Criterium du Dauphine 2024 – Stage 6 Preview

It is time for the first mountains of this edition. Here are the most important crashes: Evenepoel, Roglic, Ayuso, Rodriguez, Gaudu, Buitrago, Landa and Hindley. I used VeloFacts picture as reference.

Route

Col du Granier and Le Collet d’Allevard. It will be a GC day.

A day where east is the direction.

Col du Granier

It won’t make much of a difference but it will thin out the bunch a bit. Maybe we will already get the first signs of weakness or consequences of injuries following the crashes today.

Le Collet d’Allevard

Last used back in 2011 with Joaquim Rodriquez winning ahead of Gesink and Van den Broeck. I can’t remember where I read it, but I think the time was somewhere near 32 minutes for him that day – on a tougher day overall. So it isn’t the longest effort. A fairly regular. The last 7 km are the toughest at 8.9%.

Weather

A lovely tailwind will see them finish quite early. Up to 2 mm on Le Collet d’Allevard.

Contenders

Evenepoel – Is he still trying to undermine his own chances? “Overall, I think I am ok, but I will know more tomorrow morning before the start of stage six.” I’m not sure how to read the new-Remco. He should start as one of the favorites, especially for a short and steep climb such as this. The question is then, is he truely so far away from his best that he is trying to play the underdog? I can’t tell. I think he will do well tomorrow, it is only one tough effort.

Roglic – looks like he escaped a tough crash again. Twice on the deck in five stages. It is not his first rodeo, let me tell you that. He started as the pre-race favorite for me, and his time trial was very good. If I understand the team statement correctly, he should be fully fit for tomorrow.

Ayuso – from his picture on Instagram, he had some blood on his glove. He should be capable of a very good result tomorrow, he excels at a 30-minute effort. His time trial wasn’t the best, and after UAE openly wrote he is a domestique for the Tour de France, I still think he is a level beneath Evenepoel and Roglic.

C. Rodriguez – looks like it is minor injuries and that small advantage could mean the world of difference tomorrow. I think INEOS are willing to test the other captains and see how far Carlos can go. On his best days, he is fantastic.

Jorgensen – he didn’t go down either. It isn’t a climb that suits him too much, I think he will struggle to follow the best. A top-10.

Tao G – is okay after today. Is he finally hitting some form? The time trial was the first positive sign in a long while. I think he enjoys a much tougher stage overall, he will cling on and hope for larger time gaps on Saturday.

Buitrago – he was not involved in the crash. Buitrago is an excellent climber, especially on steeper gradients such as tomorrow. 16th against the clock? Now that is some form he is carrying. I think he will get a very strong result tomorrow.

Vlasov – he didn’t go down. You never know if Bora-Hansgrohe decide to shake things up with an early move from Vlasov. It seems the team is fully supportive of Roglic but if he isn’t feeling well, a door opens for him.

Who will win?

A stage win for Roglic.

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