Critérium du Dauphiné 2022 Preview and Velogames Walkthrough

 Critérium du Dauphiné 2022

This preparation to the Tour de France consists of 8 stages. With the individual time trial on the fourth day and the last two stage decisive for the final win. Team Jumbo Visma came here with their big armada but can anyone stop them?

Stage 1

The opening stage consists one category 2 climb and three category 3 climbs along a 191.8 km route. The last categorised climb situated at little bit more than 40 km from the finish could be the perfect set up to get rid of the big sprinters. 

Stage 2

 

After a rather flat opening 10 kms, the peloton will continuously climb and descend through the whole day. 

Stage 3

As the day goes by, it seems that the profile get harder and harder. This one finishes at Chastreix Sancy after 169 km and most important a 6.2km climb at an average of 5.6 %. 

Stage 4

 

This is 32 km time trial is the perfect preparation for the 40 km one, scheduled for the tour de France. The race can already be lost by some here. 

Stage 5 

This 162.3km well designed parcours might represent the last chance of victory for the sprinters. For that, their teams will need to work hard all day to keep the break-away in their line of vision. 

Stage 6

As the peloton heads to Gap, we will be served with 196 km of undulating terrain. It might be the last chance of victory for puncheurs. 

Stage 7

We have two of the legends of the tour here with the Col du Galibier and the Col de la Croix Fer. As if enough damage could not be done on those climbs, the finish ends after a 5.7 km climb at 7.2% average in VAUJANY.

Stage 8

As we enter Haute Savoie via the Col de Plainpalais, some of the riders might already be on their knees. After dealing with the Col de la Colombiere, only a true champion can win at the summit finish at plateau de Solaison.

The Riders of Dauphiné 2022

    

There are almost no pure sprinters planned to start this race and rightly so. With two big mountain stages and a long time trial, there are only 5 stages left for other riders. While some will try their luck from the break-aways, the likes of Wout Van Aert, Dylan Theuns and Baglioli will have their team ride hard to filter out the peloton. The role of Christophe Laporte will be an interestingly one to follow. 

Ineos Grenadiers is sending their climbers to the Tour De Suisse and they came here with Fillipo Ganna, the favorite for the time trial and Ethan Hayter. The latter has an interesting Wout van Aert profile and we will see a great battle between the two. Other riders to follow for a stage win in the opening stages are: Samuelle Battistella, Jasper Stuyven, Tobias Johannessen. Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus are also present and if they manage to last till the finish, they will be the one to beat. 

There is a whole bunch of climbers present for the mountains, Tao Georghegan Hart seems to be on an ascending form recently, as is Chris Froome. But it is hard to see them competing with the elite. Fresh from the giro are Wilco Keldermann and the very impressive Jan Hirt. 

Team Movistar will be relying on Enric Mas while Team UAE has brought out Brandon McNulty and the impressive Juan Ayuso. 

Even though it seems impossible, team Bahrain Victorious will try to upset them with Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso while David Gaudu will shoulder the French Hope. We do not talk about him enough but Ben O’connor is a big contender who has only been growing stronger and stronger. Unlike many of the climbers, he actually can produce good time-trial performances. 

We can count on Frank Bonnamour, Pierre Rolland and of course Warren Barguil to animate the race. Last year’s surprise was Mark Padun, who has been relatively discreet, but if he can produce only half of what he did last year, Jonathan Vaughters will be a happy man. At 36, Simon Geschke has become another man. Always good at time trial, he has recently been seen climbing like a goat.

Finally and most importantly, team Jumbo Visma came with a very impressive team to support their leader. However, we are left with two questions: 

            1. Between Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte, who is their man sprinter? It is highly possible that they will alter role.

          2. Will Primoz Roglič ride for the win or will be here to assist Jonas Vingegaard?

My Predictions (total of 5 stars to be distributed)

★★★☆☆ Primoz Roglič : The only two reasons not seeing winning is the team Jonas Vingegaard and the state of that painful knee.

★★☆☆☆Jonas Vingegaard : Anything was to happen to Roglič, last year’s tour de France revelation will be up to the task. 

Velogames Guide

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) : 24 – The big favorite. Excluding the mountain stages and the time trial, he can have some placings in the other stages. 

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) : 18 – His team will control the race. The only uncertainty is whether he will alternate the role of the main sprinter with Christophe Laporte. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) :18 – Tricky investment considering the 30+ km time trial. 

Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) : 16 – Also a good time trialist, but can he beat Roglič?

 
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) : 16 – The French hope is a heavy weight to shoulder, but he could win a stage at best.

Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën Team) : 14 – A podium contender. 

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) : 14 – Most probably riding as support to Jack Haig. 

Wilco Kelderman (BORA-Hansgrohe) : 14 – Less than a week after a tiring giro, he will be starting an 8 day sprint race. 

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) : 14 – Big hopes were placed on him last year in the dauphine, only to be completely anonymous. If not, he will be at least on the podium. 

Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Victorious) : 12 – A fair climber with a good sprint; he will play with Wout Van Aert. 

Patrick Konrad (BORA-Hansgrohe) : 12 – He will be one of his team leader. 

Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) : 12 – He will give Wout Van Aert a run for his money on all terrain including the time trial. 

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) : 12 – At 19, he is already showing it is not all about Pogačar. An excellent climber and he can also compete with best time trialist. 

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) : 12 – Although he excels at time trial, it is hard to see him beating the best climbers. 

Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels-KTM) : 10 – Last year’s revelation, we will definitely see him among the best. 

Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) : 10 – He will try to win a stage. 

Mark Padun (EF Education-EasyPost) : 10 – Back to the land of his exploit, he has been relatively absent since, except for a time trial win where the opposing field were not the same as he will here. 

Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) : 10 – One of the French team leader. 

Tao Geoghegan (Hart-INEOS Grenadiers) : 10 – He has never been able to reproduce his performance of the giro 2020, and not likely to happen now. 

Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) : 10 – Fresh from his Giro Exploit, he will try at least to get a stage win here. 

Warren Barguil (Team Arkéa Samsic) : 10 – Except for the time trial, he has a chance of winning any of the other stages. 

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) : 10 – After a very very very impressive display at the tour of Norway against the like of Remco, he will definitely be fighting with the best puncheurs. 

Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan Team) : 8 – A good puncheur. 

Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) : 8 – Opportunities will be scarce. 

Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) : 8 – We have not seen him since Paris-Roubaix. Prior to that, everybody was talking about how he has improved his climbing. 

Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) : 8 – Still NO. 

Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) : 8 – At half WVA price, he could prove to be cheeky choice. 

Andrea Bagioli (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) : 8 – Another one of those sprinters who can get over climbs easily. 

Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) : 8 – He will have his whole team support, but we have not seen him produce a decent sprint for a while. 

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) : 6 – He could turn out to be a good bargain. 

Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) : 6 – Stage 3 is perfectly suited to him. But, is he the same rider who won at the Mûr-de-Bretagne? 

Antonio Tiberi (Trek-Segafredo) : 6 – At 20, the former ITT junior champion took an impressive victory at a top finish in Hungary. 

Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal) : 4 – A break away expert guy.