tour de romandie gc

Tour de Romandie 2023: Gaviria sprints to triumph, Yates seals GC win

Results 5th stage 2023 Tour de Romandie

1. Fernando Gaviria (col) 2. Nikias Arndt (ger) s.t. 3. Ethan Hayter (gbr) s.t. 4. Milan Menten (bel) s.t. 5. Gianmarco Garofoli (ita) s.t. 6. Luca Mozzato (ita) s.t. 7. Lewis Askey (gbr) s.t. 8. Magnus Cort (den) s.t. 9. Matteo Sobrero (ita) s.t. 10. Dion Smith (nzl) s.t.

Final GC 2023 Tour de Romandie

1. Adam Yates (gbr) 2. Matteo Jorgenson (usa) + 0.19 3. Damiano Caruso (ita) + 0.27 4. Max Poole (gbr) + 0.38 5. Thibaut Pinot (fra) + 0.41 6. Cian Uijtdebroeks (bel) + 1.21 7. Romain Bardet (fra) + 1.28 8. Rafal Majka (pol) + 1.47 9. Egan Bernal (col) + 1.53 10. Thomas Gloag (gbr) + 2.14

Race report Thomas Gloag, Paul Lapeira and Robert Stannard intitiate the breakaway, while Antoine Aebi and Alexander Kamp track them down. The five carve out a lead of over 4 minutes.

While a numbers of sprinters, including Gaviria, are dropped in the hilly zone, the peloton neutralises the attack with 34 kilometres to go. Gaviria rejoins the bunch a few kilometres after that.

Moments later Bouchard jumps off the front to open a small lead, while Reichenbach and Kluckers rejoin him. The three race to a 30 seconds lead before they are caught inside the last 2 kilometres.

Gaviria opens the sprint early and he powers to a commanding victory. Yates finishes safely in the bunch to seal the GC win.

Another interesting read: route 5th stage 2023 Tour de Romandie.

Tour de Romandie 2023 – stage 5: route, profile, more

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PREVIEW | Tour de Romandie 2024 stage 3 - Thibau Nys forced to defend lead in difficult time-trial

Stage 3 of the Tour de Romandie has the potential to be the single most important day of the race. Thibau Nys starts off as the race leader into the 15-kilometer time-trial, but he faces the threat of many GC contenders who will want to snatch the yellow jersey.

As we read on Cycling UpToDate, a decisive day of racing, the time-trial in Oron is 15 kilometers long and will create big differences. These may be key for the outcome of the overall classification. But it is not an average stage against the clock, featuring some climbing and descending. Time-trial bikes will not be replaced by a road bike, but we will surely see some different tactics on how to manage the efforts that will be in store.

Start Times & Order: Tour de Romandie 2024 stage 3 time-trial

The riders will climb from 635 to 853 meters of altitude in the first 7.5 kilometers into the intermediate point. This means this whole section averages around 4% gradient; whilst it's toughest section is 1.8 kilometers at 6.5%. This climbing will take a few minutes and can absolutely see gaps emerge at the top.

Following that, we've got some descending and then actually flat roads for a few kilometers, but after that around two downhill kilometers into Oron which will be very fast but also technical. They can be dangerous, and with the finish line in sight they have to control the risks.

Profiles & Route Tour de Romandie 2024

The Weather

The wind comes from the southwest early in the afternoon and then switches to southeastern. This may favour early starters as, with the progression of the afternoon the wind will become more progressively a headwind in the first half of the time-trial which is mostly uphill. There are also small chances of rain as the afternoon progresses. All in all, a tricky forecast where weather chances can occur during the stage.

Pedal Punditry #6 | Tadej Pogacar will only have a C-team behind him at the Giro d'Italia... But it is more than enough

The Favourites

GC fight - It is safe to say that Thibau Nys and Andrea Vendrame , who have benefited off bonifications and a very strong finale to today's stage, will not remain first and second in the overall classification. This will be a very tough task, and instead the main GC contenders will take over as the main riders will be able to put in time on their rivals. The field in terms of TT specialists isn't that big. You've got Luke Plapp who did extraordinarily well today and got important time over the rest; and Juan Ayuso who has been riding superbly against the clock and could make a serious difference if he finds his best legs.

