<\/a><\/p>\n The Dauphin\u00e9, the Tour of Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpes\u2026 or the Tour de l\u2019Avenir? This race does feel futuristic as the last two Avenir winners Isaac Del Toro and Paul Seixas are set to duel here and for years to come. There are other challengers including 23 year old Juan Ayuso and 21 year old J\u00f8rgen Nordhagen, and a tough course ahead.<\/p>\n The Route<\/strong> The Contenders<\/strong><\/p>\n UAE bring Jo\u00e3o Almeida<\/strong> and Isaac del Toro<\/strong>. Almeida missed his big goal of the Giro with illness and his form is unknown, he\u2019s said he\u2019s not at his best and is rebuilding for the Vuelta rather than planning to do the Tour de France. That\u2019s downplaying expectations but he\u2019s not here to make up the numbers. If his quest is to win a grand tour, he\u2019s a proven winner in one week stage races and can aim for a result to lengthen his elongated palmar\u00e8s<\/em>.<\/p>\n Del Toro has won Tirreno-Adriatico and the UAE Tour this season and is now after a big win, a triumph here would show he can master the Alps and crucially this is a rare chance at team leadership in such a big race, of all the contenders he\u2019s the one for whom this week matters most. We\u2019ll see how he fares in the high mountains, the assumption is brilliantly but this is a frontier for him as he\u2019s been so good in hilly races and capable in the mountains but not yet decisive. 20 year old Pablo Torres<\/strong> is one to watch too. The team time trial is a challenge, despite all their talent this discipline is a persistent concern, see how they were eighth in Paris-Nice, within seconds of being beaten by Groupama-FDJ and Cofidis and so need to show reliability here.<\/p>\n Home hopes rest with Paul Seixas<\/strong> (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and he\u2019s not playing down his chances with open talk of going for the win. An encouraging eighth last year, his progress since has been fulgurant. This season he\u2019s won the Itzulia Basque Country with an extravagant performance, taken the Fl\u00e8che Wallonne by riding the field off his wheel and was the only rider who could follow Tadej Poga\u010dar up La Redoute on the road to Li\u00e8ge. Since then he\u2019s been to altitude which seems as important for his confidence as his physiology and the form is here going by his Strava KOM on the Tourmalet and if context such as wind and drafting matters, it shows he\u2019s not struggling. Daan Hoole and Stefan Bissegger strengthen the squad for the team time trial but the team look top-5 rather than winners so it\u2019ll be on Seixas to out-climb the field. All this and he\u2019s now in the spotlight with le Seixasmania<\/em> on the up, everyone will want a piece of him this week, his every move studied. They\u2019ll be an inquisition if he loses, as in finishes second, but it\u2019d be no bad thing to moderate expectations.<\/p>\n Lidl-Trek are having a dire season and have just sacked management, Cofidis-style<\/a>. But a lot of the poor performance was down to injury and among them Juan Ayuso<\/strong>. No staff changes could prevent him crashing out of Paris-Nice while wearing yellow. He makes his racing return and where to set expectations? Here\u2019s here as a GC contender and a podium finish ought to satisfy on his comeback at it\u2019ll confirm he\u2019s on track for the Tour. He\u2019s got backing for the team time trial and Mattias Skjelmose<\/strong> as a second option for GC as the Dane arguably needs a result more as he risks being recategorised as a domestique\u2026 or shopping for a new team.<\/p>\n If Lidl-Trek\u2019s management shake-up got the headlines, Netcompany-Ineos\u2019s CEO John Allert has just left although he wasn\u2019t a public figurehead. There\u2019s a wider point about a team with grey jerseys searching for a project and identity and it won\u2019t be solved this week. In the meantime they have a great squad for the team time trial and if they win this puts them ahead. The test will come in the mountains and if they win the TTT whether Oscar Onley<\/strong>, Carlos Rodriguez<\/strong> and K\u00e9vin Vauquelin<\/strong> can defend their lead for three straight days. Each has a point to prove. For Onley just repeating last year\u2019s fourth place at the Tour de France is a big ask but with experience and a better-resourced team he\u2019s expected to improve, a similar story for Vauquelin too although for both this need not mean instant results this week. For Rodriguez, the sizzle has stopped but the underlying talent is there and a week of good weather is a useful pre-Tour test.<\/p>\n Visma-LAB have Matteo Jorgenson<\/strong> and J\u00f8rgen Nordhagen<\/strong>. Jorgenson\u2019s been second here before and has shown he can win week-long stage races like Paris-Nice but how to win? This year\u2019s route has steep, long climbs up the Grand Colombier and to the Plateau de Solaison<\/a> which don\u2019t suit him as well, he\u2019s excellent on 20 minutes but 40 minutes is harder but this is relative, at his best he\u2019s capable. Nordhagen is more the pure climber or to use a lazy shortcut, the \u201cnew Vingegaard\u201d as he\u2019s a similar build and Scandinavian but wiser view is he\u2019s out to define himself and due a result soon. They\u2019ll enjoy the team time trial with Van Aert, Affini and Armirail as engines.<\/p>\n Uno-X come with Tobias Halland Johannessen<\/strong>, another Tour de l\u2019Avenir winner and sixth in the Tour de France last year and never outside the top-10 in three world tour stages this year he\u2019s becoming more consistent but not sparkling.<\/p>\n Movistar are quietly improving and Cian Uijtdebroeks<\/strong> is their leader. A win would be surprise, now in his fifth season as a pro he\u2019s only won the Tour de l\u2019Ain. The team looks coherent for the team time trial.<\/p>\n Dani Martinez<\/strong> (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the team in the absence of Remco Evenepoel and was second in Paris-Nice thanks to making the split on the rainy day in the Morvan but never bothered Vingegaard. Luke Tuckwell and Callum Thornley are here for experience and worth watching.<\/p>\n Santiago Buitrago<\/strong> (Bahrain) is here after leaving the Giro after the Stage 2 crash. A great rider but an infrequent winner, he\u2019d surely settle for a stage this week.<\/p>\n Finally Luke Plapp<\/strong> (Jayco) is here with some gentle GC ambitions. Third place in the UAE Tour and fifth in Romandie shows his stage racing abilities but now has a test on a trickier course where descending and positioning will count for more.<\/p>\n TV<\/strong>: It\u2019s on the same channel you watch the Tour de France. For locals and VPN users see France3.<\/p>\n The good news is that no clash Roland-Garros tennis means more normal timing except for this Sunday\u2019s opener which finishes at 3.00pm CEST. Mid-week it\u2019s 5pm every day, the following Saturday is 4.00pm and the final stage is at 5.00pm. The bad news is that we get light coverage with often only the last 90 minutes but more for the final weekend.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/7ad7a89af8dab0cebe7b7733650f72c7\/d4fd270704c51b1e-72\/s2048x3072\/d1b41e22f32365ed9cd5a298791862b0b95d1b33.jpg\")
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It starts this Sunday and goes to the following Sunday. There\u2019s a more in detail in January\u2019s stage-by-stage look<\/a> when the route came out. The summary is that the opening day could be a GC day, there\u2019s only one flat sprint stage but two other chances for those that can handle the hills. There\u2019s a 28km team time trial under \u201cParis-Nice rules\u201d as a dress rehearsal for the Tour de France and three summit finishes that get increasingly hard. No solo time trial and no time bonuses.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/a44c53d5657033f5a0daa48c8e32b63e\/68a8d3b85d5b88d1-d1\/s1280x1920\/200d4017236737289b4394355b54ae09968140f1.jpg\")
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