The Inner Ring | Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 8 Preview

The final stage and almost a summit finish. In the past this has been the most frantic stage of the week. Pogačar looks invincible but it’s wide open to win the stage.

Encore: the early breakaway of 15 riders was kept close, it never had more than two minutes. Romain Bardet lasted the longest, in large part to say adieu to his road racing career on a course where his wife and children were roadside and his father, from whom he got the passion for cycling, was waiting at the finish.

A third stage win for Tadej Pogačar. This time he had to stand on the pedals to attack, a good twenty pedal strokes to open up a gap on Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz, with the German soon unable to follow the Dane. From here on the final climb it had the look of a mountain time trial with the lead three on GC all riding solo. Pogačar eased up before the line allowing Vingegaard to halve his 30 second deficit at the flamme rouge but all the more difficult for Vingegaard who – while being well ahead of all the rest – just can’t get on terms with Pogačar.

After the finish Pogačar hinted it was unsporting of rivals to try an attack downhill after Visma-LAB accelerated over the top of the Croix-de-Fer. This seemed to have stung him into revenge; but his rivals must complain that it’s the uphill attacks that are unsporting.

We should note some of the other spots, Lipowoitz the best of the best, THJ in fourth place, ahead of Remco Evenepoel, for the Norwegian to bound up to fifth overall. Carlos Rodriguez doing his Dauphiné remontada which bodes well for the Tour, on his relative terms. Paul Seixas finished 11th.

The Route: a stage that rides up the Maurienne valley, a rare place that doesn’t get its name from its river (the Arc in case you need to know). The race treats the valley like a boarder in a halfpipe, swinging up the sides to avoid the main valley roads, notably with the climb of the “Col de Beaune”, which is actually the Col de Beau Plan, and featured in 2019 when Julian Alaphilippe won the stage finishing just below.

The Finish: Mont Cenis was turned into a main road by Napoleon and retains an engineered feel, it’s a steady climb, almost 10km at 6.5%. The route flattens for five kilometres out to finish by the lake on the Italian border.

The Contenders: a good day for the breakaway, today’s course is short but there’s room for a move to stick. Ben Healy (EF) has tried several times but seemed to shut things down if it wasn’t working, no point saving things today.