
Sandwiched between the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, the Critérium du Dauphiné has as ever, drawn a star-studded list of riders to the startlist. The question we ask you today however, is when all is said and done, who will be wearing the Maillot Jaune?
Both Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic will make their return to racing after suffering injuries and a trip to the hospital, as they crashed out of the Itzulia Basque Country earlier this year. Evenepoel, supported by the likes of Mikel Landa has announced pre-race that he isn't too concerned with the general classification and instead is using the Dauphine as pre-Tour de France tester to see where his level is at in his first race back from the crash.
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Roglic and BORA - hansgrohe meanwhile, bring with them a very strong team with former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley and the recent Tour de Romandie runner-up Aleksandr Vlasov, offering Roglic either considerable strength in his mountain support, or a viable plan-B/plan-C that can step up should Roglic still be off the pace after a lengthy layoff.
Juan Ayuso leads the charge for UAE Team Emirates as the team test themselves ahead of their crucial role in supporting Tadej Pogacar at the upcoming Tour de France. INEOS Grenadiers will be led by a star of last year's Tour, Carlos Rodriguez. Although Team Visma | Lease a Bike don't have defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to call upon following the Dane was left one of the worst affected by the Itzulia Basque Country crash. Nevertheless, in the duo of Vuelta a Espana champion Sepp Kuss and Paris-Nice winner Matteo Jorgenson, Team Visma | Lease a Bike come to the Dauphine with more than capable general classification challengers.
The likes of Antonio Tiberi, Jack Haig and Santiago Buitrago are threats for Bahrain - Victorious, Tao Geoghegan Hart for Lidl-Trek, David Gaudu leads Groupama - FDJ with riders such as Cristian Rodriguez, Guillaume Martin and Ivan Sosa acting as dark horses.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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DareDevil31-05-20246
Piece of cake for Primoz
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- He was a child two years ago
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughie
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - Let Torito have a shot at it
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del Belvedere
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
- Good Point, I wonder if he's been testedmhfrvz03-11-2026
- A busy boy!Lozza03-11-2026
- I hope 2027 is his year.mij03-11-2026
- why does he have to? many GT riders from Froome to Contador to Indurain didn't do them.mij03-11-2026
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