The Critérium du Dauphiné, which starts on Sunday June 2, offers a full-scale dress rehearsal in preparation for the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel will be able to test his form for his return to competition after his terrible fall at the Tour of the Basque Country.
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Four weeks before the high mass in July, Remco Evenepoel will be able to measure the distance he still has to make to be at the top on the next Grande Boucle that he will discover. The winner of the Tour of Spain 2022 admits that he will have to ” be patient “.
The former road and time trial world champion claims that his “day to day feeling will be more important than the result”. Remco Evenepoel, who is taking part in his first race since the beginning of April at the Tour of the Basque Country, had undergone surgery on his collarbone and shoulder. “ We took the time to heal ourselves. If I’m starting from Dauphiné, it’s because I’m ready to race again. But the shape is another story », says the double winner of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic. He will therefore not have any specific objective in terms of results, other than finding the rhythm of the race and finishing the week in better shape.
With an individual time trial, stages for punchers, another for sprinters and an orgy of passes in the Alps: with its eight stages with a varied profile, the Dauphiné resembles a mini-Tour of France.
The opportunity to assess your form
“ I haven’t watched the course at all, I only know that the fourth stage will be a time trial and the last few will be difficult. This gives an idea of my level of expectations for this race »explains the Belgian star.
For runners, the Dauphiné is an opportunity to assess their form on roads regularly used by the Tour de France. Last year, Jonas Vingegaard crushed the race before then dominating the Tour de France.
Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, who shared the last four editions of the Tour, are not at the start of the Dauphiné. Outgoing winner, the Dane was supposed to come but he is not yet ready after his heavy fall at the beginning of April. As for the Slovenian, he is focusing on the Giro-Tour double after having outclassed the competition at the Tour d’Italy in May.
With its five summit finishes, the route of this 76th edition of the Dauphiné offers several opportunities to make a difference. The sixth stage will end with the non-category climb of Collet d’Allevard (11.2 km at 8.1%). The last stage will arrive at the Plateau des Glières after a climb of 9.4 km at 7.1%.