Criterium du Dauphine 2024 – Stage 8 Preview
The last stage. We almost saw the breakaway win, I thought four minutes was enough for Marc Soler. The climb was fantastic and I’m sure it will be used again in the future.
Route
Another mountain stage. However, the finale isn’t as hard as the previous two stages.
Starting near Annecy, a place I spent a few of my earliest summers as a child. Then they make it almost all the way to Switzerland before turning back once more.
Climbs
This is the section where the breakaway will form. There are a few climbs, the first one being the toughest, where a strong breakaway could form. And as the winner will be a climber, this is good news for the breakaway.
Le Salève is the penultimate climb. It ends 57 km from the line. This is the fuga de la fuga section.
Here is the last climb. It is the first 7 km that are the toughest, 9.2% as you can see. With 2600m left, the reach the top and from there the average gradient is 2.7%.
Weather
Expect rain and potential thunder too as they get deeper into the stage. It will be very poor weather tomorrow in this area of France.
How will the stage unfold?
The GC is over. The podium looks very locked too. Who would have thought a few days ago that Roglic, Jorgensen and Gee would end on the podium? Not me!
We could see a battle commence for second place later on but it will solely happen on the last climb. I think we may see LIDL-Trek take some control with Bora-Hansgrohe, as Ciccone really could use a stage win. The tough thing will be controlling the stage, almost everyone outside the top-10 should have the green light.
As I wrote a few days ago, with the GC settled, we should see the breakaway take a win.
Contenders
Landa – #FreeLanda. No need to ride for Evenepoel in this state. I think he stands a better chance in the breakaway.
Buitrago – climbed well today. He still sits 12th and more than four minutes down in the GC. I think he will be one of the favorites tomorrow. The last climb is also more to his liking, it isn’t the longest in the world.
Soler – the gearing looked wrong. He was on his smallest gear very early and it didn’t seem to work for him. He will enjoy the rain and another breakaway.
Gregoire – he will give it another try tomorrow. This is likely on the difficult side for him, but he strikes me as a upcoming master in the fuga de la fuga. And the last climb should be doable for him.
Muhlberger – he did well in Mercan Tour so the form is very good. But he did crash badly the other day, so he likely won’t be 100%.
Teuns – he is likely in full support of D. Gee but a few years ago, he would have been the prime candidate for the breakaway. The steep climbs combined with rain, it is his speciality.
Roglic – likely wins the sprint behind.
Ciccone – the Italian is quick on the line.
Jorgensen – he has really improved his sprint.
Who will win?
I will take a win for Santiago Buitrago. He shouldn’t mind the rain, just think back to his 4th in La Fleche Wallone