"These guys race so little, so they go all out when they race" - Johan Bruyneel fascinated by the Dauphiné battle

Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel facing off against each other... no it's not Christmas nor Tour de France time yet. But this Critérium du Dauphiné still brought about all the big stars of current peloton in what turns out to be an exciting race from the first moment.

"It is unique that they are racing against each other in preparation for the Tour," Johan Bruyneel notes in The Move podcast. He can't stop the shivers down his spine when he sees Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel all at the startlist. "Normally, one rider does the Dauphiné, another rides the Tour de Suisse, and yet another is at altitude training. The fact that the three of them are there will be interesting."

"It's the ideal preparation for the Tour," Bruyneel points out and explains why he thinks so: "It's better than Suisse because it's a week earlier. Then you have time between the Dauphiné and the Tour to head for the mountains and explore some stages. There can still be snow in the high Alps in April and May, so June is the best time to do that."

The Belgian then continues by exploring the differences to his era: "Fifteen, twenty years ago, the Dauphiné was a preparation race, and you could say: I’ll go all out for two days and take it easy on the other days. As a Tour favorite, you could still finish fifth or sixth, and there was no panic. Today, it's different. If you're not good in the Dauphiné, there is definitely panic. These guys race so little, so they go all out when they race."

And seeing the first stage, it is clear that none of the men came "just to feel the water" before the Tour. "I have the impression that they are both flying. Jonas has his best numbers, but Tadej is close to his best form ever. They will be closer than they were during last year's Tour. Of course, we want to see a big battle between Jonas and Tadej, and Remco is also better at the moment than he was last year."