Mikel Landa leads Bahrain - Victorious for the Critérium du Dauphiné with Jack Haig straight back in action after disappointing Giro d'Italia

On Sunday the 2023 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné will get underway. Leading the Bahrain - Victorious line-up will be the in-form Spaniard, Mikel Landa who'll hold hopes of GC success.

“Traditionally, this is the French build-up race before the Tour, which also means a lot of hard racing with riders fighting for their place for Tour selection. For us, we’ve got a few guys from the Giro and others coming back to racing," explains the team's Sports Director Neil Stephens to their official website. "Landa will be the leader and be supported by Jack, who will be looking to come into the race strong after the Giro."

Alongside Landa will be a strong team including Jack Haig who'll be looking to bounce back after a disappointing Giro d'Italia, Edoardo Zambanini, Fred Wright, Kamil Gradek, Matevz Govekar and Hermann Pernsteiner.

"Looking at the stages, there are no real ‘sprint’ stages which will suit our guys. While it may not be ideal that we don’t have a pure sprinter for the early stages, it will also give opportunities for someone like Fred and Govekar before the big mountain stages later in the week," continues Stephens. "So we will look to race hard, fine-tune for the Tour and rank as high as possible in the GC.”

Bahrain - Victorious for the Critérium du Dauphiné:

Mikel Landa, Jack Haig, Edoardo Zambanini, Fred Wright, Kamil Gradek, Matevz Govekar and Hermann Pernsteiner.