"If you cannot beat that rider individually, you have to try as a team" - Why strength in depth could be BORA - hansgrohe's biggest strength

Ahead of the 2024 Tour de France, teams from across the peloton are set to be fine-tuning their lineups and testing things out at the Criterium du Dauphine next week. With arguably the strongest team at the week-long stage race, BORA - hansgrohe are aiming for victory.

Although the much anticipated return from injury of Primoz Roglic understandably makes most of the headlines, it is the strength in numbers that BORA - hansgrohe bring to the Criterium du Dauphine that is getting experienced Belgian cycling expert, Jose De Cauwer most excited, as he explains in a pre-Dauphine preview for Sporza.

"I have actually been waiting for years for a team that will play with several leaders," De Cauwer begins, referencing the leadership trio of the aforementioned Primoz Roglic, who'll be joined at the start line by former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley and recent Tour de Romandie runner-up, Aleksandr Vlasov in a three-pronged Maillot Jaune attack.

"The trick is to beat the best rider. If you cannot beat that rider individually, you have to try as a team," De Cauwer explains excitedly. "But playing with different leaders also entails a danger. Vlasov or Hindley can wear the leader's jersey for a whole week in the Dauphiné and then lose it in the final weekend. Simply because they turned out not to be good enough. Then the other leader, in this case Roglic, was not able to ride his own race."

Up against a very strong list of challengers including Remco Evenepoel, Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, Juan Ayuso, Carlos Rodriguez, David Gaudu and more, the Dauphine looks set to be a very exciting pre-Tour de France throwdown, despite the absence of both Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Pogacar is of course, resting after his Giro d'Italia success, whilst Vingegaard is facing a race against time to be fit for the Tour after his crash at the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year.