Actually, everything is as usual. The Critérium du Dauphiné takes place a few weeks before the Tour de France and one of the big contenders for overall victory in the Tour de France wins the preparatory tour consisting of eight stages. This year, however, there is a catch. Three of the top favourites and therefore the entire podium of the overall classification of the Tour de France 2024 are on the start list for this year's Critérium du Dauphiné. That's never happened before. So can we expect a spectacle even before the Tour, or are the favourites not yet laying their cards on the table? Either way, it will be exciting.
The TOUR favourites by stars
***** Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard
**** Remco Evenepoel
*** Enric Mas, Carlos Rodríguez
** Lenny Martinez, Florian Lipowitz
* Mattias Skjelmose, Max Poole
* The more stars a driver receives, the higher his chances are. Not all teams have announced their line-ups at the time of publication of this article. There may therefore still be changes.
The favourites in the TOUR-Check
***** Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
He is the winner of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France 2024 and seems to be unbeatable at the moment. Tadej Pogačar felt like he could do whatever he wanted last year and was stronger than ever. With numerous stage wins in the two three-week tours, he showed almost no weaknesses. The Slovenian also proved to be the biggest rival to specialists such as Mathieu van der Poel in the one-day races this spring, winning the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, the Flèche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in four major classics. However, as Pogačar himself admits, this spring has taken its toll, which is why he cannot manage such a race calendar every year. This could also be one of his few weaknesses. In all likelihood, there will be a duel with Jonas Vingegaard, which could be decided on the seventh stage.
***** Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
Jonas Vingegaard is the big question mark. Last year, he was unable to keep up with Pogačar after his crash before the important races of the year. This year, however, the Dane has had enough time to recover and rebuild his form after his crash at Paris-Nice. As is so often the case, Team Visma | Lease a Bike is not letting anyone look at its cards. Recordings of his training in the Sierra Nevada have not been made public and the race contender is also very reserved on social media. We will therefore only see how fit Vingegaard really is at the Critérium. Especially on the long and steep climbs, the co-favourite still seemed to be a little ahead of Pogačar, which could play a role on stage 7.
**** Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)
Remco Evenepoel also had to battle with the consequences of a crash. The Belgian has been racing again since April and immediately set an example with his victory at the Brabant Arrow. Shortly afterwards, he showed an incredible chase to catch up with Tadej Pogačar at the Amstel Gold Race and ultimately helped Mattias Skjelmose to victory. After these first performances, hopes were high for an incredibly strong Evenepoel. At the Tour de Romandie, however, the young rider was unable to keep up in the mountains and even set the pace for a team-mate. The time trial should suit Evenepoel very well. A small question mark therefore remains for the Belgian as well as Vingegaard.
*** Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers)
The experienced Spaniard Enric Mas is always a force to be reckoned with. He has already finished second overall at the Vuelta a España three times. This year, he also took second place in the Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished ahead of a strong Schachmann and Lipowitz, among others.
The young Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez, on the other hand, has yet to impress on the big stage this year. However, thanks to his strong results last year, the Spaniard is still good for a surprise.
** Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA -hansgrohe)
At the Tour de Romandie, 21-year-old Lenny Martinez was able to show his full potential for the first time this year. Behind João Almeida, the Frenchman took a strong second place, relegating Jay Vine, Remco Evenepoel and Carlos Rodríguez, among others, to places behind him in the overall classification. This performance gives hope for more and perhaps even a big surprise.
From a German perspective, there is also another promising young rider. Florian Lipowitz is in the form of his life, having finished fourth in the Tour of the Basque Country and second in Paris-Nice.
* Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek), Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL)
After his surprise success at the Amstel Gold Race and a strong overall form, Mattias Skjelmose can keep an eye on the Poidum at the Critérium du Dauphiné, even if it will be rather difficult to cause a big surprise with the big names. Meanwhile, Max Poole rode a strong Giro and only just missed out on the top ten with his 11th place. He took a strong 3rd place in the classification for the best young rider. The still very young rider from Great Britain has a lot of potential, but it is questionable whether he will be able to fully utilise it.
Leon Weidner
Working student
