What the Critérium du Dauphiné Tells Us About the Upcoming Tour de France

Here comes another free-for-all.

Photo by Simon Connellan on Unsplash

Last year’s Tour de France was something of a free-for-all in the absence of four-time Tour winner Chris Froome, and it certainly delivered on unexpected thrills. But this year’s Tour is bound to be a free-for-all for a different reason: Packed with star power across a handful of talented teams, it’s truly anyone’s game. Not only that, but the battle to protect big players may leave openings for dark horses and young opportunists. The Critérium du Dauphiné just showed us that anything is possible — and that the top spots in the Tour will be anything but predictable. Here’s what happened and why it may be an indication of what we’ll see come August 29.

Major Players Crash Out, Others Bail Out

Injuries are inevitable, and they change the shape of every race. Steven Kruijswijk and Emanuel Buchmann, who finished third and fourth overall in last year’s Tour, both crashed out of the Dauphiné — though they should have enough time to recover for the Tour. The rising star of Slovenia, Primož Roglič, abandoned the race at the discretion of his team, Jumbo-Visma, after sustaining a hip injury in the second to last stage of the race. Egan Bernal, the 2019 Tour winner, also abandoned due to a bad back. These are safe, smart…