Male Team 04 - 11 Jun
Critérium du Dauphiné
1210 Kilometers 8 Stages
There will be live pictures on Eurosport / GCN. The broadcast will start just after 3pm CEST on stages one to six, then around 1pm for the final weekend.
There will be 10-6-4″ at the finish of all seven road stages, plus 3-2-1″ at the intermediate sprints.
Eusebio Unzué’s squad have five overall victories to their name in the Dauphiné: two with Miguel Indurain (1995, 1996), another two with Alejandro Valverde (2008, 2009) and one with Armand de las Cuevas (1998).
Enric Mas and a portion of the Movistar Team roster at the upcoming Tour de France are back into activity at the 75th Critérium du Dauphiné, a race which, as traditional prelude to the ‘Grande Boucle’, will feature some of its characteristic ingredientes: an individual time trial and plenty of mountain stages in the Alps.
The routes will already be lumpy on the Sunday 4th opener around Chambon-sur-Lac, over three laps of a circuit over the Côte de Rocher de l’Aigle. Following two likely sprints will come the ITT (Wednesday 7th), a medium-length effort (31km) on up-and-down roads to Belmont-sur-Loire. On Thursday 8th, the favourites will have to pay full attention, as the Côte de Thésy (Cat-2; 3.6km at 8.8%) comes just 15km before Salins-les-Bains’ finish.
The final weekend will bring the decisive stages. Friday 9th will see the riders take on the Col des Aravis (Cat-2) and two tough final hills in Crest-Voland; on Saturday 10th, a true Queen stage awaits with the Madeleine (HC), Mollard (HC) and a 2,100m finish atop the Croix de Fer (Cat-1). Finally, on Sunday 11th, 152km with no less than six rated ascents: Pinet (Cat-2), Mouilles (Cat-2), Granier (HC), Cucheron (Cat-1), Porte (Cat-1) and a brutal finish up La Bastille (1.8km at 14.2%).