The 2022 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné is, by the race’s own standards, relatively light on mountains, but the peaks of the Alps swing into view this weekend with two short and potentially explosive stages.
Although the final title is decided this weekend, and it’s where the host of Tour de France is (opens in new tab) hopefuls will be truly tested for the first real time in the build-up to the Grande Boucle.
Until now, we’ve had a Dauphiné (opens in new tab) Wout van Aert could not have been won by Wout van Aert (opens in new tab). He has taken two, and come agonisingly close to winning three more for Jumbo-Visma. (opens in new tab)
Van Aert’s chances, and his victory over the last one. His place at the top of the standings with a lead of over a minute only adds to the speculation of a GC bid.
However, the Primoz Roglic’s tilt at the yellow jersey rather than simply supporting Primoz Roglic’s tilt at the yellow jersey. And while Van Aert’s in yellow here, he has ruled out defending it and made clear that any further role he plays in the race will be in the passing of his teammate.
That should, on paper, mean Roglic, winner of the past three Vuelta a Espana, as well as a host of week-long stage races, the Jumbo-Visma team leader. It could also mean Jonas Vingegaard, the Dane who grasped the opportunity of Roglic’s exit from last Ky Tour to finish runner-up himself, gets a chance.
Roglic starts as the best of the pre-race favorites. He is third overall, 1:06 down on van Aert, with only Matteo Cattaneo (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) ahead of him by three seconds. All the other contenders are further behind the Slovenian. Vingegaard is next best, 30 seconds in arrears.
It’ll be interesting to see how Jumbo-Visma plays their cards this weekend, and it should provide some clues ahead of the Tour. Whereas they have been in the support of Roglic; .
Jumbo-Visma has at times appeared slightly stretched at the Dauphine, and this weekend should provide further evidence of whether these plates can be spun in July. Chiefly, it’ll be interesting to see how creative they are, or whether they simply try to dictate and tow Roglic to the top of the final climbs.
Roglic question marks
Adding to the intrigue is Roglic’s own form.
30 seconds clear of any other pre-race contender and 43 seconds clear of any of the teams that have dominated so many week-long races in recent years.
And yet, there have been flickers of doubt, fueled by the fact that this is his first race since early April and he suffered a serious knee injury in the interim.
The uphill finish on stage 3 would ordinarily be his bread and butter but it was Van Aert who came back to sprint it out, while Roglic slipped through the bunch and finished 12th. In the time trial, he put time into all his rivals, including Vingegaard, who’s no slouch against the clock. However, the 42-second cap to the winner Filippo Ganna was more than likely expected of the Olympic champion’s discipline.
Roglic himself has revealed “definitely not at my best”, and while the Tour is almost three weeks away, any sign of weakness in the pre-Tour narrative, enshrining Tadej Pogacar for the even bigger favourite.
For Roglic’s rivals, then, there is room for optimism, even if they’ll have to lay it on the line. And that’s perhaps their best approach. The psychological hurdle may well be very real indeed.
Cattaneo is the rider who sits in between Van Aert and Jumbo’s two leaders, three seconds ahead of Roglic. The Italian had a storming time trial but is no slouch uphill, either. It’s a massive stretch to win the Dauphiné but it could still dig in and grind out in the top 10 or even five.
Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), fourth overall, is a similar type of rider as Van Aert and in a similar situation. Ineos Grenadiers’ true leader appears to be Tao Geoghegan Hart, who lies seventh, 49 down on Roglic, and just behind a particularly dangerous looking Damiano Caruso, whose Bahrain Victorious teammate is already a further 40 seconds back.
The ever-improving all-rounder Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) kicks off the group of riders two minutes down on Van Aert in ninth place, but Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen) 10 seconds behind in 10th, looks a likelier source of fireworks. Likewise Wilco Kelderman lies 11th but must have been running on the Giro and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) in 12th, already a stage winner, one of the strongest and most in-form climbers in the field. Finally, Enric Mas (Movistar) has the class but suffered a nasty crash on Thursday.
With Brandon McNulty as his UAE teammate Juan Auyso had to pull out of an illness, he was within half a minute of each other, and all within 1:11 of Roglic, meaning the Dauphiné is far from done and dusted.
The weekend stages
In terms of the terrain Jumbo-Visma’s rivals have at their disposal, both Saturday and Sunday’s stage clock at the short end of the mountain stage spectrum, both under 135km.
Such stage lengths have been known to produce unhinged days of racing, and when you consider both the start of major climbs, the chance of spectacle is raised yet further.
The stages are quite different in their make-up. Saturday’s stage features the larger, higher mountains, but is almost lacking in steep gradients, while Sunday’s unfolds at much lower altitude but packs a brute of finish up to the Solaison Plateau.
Saturday starts out of Saint-Chaffrey and immediately scales the Col du Galibier. This is the easiest side of the Alpine giant, and while it’s only 5.1%, it’s 23km long and rises to 2642 meters, where the oxygen is hard to come by.
They descend on the way they are most likely to come up in the Tour, via the Colombia -metre barrier once more.
Staggered descent takes them to the foot of the final climb to Vaujany, a typical ski resort-bound switchback climb, which averages 7.2% but only lasts for 5.7km, hence its category-2 status. It can provide a punchy and explosive finale.
Sunday’s stage-out with the category-1 ascent of the Col de Plainpalais – 8.8km at 6.5% – before a cat-3 climb makes way for an extended stretch in the valley. The cat-1 Col de la Colombière – 11.8km at 5.8% – is where the final climb to the Plateau de Solaison is another beast and the toughest test of the Dauphiné by far.
With an average gradient of 9.2% over 11.3km, it’s a steep and unforgiving climb and has the potential for real damage.
It has history with the Dauphiné, too. Back in 2017, the race was turned on its head there on the final day, with Jakob Fuglsang snatching the yellow jersey from Richie Porte. The Australian was reeling at the finish and it didn’t help that he felt his old ally Chris Froome had helped twist the knife.
Will we see a repeat of that play on Sunday afternoon?