Featured image courtesy of Bettiniphoto
Another edition of the Dauphiné is complete, which can mean only one thing and one thing alone – the Tour de France is nearby. But before the Grand Depart in Brittany, and while another huge pre-Tour race rolls on in Switzerland, what were the main talking points from the 2021 Dauphine. To sum it up overall it was perhaps one of the most exciting races we’ve seen this season to date.
The Dauphiné is and always will be the starter before the main course, but most importantly after seeing a reduced edition last year because of the pandemic, it was really good to see the race return to its eight-day format. Short stages in the Massif Central to start before a flat stage for the brave sprinters who arrived with full knowledge that the terrain wasn’t going to suit a pure bunch finish. To see the Dauphiné once again build up nicely via a time trial towards the high Alps, it was the Dauphiné every cycling has missed for two years.
And what did we see for the first two stages? Something beyond the extraordinary. By opening the race in the Massif Central you are always likely to see a daredevil climb and descend summits to try and fend off the peloton. Rolling roads allowed exactly that with Lotto Soudal’s Brent Van Moer taking Stage 1 in Issoire and with it the first leader’s jersey. A former silver medallist in the U23 Road World Championships, Van Moer has also held the honour of U23 Belgian Time Trial champion and just last year made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta albeit a reduced one. A first professional win and his biggest to date, what an honour to see the young man surprising us all.
If Brent Van Moer’s stage win was special then full respect must go to Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lukas Pöstlberger. Anything the Belgian can do I can do better was the exact vibe you got from Pöstlberger’s victory. A solo artist in action to deny the chasing pack, the Austrian did it before at the 2017 Giro d’Italia and managed it once again at the Dauphiné. A change in the leader’s jersey. Two days won by a solo breakaway back-to-back. The fast men who can get over climbs left frustrated.
For both stages one and two, there was nothing but sympathy for second-placed rider Sonny Colbrelli, a rider who can sprint as well as climb. After being left frustrated twice it was no surprise that all the frustration was finally released and turned into delight on Stage 3. A drag to Saint-Haon-le-Viaux had all the necessary ingredients for a bunch sprint where even Fabio Jakobsen had a go, his first real encounter with a spring after his horrendous crash in Poland last year. To see the Dutchman back sprinting again was a delight to see but the day belonged to Colbrelli, the Italian resplendent in the green jersey which he would go on to win overall.
Time trials can sometimes be a boring affair. Current professional rider, the Breton climber Warren Barguil once spoke of time trials as an “important part of cycling but for me it should not decide who’s the winner at the end”. He’s not entirely wrong that some rely too much on the TT’s but with two at the Tour and what we saw between Pog and Rog last year, some might beg to differ. What can be said though is the unpredictability of a 16.4 km time trial to mark Stage 4 of the Dauphine.
With no race against the clock at last year’s edition, between Firminy and Roche-la-Molière, you had a course designed for not just the specialists but also the GC contenders. Hardly any straight roads, lots of bends, descents and then an uphill rise at the finish. Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko took the stage honours but emptying himself out on the road to keep hold of yellow by one second commands respect. Keeping the race lead for one more day before the difficult tests to come, Lukas Pöstlberger for Bora-Hansgrohe in yellow and Lutsenko one second behind, it had all the ingredients for a showdown in the mountains.
But before the Alps came a shock, a surprise, something you don’t see every day. Many GC contenders preparing to challenge at the Tour would’ve been left disappointed after the previous day’s TT, one of them being Geraint Thomas. The big expectation is for the 2018 Tour champion to win yellow once again come Paris with the INEOS Grenadiers looking for a bounce back after Egan Bernal’s miserable title defence last year. Stage 5 of the Dauphiné was another rolling stage concluding on the flat to suit a fast man, although nobody expected Thomas to attack and win the stage by a whisker. His reaction at the line, one of thinking that Sonny Colbrelli had nicked it from him, was understandable but at the same time entertaining to watch. Bike racing is unpredictable, Stage 5 was a perfect example.
Into the Dauphiné region itself we saw a very rare beast. The Movistar team are always the butt of many jokes nowadays but there was no joking about when they went full gas on Stage 6 to Le-Sappey-en-Chartreuse. The team worked together to help Alejandro Valverde deliver a stage win after Tao Geoghegan Hart made a late attack inside the final 800 metres. 2008 was the last time Valverde had won a stage at the Dauphiné, which is extraordinary considering that back then the Spaniard was 28-years-of-age. Now 41 and still looking fresh as ever, his victory just spiced things up a bit going into the final two days with Movistar willing to take the race to INEOS, Astana (who now had Lutsenko in yellow) and Bora-Hansgrohe.
La Plagne served up the first of two difficult Alpine tests, a summit finish that hasn’t featured at the Tour since 2002. There aren’t many Ukrainian names in the pro peloton but there is Bahrain-Victorious rider Mark Padun. A stage success on top of the mountain, it will be memory he’ll always cherish and an unexpected one at that.
The GC contenders wrote a script for themselves with the lead part going to Richie Porte. Alexey Lutsenko battled hard but, in the end, yellow had to be conceded to an Australian climber who finished third overall at the Tour just last year and even has unfortunate memories at the Dauphiné. It was 2017 when Porte last held the leader’s jersey going into the final stage, only for it to be cruelly snatched from him by Jakob Fuglsang. Riding for BMC at the time, nobody was prepared to help Richie Porte.
Four years on with INEOS Grenadiers as his team, the resources at your disposal are next to none stronger than the rest. A concluding stage to Les Gets after climbing the super difficult Col de Joux Plane led to another victory for Padun, albeit from a breakaway this time, and Porte left untroubled to secure his first-ever win at the Dauphiné. Phil Anderson in 1985 was the last Australian to win the race overall, Porte emulating his achievement heroically.
Porte finishing atop the podium, Astana’s Kazakh champion Alexey Lutsenko second and Geraint Thomas in third – that’s how the top three on GC finished, but what else can be taken away from the 73rd Critérium du Dauphiné?
The INEOS Grenadiers will be the team to beat after being victorious already at Catalunya, Romandie, the Giro and now a seventh Dauphiné title. Richie Porte himself has said he’s under no illusions as to what is task is going into the Tour, being a huge card to play your rivals will be one description. Last year’s Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart has also looked very strong but you can also conclude that Astana with Lutsenko, Movistar with Valverde and co, Bora supporting Wilco Kelderman, AG2R seeing Ben O’Connor in good shape and Padun’s double triumph in the Alps for Bahrain-Victorious – all of these team will be encouraged by what they’ve seen.
UAE-Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma might want to reflect on the performances of both Brandon McNulty and Steven Kruijswijk after both were seen struggling at times on the climbs, but waiting for the Tour to showcase the Pog and the Rog will mean vast improvements will be likely. You can also argue that Sonny Colbrelli taking home the green jersey could mean a possible tilt at winning the same colour at the Tour. It isn’t an impossible feat for Colbrelli to go for. The Dauphiné is over for another year as the Tour de France comes ever closer. Another week of fascinating bike racing concludes as the next three-week Grand Tour slowly begins to creep on every excited cycling fan.