The likes of Ilan van Wilder, Egan Bernal and Carlos Rodríguez could perhaps do well too, although I expect many riders to not stand out from the crowd who are in the GC fight. A very dynamic day, form and legs on the day will matter a lot when it comes to differences.

Pedal Punditry #5 | Isaac Del Toro is putting his career at risk by signing with UAE Team Emirates until 2029

Being a hilly time-trial, we can expect non-traditional specialists to put in good times. I specially look into the likes of Julian Alaphilippe , Jan Christen , Jan Tratnik, Alex Aranburu and former race leader Dorian Godon to be able to put in a good time.

Meanwhile, more experienced time-trialists - even if they are not in their best form - like Brandon McNulty, Kasper Asgreen, Thymen Arensman, Ethan Hayter, Bruno Armirail ... Magnus Sheffield lost time today but I am positive that he will also hold a big say on this day.

Roubaix legend Roger de Vlaeminck believes Tadej Pogacar would've never been able to drop him - "Pogacar isn't even half the rider Merckx was"

Prediction Tour de Romandie 2024 stage 3:

*** Juan Ayuso, Luke Plapp ** Magnus Sheffield, Julian Alaphilippe, Jan Christen * Ilan van Wilder, Egan Bernal, Carlos Rodríguez, Jan Tratnik, Alex Aranburu, Dorian Godon, Brandon McNulty, Ethan Hayter, Thymen Arensman

Pick : Juan Ayuso

"I really think he wants to stay" - Patrick Lefevere does not want to see Julian Alaphilippe leave Quick-Step despite heated moments

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Youth day classification, team day classification, race information.

• Date: 26 April 2024
• Start time: 14:24
• Avg. speed winner: 46.269 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 15.5 km
• Points scale: 2.WT.Stage
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• Critérium du Dauphiné

Tour de Romandie: Luke Plapp hoping to test GC waters ahead of Giro d’Italia

Australian an option for Jayco AlUla alongside Simon Yates and Eddie Dunbar

Matilda Price

Racing news editor.

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Luke Plapp in yellow at Paris-Nice earlier this year

Luke Plapp ( Jayco AlUla ) is heading into this week’s Tour de Romandie as a possible general classification contender as he looks to test his legs and stage-racing abilities ahead of next month’s Giro d’Italia .

The Australian, who moved to Jayco AlUla this year in search of more leadership opportunities , will line up alongside Simon Yates and Eddie Dunbar as options for the six-stage race this week.

All will be hoping to ride well in Switzerland, but the time trials make the race particularly suited to double national champion Plapp’s abilities.

“I’m really looking forward to Romandie and to be able to race with both Simon and Eddie,” Plapp said in a release from the team ahead of Tuesday’s opening prologue. “All of us could be capable of a strong GC result so I think we can play off each other quite nicely."

Read more: Tour de Romandie 2024 start list

After racing Paris-Nice – where he wore the yellow jersey and eventually finished sixth overall – Plapp raced one Classic in Milan-San Remo but otherwise spent his spring training ahead of his Giro d’Italia debut in May.

“I’ve been in altitude since San Remo building towards both Romandie and the Giro so I’m looking forward to seeing how my shape is heading into the Giro,” he said.

Plapp has only ridden one Grand Tour before, the Vuelta a España in 2022, so this year’s Giro will mark a key moment in his development, as he tries to find out where his level is in three-week racing. Romandie is a crucial stepping stone before the Grande Partenza next week.

Read more: Matt White: We don’t know how good Luke Plapp can be

Romandie time trials good for Plapp

Romandie has traditionally been a race that suits the time trialists. This year’s parcours offers fewer kilometres against the clock, but the two TTs – the stage 1 prologue and the medium-length effort on stage 4 – will still be important, which should suit Plapp well, though he is not laying everything on outright leadership.

“⁠I think with the team we have on paper we are hoping to be right up there in the GC ranks and have a few cards to play. I believe the tour will come down to the 15km stage 4 TT, so that will definitely be a focus for myself,” Plapp said. “With Simon as a leader and myself and Eddie there to play a big role of support and having some opportunities as well.”

