{"id":198719,"date":"2025-06-06T15:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=198719"},"modified":"2025-06-06T15:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:57:18","slug":"criterium-du-dauphine-a-preview-of-the-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/06\/06\/criterium-du-dauphine-a-preview-of-the-tour-de-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9: A Preview of the Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, which kicks off on Sunday, can be viewed as an appetizer for the main course, the Tour de France, because the three Tour favorites \u2013 Tadej Poga\u010dar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel \u2013 are all riding in it. That should be enough to have all cycling fans smacking their lips in anticipation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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It’s an easy enough race to handicap because Poga\u010dar (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG), who has won the Tour three times, is the favorite of every race he starts, just because he is the best rider in the world. This time there is additional background information to solidify that status. Two-time Tour winner Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) and double Olympics champion Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep) are both returning from injuries and their fitness remains unproven.<\/p>\n

The Dane most recently crashed in Paris-Nice, on March 13, suffering a concussion and other, lesser injuries, and has not raced since. Evenepoel returned in spring from a serious crash he had in December and raced well, but he was clearly not at his best, as he himself admitted. Both riders are depending on their training and this race to help them win the Tour. For them, the Dauphin\u00e9 is only a stepping-stone \u2013 though they would mind winning it.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar had a full spring Classics schedule, ending with victories in La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne and Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/a> He was in top form then and will come to the Dauphin\u00e9 near top form. He will probably want to win it, as he wants to win every race he rides in. And there will be added motivation from the humiliation his team suffered in the Giro d\u2019Italia. Observers are still scratching their heads and beards over the way UAE and its young, and belated, leader, Isaac del Toro, managed to lose the race \u2013 to Visma\u2013Lease a Bike\u2019s Simon Yates.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@teamvisma_leaseabike)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n