Ventoux top attraction of daunting 2009 Dauphiné
- By Andrew Hood
- Published Jun. 5, 2009
- Updated Nov. 18, 2010 at 6:12 PM UTC
The 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré clicks into gear this weekend in the traditional dress rehearsal ahead of the Tour de France with a highly anticipated duel between Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans.
While many eyes will be on those two for a glimpse of bigger things to come in July, the outright battle for overall victory should be wide open, with such names as Ivan Basso, Igor Anton, Robert Gesink, ambitious French riders such as Rémy Di Gregorio and Pierre Rolland lining up in one of the most competitive fields in years.
An assault on Mont Ventoux and two decisive climbing stages across the Alps will provide a litmus test of who will have the legs to contest for the overall in June and perhaps even in July.
While the Dauphiné is often a proving ground for July success at the Tour, only two riders in the past 20 years have won the Dauphiné and then gone on to win the Tour the same year. Miguel Indurain won in 1995 before winning the last of his give straight Tours before Lance Armstrong won back-to-back Dauphine titles in 2002-03.
Instead, Tour favorites often hold back just a little to avoid going too deep, opening the door for up-and-coming riders to claim arguably Europe’s most prestigious week-long stage race.
Last year, Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) won largely thanks to his superb victory in a highly technical time trial across the Massif Central and later had no trouble fending off attacks from runner-up Evans.
Evans, who’s finished second twice in a row at the Dauphiné en route to back-to-back second places at the Tour, will be keen to win the Dauphiné outright, with hopes of keeping the streak alive in July.
Standing in his way will be a highly motivated Contador. The Astana climber hasn’t raced since winning the Vuelta al País Vasco in mid-April and will be gunning for a big result ahead of his highly anticipated return to the Tour.
Behind these two pre-race favorites will be Valverde, still unsure if he’ll be allowed to race the Tour due to his contested racing ban issued by Italian authorities for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal dating back to 2006.
Valverde’s lawyers are fighting that battle in the courtrooms, with hopes of getting an answer in time for the Tour. Because this year’s Tour briefly dips into Italy, Valverde might be forced out of the Tour, making the Dauphiné that much more important.
Fresh off winning the Volta a Catalunya last month, Valverde will be looking to make the most of the Dauphiné.
Another rider making headlines for the wrong reasons is Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who is expected to race for the first time since winning Paris-Roubaix and testing positive for cocaine for the second time in an out-of-competition test this spring.
Boonen is also unsure of his Tour status as organizers have been ambivalent about whether they want the Belgian classics specialist in their even following another embarrassing cocaine scandal.
Boonen, however, has been apologetic, promises to get help for what he describes as a problem and says the best thing for him is to get back to competition.
Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-Highroad both bring competitive squads, with a mix of riders heading out of the Giro d’Italia and others expecting to race in the Tour.
BMC snagged an important invitation to race the demanding, eight-day course across the heart of the French Alps, which might help ease some of the team’s disappointment after being overlooked for the Tour de Suisse later this month.
Big mountains
For a race where mountains always seem to take center-stage, it’s often the time trials that decide the eventual winner. That was certainly the case last year with Valverde, who won the TT and could ride defensively across the Alps.
Time trials aside, Mont Ventoux will be the top attraction of a challenging Dauphiné, set to begin Sunday and continue through June 14.
In addition to Mont Ventoux, the 1,095km course also features two hard days in the high Alps as well two individual time trials.
The 61st edition begins in Nancy – well beyond the traditional stomping ground of the race – with a 12.1km race against the clock.
The 228km second stage from Nancy to Dijon will be one for the sprinters before a long transfer south for the hilly third stage into Saint-Etienne.
There’s a long, 42.4km individual time trial in the Rhone Valley in stage four before a long run south ahead of the summit finish up Mont Ventoux in stage 5.
That’s followed by two hard days across the haute montagne, with the Col de l’Izoard in stage six to Briançon and the Galibier and Croix-de-Fer in two classics stages across the heart of the Alps.
The Sunday finale into Grenoble is always an attack-riddled, climb-rich stage to cap what’s typically one of the most intense races of the year.
BMC was the lone invitation to join the 18 ProTour teams for the race. That decision comes at the expense of French team Agritubel, which features 2007 winner Christophe Moreau and current French champion Nicolas Vogondy.
61st Dauphiné Libéré, June 7-14
Stage 1, June 7: Nancy-Nancy, 12.1km (ITT)
Stage 2, June 8: Nancy to Dijon, 228km
Stage 3, June 9: Tournus to Saint-Etienne, 182km
Stage 4, June 10: Bourge-les-Valence to Valence, 43.4km (ITT)
Stage 5, June 11: Valence to Mont Ventoux, 154km
Stage 6, June 12: Gap to Briançon, 106km
Stage 7, June 13: Briançon to Saint-Francois-Longchamp, 157km
Stage 8, June 14: Faverges to Grenoble, 146km
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FILED UNDER: News / Road TAGS: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré / doping / operation puerto
Andrew Hood
Hood cut his journalistic teeth at Colorado dailies before the web boom opened the door to European cycling in the mid-1990s. Hood's covered every Tour since 1996 and has been VeloNews' European correspondent since 2002. He lives in Leon, Spain, when he's not chasing bike races.