Critérium du Dauphiné – Review

I didn’t get around to previewing this race, as I was busy. I will not go through stage by stage but will pick out some key points /good rides and reference these to the upcoming TDF. I will do another very similar post in abut weeks time for the Tour of Switzerland another key TDF warm up race.

The Critérium du Dauphiné ended today with Wiggins confirming his status as a very strong favourite by winning it.  However, this race a review is more useful insofar as this is a key Tour de France warm up race and many riders come in fresh from training, looking to build form. Predicting TdF form from the Critérium is a dark art, but I believe that a number of conclusions can be drawn. 

Riders who looked good

·         Bradley Wiggins is very strong and probably top favourite for the TDF, his time trialling is sublime, and his climbing looks as good as any other rider in the peloton on top form bar the Schlecks and Contador.

·         Team Sky are very strong, look at the top 10; 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th and 9^th. All of this was whilst they were working for Wiggins (who came 1^st). In Boasson-Hagen, Porte, Rogers and Froome, they have riders who can control the race in the mountains. All of these riders plus numerous others at Sky can control the race on the float as well.

·         Cadel Evans is on track; prior to this race Cadel was having a poor year, and that he would not be a presence in the TDF. This has been shown to be very incorrect with his gutsy second place. He is still not at his best but with six weeks until the TDF he will be at his highest level on the start line in Liege.

·         Cadel and others will attack in the TDF; He showed on a couple of occasions in the Dauphiné, that he is willing to attack on the downhill. If he is willing to attack when the road goes down, then you can be sure that Samuel Sanchez and Vincenzo Nibali will also be willing. The descents could make the difference this year, with a number of tasty ones in this year’s TDF course. This is the big threat to Wiggin’s chance of winning as if Cadel improves as much as he does last year, he will not expect to lose too much time to Wiggins in the TT.

 

·        Wilco Kelderman is worthy of the hype. He has been called the new Eddy Merckx and this race has shown why. At the tender age of 21 he has managed 8^th in one of the biggest stage races in cycling against strong competition. His time trialling is excellent with 4^th in the 53 km TT here, only 1:30 behind Wiggins, who is best in the world at the moment (until Martin regains form). His TT skill and climbing will only get better as he gets older. One to watch

·         Jurgen Van Den Broeck is looking good; He has good form with 6 weeks to go. If he continues to build form he will be a threat at the TDF, only losing 2 minutes on Wiggins in the TT. He is a very strong climber and may well be able to put time into Wiggins/Evans in the Mountains of the TDF.

 

·         Brajkovic, Coppel and Rolland all seem to have decent form, any could post top 10 rides in the TDF

Riders who need to work

·         Andy Schleck is in poor form at the moment, and he will need to do a lot of work in the next 6 weeks. He was unlucky with crashes and punctures marring his Dauphiné. This will have robbed him of some “live fire” race training, making his TD preparation weaker. In addition, he has had very little chance this year to improve his TT in a race situation.

·         Vincenzo Nibali isn’t in poor form; however he needs to do some work to get into the excellent form he was showing in the first part of the season. His TT will need to improve if he is to pose a podium threat in TDF. His climbing will also need to improve, but he is on the same level/better than many of the other TDF contenders when it comes to this attribute.

·         Denis Menchov; much the same as Nibali. That said the “Silent Assassin” has a way of hiding his form all season until the TDF.  

·         Samuel Sanchez has very poor luck, he finished the race so has some valuable racing experience in his legs.  I would expect him to be in good form at the start of the TDF

Impressive Rides

Boasson-Hagen managed, alongside the colossal amount of work he did for Wiggins, to get a stage win, showcasing his expansive talent. Daniel Moreno, managed two excellent stage wins, impressive given his work rate at the Giro this year, showing that he is a strong rider in his own right. Luke Durbridge further confirmed that he is a TT beast of the future with his prologue win. Sarmiento showed good form and will be a valuable teammate for Nibali in the TDF.

Last but not least a word of (extra) praise for Wiggins. He has won both the big French stage races in 2012 and has joined an elite group of multiple Critérium du Dauphiné winners. In addition he has won the Tour de Romandie this year, giving him a very impressive record this year before the TDF has even started.