMANN Pascal
.. BUCHMANN Emanuel
.. HERKLOTZ Silvio
.. KÖNIG Leopold
.. PFINGSTEN Christoph
.. SARAMOTINS Aleksejs
.. SCHILLINGER Andreas
.. SCHWARZMANN Michael

 

ORICA-Scott
.. CHAVES Johan Esteban
.. GERRANS Simon
.. HAIG Jack
.. HOWSON Damien
.. IMPEY Daryl
.. KEUKELEIRE Jens
.. KREUZIGER Roman
.. YATES Simon

Astana Pro Team
.. ARU Fabio
.. CHERNETCKII Sergei
.. FUGLSANG Jakob
.. KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar
.. LUTSENKO Alexey
.. SANCHEZ Luis Leon
.. STALNOV Nikita
.. VALGREN Michael

FDJ
.. CIMOLAI Davide
.. DELAGE Mickaël
.. DÉMARE Arnaud
.. GAUDU David 
.. KONOVALOVAS Ignatas
.. LE GAC Olivier
.. SARREAU Marc
.. VICHOT Arthur

 

Team Sunweb 
.. ANDERSEN Søren Kragh
.. BARGUIL Warren
.. BAUHAUS Phil
.. DE BACKER Bert
.. FRÖHLINGER Johannes
.. HAGA Chad
.. HOFSTEDE Lennard
.. OOMEN Sam

Dimension Data
.. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
.. DEBESAY Mekseb
.. KUDUS Merhawi
.. O'CONNOR Ben
.. PAUWELS Serge
.. REGUIGUI Youcef
.. THOMSON Jay Robert
.. THWAITES Scott

UAE Team Emirates
.. BONO Matteo
.. MEINTJES Louis
.. MORI Manuele
.. PETILLI Simone
.. POLANC Jan
.. RAVASI Edward
.. SWIFT Ben
.. ULISSI Diego

 

Wanty - Groupe Gobert
.. BACKAERT Frederik
.. DEGAND Thomas
.. LEVARLET Guillaume
.. MARTIN Guillaume
.. OFFREDO Yoann
.. SMITH Dion
.. VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume
.. VANSPEYBROUCK Pieter

 

[Cav']

In 2013, 2015 and 2016 Chris Froome took the win in both the Dauphiné and the Tour de France. The race seems to be a perfect preparation for the Briton. That is, if he wins. In 2014 he rode the Dauphiné without winning and a few weeks later he crashed out of La Grande Boucle.

The 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné is a final test of form before the July showdown. With Richie Porte, Alberto Contador, Romain Bardet and Froome himself the field features the main contenders in the Tour.

Of this four Porte is the best performer in 2017. Early this season he took the Tour Down Under and in april Froome did not stand a chance in a direct confrontation in the Tour de Romandie. Porte’s only poor performance GC-wise was in Paris-Nice. His chances got up in smoke during an echelon marked stage, yet he bounced back by winning the Queen Stage ahead of Contador.

In last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné Bardet finished in second, 12 seconds down on Froome. This season he is not on flying form, yet. He was excluded from Paris-Nice after having been towed by the team car, while he did’t make an impression in the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of the Basque Country, finishing twelfth and fifteenth overall. So the runner-up in the 2016 Tour de France could use a result to boost his moral.

Same goes for Froome. He was on the startlist in the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie, but in both races he didn’t stand a chance in the GC. His only bright spot was finishing in second in an important mountain stage in Catalunya, behind Valverde but ahead of Contador.

Talking about El Pistolero. In 2017, the 34-year old Spaniard is collecting second places, often with a slim deficit on the winner. He lost Ruta del Sol with 1 second to Valverde and Paris-Nice with 2 seconds to Sergio Henao, while he was bested by Valverde in Volta a Catalunya and Tour of the Basque Country, too. As is the case with Froome and Bardet: a victory wouldn’t hurt his confidence.

Chaves and Aru then – there’s a question mark over their form. Both riders have been plagued by injuries until now. The prolonged time off the bike saw them scarp plans to race the Giro d’Italia and they will return to action at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The opposite is true for Valverde. This spring, the 37-year old won one race after the other: Vuelta a Murcia, Ruta del Sol, Volta a Catalunya, Tour of the Basque Country, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. One may wonder if the Spaniard will be back to that flying form, especially since the Dauphiné is longer and tougher than the stage races he won.

[shaper]

Well done Cav... something to keep us going till Sunday!!

[Mntboy]

My podium prediction is Contador, Porte & Froome!

 

Sent from my SM-J200H using Tapatalk

[Shell Belle]

Some big boys here - looking forward to this!

[jimmycool]

Ooh yes. More racing. Goodie

['Dale]

[s14phoenix]

FROOME!!!!

[meathead]

I must confess, I feel a bit lost without my daily Giro, so I am really looking forward to this.

 

Thanks for the intro @Cav'

[jimmycool]

Allez!, Allez!, Allez!, Allez!!!

[Pah Bear]

"Patient Damn It" as opposed to the writing on my Niner "Pedal Damn It". 

[coppi]

Is Samuel Dumoulin related to Tom ?

[nochain]

Seriously good lineup this!!Hope Meintjes gets a good result.

Think Froome will be a little undercooked still..He is clearly on a Tour - Vuelta Strategy to try and limit early season form in exchange for freshness at Vuelta.

Conto, Porte and Valverde should be very strong.

['Dale]

Is Samuel Dumoulin related to Tom ?

As much as Sagan is related to Merckx