• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Critérium du Dauphiné 2022, June 5 - 12

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Bora Duphine team are on a training camp in Austria

FUGy-wFWIAIKCxz
 
Froome is back!

"On a day that saw his teammates Jakob Fuglsang and Michael Woods celebrate a one-two finish at the Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes, there was further reason for cheer at Israel-Premier Tech at the mountainous one-day race.

With an 11th place finish on Tuesday, Chris Froome scored his best result since the summer of 2019, a momentous step in the long recovery from his career-threatening crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné that same year."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
As far as I can remember, regardless of any TV rights, Dauphine has always been above TdS. IMHO.
That was not at all my recollection from the 80s and 90s: Suisse seemed to really be in its own categorary given it was in the neighbor of ten stages, so 1/2 a GT, and thus above the week-long stage races. Of course, every single bit of knowledge I had about racing came from Winning and Velonews magazines, so I can only reflect what I saw through their reporting.
 
That was not at all my recollection from the 80s and 90s: Suisse seemed to really be in its own categorary given it was in the neighbor of ten stages, so 1/2 a GT, and thus above the week-long stage races. Of course, every single bit of knowledge I had about racing came from Winning and Velonews magazines, so I can only reflect what I saw through their reporting.
The Colombians used to ride the Dauphine it seems, hence why it was the bigger race over there of course.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gunara and Sciatic
How was the route for TdS back in those days? The last 10-15 years it has really been underwhelming. They neither use the potential for steeper and shorter climbs in some parts of the country, nor the combos/sequences of high climbs in other parts. It has been far too many mono climb stages with an underwhelming MTF in these years.

Overall the Dauphine design hasn´t changed. Except for the modern trends. Slightly shorter stages. Shorter TT. Still heavy on high mountain stages.
TDS offered more variety. More medium mountain stages and hills. Some TT heavy routes. Overall less high mountain stages.
Watching both races in the early 2000s it felt like the Dauphine was the prep for USP and Armstrong. TDS for Telekom/T-Mobile and Ullrich. Would argue that the TDS lost importance as a prep race for the Tour. Dauphine established itself as the main prep race. Instead of USP we got the Sky/Ineos train. Now Jumbo.
 
Overall the Dauphine design hasn´t changed. Except for the modern trends. Slightly shorter stages. Shorter TT. Still heavy on high mountain stages.
TDS offered more variety. More medium mountain stages and hills. Some TT heavy routes. Overall less high mountain stages.
Watching both races in the early 2000s it felt like the Dauphine was the prep for USP and Armstrong. TDS for Telekom/T-Mobile and Ullrich. Would argue that the TDS lost importance as a prep race for the Tour. Dauphine established itself as the main prep race. Instead of USP we got the Sky/Ineos train. Now Jumbo.
The design for CD has been good the later years. Somewhat lesser reliance on the highest mountains and good stages for attacking early. This year both the route and start list seems worse than earlier. Except for Jumbo, the main GC riders are Mas, Haig and O'Connor. That's not very impressive.

TdS seems equally good or better this year. But it is still so mediocre when it comes to race design. The typical mountain stage is a MTF to Arosa, Leukerbad, Crans Montana or Verbier. And when they use the last two they are never connected to easily connectable climbs in the vicinity. The only times they create fairly good mountain stages are when they use the climbs surrounding Andermatt/Meiringen (Grimsel, Susten, Furka, Nufenen and Gotthard).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan
Lance also had the advantage to be allowed to prepare at Dauphine calmly, and safely. No rider dared to get too close to him in the race.

Sadly, Primoz and JV are less respected. Rival riders know about Primoz‘ lack of bike handling skills, and could try to make him crash, once more.

JV start with an impressive line-up at the Dauphine, but I fear that some bad luck, some accident, some drama will happen to them again. Just like it happened in so many races in recent past.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: Sandisfan
As far as I can remember, regardless of any TV rights, Dauphine has always been above TdS. IMHO.

1991-2010 saw the dominance of dauphine over TDS grow because of clinic reasons imo (glow time). There was also a coinciding huge drop-off in TDF contenders competing at their national championships a week before the start. TDS ends a week closer to the TDF start. I believe that was a calculation for many riders.

Previous to that, Dauphine was always important, but in 1974 when Merckx won the Giro, the TDS, and the TDF, he was heralded as the first (and still only) rider to win three (big) TOURS in the same year. While not a GT the TDS was indeed thought of as a little more special (perhaps as it covered 10 days or so?) than weekly stage races.
 

TRENDING THREADS