Preview - Critérium du Dauphiné 2022 stage 5

Fifth day of racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné and it is once again a hard one to manage. A day for the sprinters on paper but with some complicated points in which they can be severely damaged. The first third of the stage features some hilltops where the breakaway is likely to form itself, but luckily for some it won’t get harder in the last two thirds.

The second third of the stage is rather simple with no feature to mention. The final section of the stage however will have the riders racing in rolling roads which will likely be the stage for some attacks.

24.5Km (2.6Km; 4.2%) and 13.5Km (1.8Km; 5.6%) see two categorized ascents where attacks are likely to come in a bid to take the stage win. The gradients won’t be too hard for those who can climb, but the terrain afterwards also isn’t easy to get an organized and powerful chase on.

As for the finale it’s quite simple if the peloton arrives to battle for it. Normal width roads, no real technical aspects and no uphill gradients that could benefit some.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:

**** Wout van Aert

*** Ethan Hayter, Jasper Stuyven

** Dylan Groenewegen, Juan Sebastián Molano, Clément Venturini

* Luca Mozzato, Hugo Page, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Jordi Meeus