30/05/2024

Chris Harper returns from injury to lead Team Jayco AlUla at the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine

For the first time since dramatically crashing out at the Tour of the Alps after attacking on a wet and dangerous descent, Chris Harper will return to racing at the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine, leading Team Jayco AlUla's general classification hopes.

“I’m looking forward to getting back into racing at the Dauphine," the 29-year-old Australian previews in conversation with the official Team Jayco AlUla website ahead of the race getting underway on the 2nd of June. "After my crash at Tour of Alps, I had some good rest and have now been back on the bike training up in Sierra Nevada to get ready for the upcoming races. It looks like a challenging course also with a long hard TT in it so it will be a good test to see where my shape.”

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“It is a complete parcours, because they have two stages for the sprinters, one long and hard TT, three mountain stages, and two for the breakaway. It’s full of opportunities for our team," adds Team Jayco AlUla's sports director, Rafael Valls with the likes of Davide De Pretto, Miles Scotson and Rudy Porter alongside Harper. "We have some riders that can look for opportunities in the breakaway, like De Pretto, Scotson, and Porter, and then for Chris Harper we want to support him to do the best GC possible."

To support the Australian, the team has Jan Maas, Christopher Juul-Jensen and Luke Durbridge. "We have Maas and also some very experienced guys in Juul-Jensen and Durbridge that can support Harper," Valls concludes. "Harper has recovered from the crash at the Tour of the Alps, and at the training camp in Sierra Nevada he was good. The Dauphiné will be his first race since the crash, but everything is going well. It’s the last race before the Tour de France so it is an important test for him.”