Criterium du Dauphine Libere has always been one of the most important races on the calendar. It serves as preparation race for the Tour de France, together with the simultanious Tour de Suisse. There have only been six winners in eleven editions, with five double winners and Moncoutie as only one-time winner. Thomas Dekker won last year's event and the first in 2007, but won't be participating this year. Neither are back-to-back winners Taaramäe (2014-2015), Spilak (2011-2012) and Gadret (2009-2010). The only former winner to take part is Taylor Phinney, who won the event in 2013 and 2016.
Profiles
Eight days in and around the Alps. The first stage is one for the sprinters despite some small hills. Then the first and longest of two time trials: 52.7 individual kilometers. Another flat rated stage follows, though with two mountains early on and an uphill finish to provide an unknown outcome. Stage four is the queen stage with 246.5 kilometers and three legendary cols: Madeleine, Croix-de-Fer and finish at the Galibier. Stage five takes us to a hilly route around Sallanches, before heading back into the high mountains with a finish at the Risoul ski resort. Another time trial on stage seven, this time slightly shorter at 33.2 kilometers. The race ends with a final mountain stage with downhill finish in Morzine, after climbing the Col du Joux Plane.
Startlist
Favourites
MO
TT
HL
Outsiders
MO
TT
HL
Pluchkin
85
79
75
Krasnoperov
80
73
68
Madrazo
85
77
76
Olivier
80
69
76
Kritskiy
84
80
75
Vinhas
80
62
70
Tenorio
84
80
76
Arndt
79
56
76
Denifl
84
72
76
Haig
78
77
74
Phinney
83
83
77
Faiers
78
75
71
Sicard
82
76
78
Chiarello
78
73
75
Abal
81
77
70
Karnulin
78
70
74
Reis
81
76
73
Nesset
78
69
73
Galta
81
73
73
Giogieri
78
66
73
Nerz
80
73
72
Chamorro
78
65
75
Schelling
80
72
75
Aru
78
64
74
Marquez
80
70
71
Goos
77
76
74
As mentioned before, Phinney is a two-time winner and looks to get himself into the history books by becoming the first three-time winner. He has a time trial advantage over the other contenders, and hopes to gain enough time on both individual efforts while minimising his loss in the mountains.
Pluchkin participates due to a wildcard for his team Popo4Ever, but can't score points towards the rankings. That doesn't mean he won't try to win the race though, as he is arguably the best climber in the race. The other wildcard team, SPAR, fields Denifl. His time trial ability is worse than his opponents, so he has to go attacking in the mountains.
Madrazo the best climber next to Pluchkin. His fellow countryman Tenorio is one of the very few who might be able to match Phinney in the TT's, as would Kritskiy. These three have very good chances of a podium, maybe even the victory.
A step below we can find riders like Sicard, Abal, Reis and Galta. All possess good climbing and time trial qualities which make them top ten material at the bare minimum. If everything goes their way they can challenge the top five, and maybe even a surprising victory.
Nerz, Schelling, Marquez and Olivier are all outside bets. When the top favourites fail they will be eager to step into the spotlight.
A clear favourite for the young rider classification is Haig. The young Australian's main rivals will be Vasyliv and Faglum Karlsson.
Sprinters
SP
ACC
HL
Punchy sprinters
SP
ACC
HL
Guerao
83
76
65
Van der Lijke
81
79
76
Zabel
81
79
69
Reimer
77
80
75
Enger
81
78
69
Dzamastagic
76
78
70
Ulanowski
80
77
58
Kreder
76
77
71
Reinhardt
79
84
67
McEvoy
75
79
76
Afewerki
79
80
63
Ackermann
75
76
72
Chen
79
78
63
Tsatevich
75
75
77
Clarke
79
78
62
Becis
74
74
73
Docker
79
77
68
Marycz
73
77
75
Samolenkov
78
77
64
Trillini
73
75
73
With one stage likely to go to the pure sprinters, many teams brought an ace to target a stage victory. Both wildcard teams bring a contender in Guerao and Ulanowski.
Enger and Zabel emerging as strongest pure sprinters on the startlist. The former comes without a solid train, and might have to make use of the latter's one to get himself into prime position. Other possible contenders are Docker, Clarke, Chen and Reinhardt.
As for the more punchy sprinters, Van der Lijke is the ultimate favorite for stage three while having a decent chance on the opening stage as well. McEvoy is one to watch for the uphill sprint as well.
Time trialists
TT
MO
REC
Puncheurs
HL
MO
ACC
Vlatos
81
52
67
Boswell
80
71
76
Paillot
80
70
68
Reichenbach
79
73
69
Brändle
79
76
72
Bilbao
79
67
75
Hepburn
79
64
72
Buchmann
78
74
71
Haugard
79
57
70
Moazemi
78
73
73
Golovash
78
60
66
Chernetskiy
78
71
71
Ligthart
78
54
68
Landa
78
69
69
Phinney might be the best time trialist, but there are other riders specialized in this discipline making the trip to France. Vlatos might only be a threat in the first time trial, given his fear of mountains he'll have a hard time making the time limit on stage four.
Paillot will pray for some great legs to beat the American powerhouse, while Brändle might score a good minor GC classification with his hybrid quality.
eBuddy bring their puncheur Boswell, possibly targeting stage five. A breakaway might succeed on that stage as well, if the GC riders decide to take the day off in this very tough race.
