Perhaps the most important race leading up to the Tour de France, the Critérium du Dauphiné is one of the main World Tour stage-races and it is frequently the last building step towards the Grand Boucle. It has it's start on the 5th of June and will take the riders through eight stages in the Massif Central, the Rhône valley and the Alps.
There should be four opportunities for bunch sprints, however several of them being hilly days in which breakaways or late attacks will also have the chance to succeed. In stages one, two, five and six. Stage three will see a hilly summit finish in Sancy with 6.1Km at 5.5% and stage four sees a 32-kilometer individual time-trial which is set to create big differences in the overall classification and directly affect the final outcome.
The third stage into Sancy will be the race's first summit finish. Not a brutal day, but one where the climbers will certainly come to the front, and where some puncheurs may also stand a chance. The summit finish in the Sancy ski resort is 6.1 kilometers long at 5.5% average gradient - however it mellows in the final kilometer.
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The final decision will come in the closing weekend, in which two Alpine stages will set the stage for the fireworks. Stage seven sees the peloton go over the Col du Galibier and the Col de la Croix de Fer in a short explosive stage that finishes in Vaujany. As for the final day of racing it includes a lot of climbing and wraps up the race atop the Plateau de Solaison - 11.4Km at 8.9% - which will see the final differences in the race.
The final startlist includes climbers such as: Tao Geoghegan Hart, Eddie Dunbar, Wilco Kelderman, Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig, Enric Mas, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Ben O'Connor, David Gaudu, Michael Storer, Valentin Madouas, Chris Froome, Tobias Johannessen, Anthon Charmig, Brandon McNulty, Juan Ayuso, Mark Padun, Esteban Chaves, Jan Hirt and Louis Meintjes.
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Furthermore, several stages will fall for the sprinters, in which the following should be able to fight for the wins: Ethan Hayter, Jordi Meeus, Phil Bauhaus, Wout van Aert, Cristophe Laporte, Greg van Avermaet, Clément Venturini, Dylan Groenewegen, Juan Sebastián Molano, Jasper Stuyven.
Additionally, besides some of the riders mentioned above, these will be contesting the time-trial or other stage wins: Filippo Ganna, Michal Kwiatkowski, Nils Politt, Tiesj Benoot, Andrea Bagioli, Samuele Battistella. and Warren Barguil.
CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Primoz Roglic
*** Jonas Vingegaard, Ben O'Connor
** Damiano Caruso, Brandon McNulty, Jack Haig
* Enric Mas, Juan Ayuso, Tobias Johannessen, Tao Geoghegan Hart
Stage 1: La Voulte-sur-Rhône - Beauchastel, 191Km
Stage 2: Saint-Péray - Brives-Charensac, 169Km
Stage 3: Saint-Paulien - Chastreix-Sancy, 164Km
Stage 4: Montbrison - La Bâtie d'Urfé, 32Km
Stage 5: Thizy-les-Bourgs - Chaintré, 162Km
Stage 6: Rives - Gap, 196Km
Stage 7: Saint-Chaffrey - Vaujany, 134Km
Stage 8: Saint-Alban-Leysse - Plateau de Solaison, 139Km
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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