Haig ain't having a good season and his mountain limitation is obviously more of a concern that it was last year. The profiles here do suit him though and with so many TT kilometers on the menu, he may at least try to hang on in the mountains. Top-15 may be possible, but of course he may also be amongst those, who do not care too much..
If he manages to not win the U25 classification, I will be raging though. That's the main goal here and he simply has to take it. In addition to that, I'm hoping for a notable result from Hepburn in one of the ITTs. No chance for a stage win, but maybe he's in the mix for a Top-5 result, if he's on a good daily form.
Phinney for the GC win, but the competition is fierce. May become a sick race, actually.
When picking the team before the season, I hoped a top 10 would be a safe bet for Galta, considering the clash with Suisse. Seeing the startlist, I'm definitely not as confident anymore. A top 10 seems just about doable for him, but it will take a very good performance, as a couple of those riders rated below him in the mountains could well beat him in that terrain.
It would also be cool to see Paillot fight for a stage win in one of the TTs, and most likely the first one, as I expect the second one to favour the GC riders, but seeing Phinney, Vlatos, Kritskiy and Tenorio here, a stage podium will be very good.
Other than that, I'm excited to see Holst Enger, as stage 1 and stage 3 should suit him very well. He won't have much support though, but he has shown several times he's great at picking the right wheels. If he can do that here as well, a stage win should be within reach, but it will obviously take some luck considering the fight for positions.
For the GC win, Pluchkin, Madrazo and Phinney stand out, but predicting the order feels impossible. Hopefully we'll see a great fight for that prestigous overall win.
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Tough field here, I am hoping for a top-10 from Schelling but I'm doubtful that will happen. Maybe Reinhardt can contest the sprints at least, and maybe Reichenbach will try something as a wildcard rider.
Thanks for the preview, I'll guess Pluchkin for the win.
With our A team over in Switzerland supporting Herklotz, the Dauphine serves two purposes for us:
Give some of our young riders valuable experience, and give our aggressive and opportunistic allround threat Arndt a few chances to prove his worth yet again.
On paper, our strongest GC bet should be Nerz, who has somewhat struggled this season and finds himself in a situation here that could well decide his future.
He needs to be consistent and limit the time loss in the tough hilly stage 5, while the amount of TT kilometres and the nature of the mountain stages should at least not be detrimental to his chances.
Keeping the bunch of 78 climbers and Vinhas behind on his way to a safe Top 15 spot should be the goal.
Arndt on the other hand has consistently been an overperformer in the last couple of seasons and faces a unique challenge here:
The TTs leave him out of contention for the GC, so losing as much time as possible in the first would actually help him to ensure he can unleash his powers with smart moves in the mountains, and additionally both flat stages should provide him with opportunities to surprise in the sprint if the bunch of hill-adversed sprinters find them harder than they expected.
Stage 5 would also offer some springboards for attacks if he's not on Nerz duty there.
Behind these two, Mager, Chevrier and Dunne provide sufficient support for the tough stuff, so Declerq and our two new talents Weinstein and Sagiv are free to hopefully join breaks and animate the race.
Phinney must love this route and feel like there's unfinished business after the Vuelta, so it's hard to look past him, especially as he'll likely start stage 4 in yellow.
Not much to say about my team as everyone knows my strategy for these kind of races: some climber/puncheurs for the breaks and KoM and underdog sprinters for the flat stages. No expectations, lets hope for the best,
Nice to see Hamilton active and actually winning a KOM sprint! A pity he got dropped though, just when the reports said, that an interesting KOM battle is unfolding at least he had some moments to show himself, surely enjoying this day in the Top-10 of a ProTour GC.
Kinda expected win by VdL. In case SN will read it, congrats
Mosca show! He's showing himself a lot in Moser colors this season (launching the sprint to Bewley in Sanremo, several breakaway and KoM hunting duties), and i can't wait for him to do this kind of stuff in our colors in 2019
Really great reports you've been making for been your first ones Marco!
Thank you for the report and rolling out the race, Marcovdw Disappointing by Holst Enger, who missed out completely. Definitely a missed opportunity. Hoping for much, much better later in this race.
But congratulations SN on the win, what a leadout by Afewerki!
Hepburn is such a disappointing rider. I will just wait for that one day, where he overperforms (or performs according to his stats for once).
Haig though did quite good, I believe. Looking at how Phinney crushed the competition, he surely had a pretty good result in comparison to some other (bigger) GC contenders. May he start to believe in his climbing skills (or even start to believe he's a better climber than he actually is) and we may get something from the GC here.
Paillot with a superb performance and second place is more than I hoped for when I saw the startlist, and then there's also Galta, who surely delivered the TT of his life. Only having Phinney, Pluchkin, Sicard and Abal ahead in such a TT, with lots of great time trial riders behind, must be a once in a lifetime for him. Clearly on a sensational day, and I'll happily take it
A top 10 overall suddenly looks a lot more doable now, with such a big gain to many of his predicted rivals for the lower top 10 placings. Fingers crossed there's more to come!
And congratulations on the win, Phinney does his usual thing, and with another TT to come, he must fancy his chances of overall success too.
Criterium du Dauphine Libere 
at least he had some moments to show himself, surely enjoying this day in the Top-10 of a ProTour GC.