As well as being a race that plays into his abilities, Plapp has good memories at Romandie. He finished ninth overall here in 2022, one of the early indications that he could be a future rider to watch in stage races.

“Romandie has always been a favourite race of mine,” he said. “I had a great race in my first year pro here and the region of Aigle where we race is one of my favourite places to ride a bike in the world. With two TT’s and the chance to wear the Aussie TT colours for the first time this year is also going to be great!”

Explore more about the Tour de Romandie 2024, including the start list and route, on our dedicated race page .

Team Jayco-AlUla

• Nationality Australia
• Founded 2012
• Team Principal Brent Copeland
• UCI Code JAY
• Bike Sponsor Giant

Lucas Plapp

• Team Team Jayco-AlUla
• Height 1.81m

Simon Yates

• Nationality United Kingdom
• UCI Wins 37
• Height 1.72m

Edward Dunbar

• Nationality Ireland
• Height 1.7m

Tour de Romandie

• Dates 23 Apr - 28 Apr
• Race Length 657 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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Sepp Kuss on Tour de France GC: ‘My Best Chance to Win is if Jonas Vingegaard is There’

'gc kuss' might yet make an appearance in the 2024 tour de france. right now, it's impossible to say which version. .

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

VICHY, France (Velo) — Sepp Kuss is bracing for both the Critérium du Dauphiné and the question he knows he will be asked every day from here until the French Alps.

Will he be the GC leader of the powerful Visma-Lease a Bike team at the Tour de France if two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard doesn’t race?

Speaking exclusively to Velo , Kuss said he hopes Vingegaard is at the start line to defend the yellow jersey because, as he puts it bluntly, it’s better for everyone.

“My best chance of winning the Tour de France is if Jonas Vingegaard is there,” Kuss told Velo on Saturday. “I think Jonas is irreplaceable, especially in the Tour. I would hope that he is racing.”

Velo sat down with Kuss along with Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson at the team hotel in this spa city along the edge of France’s Massif Central ahead of Sunday’s start of the eight-day Dauphiiné.

Kuss will start the prestigious and telling eight-stage race Sunday with the No. 1 bib, in part after race organizers tipped the hat to Visma-Lease a Bike as defending champions, even if Vingegaard won’t be racing here this week.

The Dane is currently camped out at altitude high in the French Alps as he and Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout van Aert are in a race against time to chase form ahead of the June 29 start of the Tour in Florence, Italy.

Vingegaard’s presence at the Tour in the wake of his devastating crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April remains a big question mark, and the final decision on whether or not he will race will come down to the closing days of June.

That leaves Kuss, Jorgenson, and their Visma-Lease a Bike teammates in a state of limbo.

Kuss, who remains as affable and humble as ever in the aftermath of his historic Vuelta a España victory last year, admits it’s an awkward situation in the weeks leading toward the Tour start in Tuscany.

“In the event that he isn’t racing, we still have a committed team,” Kuss said Saturday. “I think it will be hard for all of us because there will be no clear goal, like we do having Jonas on the team.”

Chasing yellow? ‘The opportunity is there’

Kuss and Jorgenson arrive in Vichy after their own altitude camp on Spain’s Sierra Nevada prepared for the most important block of racing of their respective 2024 seasons.

Jorgenson, who blew the barn doors off with victory at Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen this spring, is expecting to play a backup role during the Tour de France, but much like Kuss, he too is facing uncertainty over his position if Vingegaard and Van Aert do not start.

“If Jonas is there, we’ll be 100 percent for the GC, and I’d be really happy to support that,” Jorgenson told Velo . “If he’s not, we will have to look at the different scenarios, and see how it would shake out.”

That uncertainty will hang over Visma-Lease a Bike all the way from here to just a few days before the grand départ in Florence.

Sport director Frans Maassen told Velo nothing for the Tour will be certain until after a team altitude camp at Tignes in late June.

“We won’t make any decisions until after the final training camp in Tignes,” Maassen told Velo on Saturday .

“We hope Jonas is ready to race, but we have to take it one step at a time. We cannot force anything,” he said. “If he is not ready, then we can look to Sepp and others to lead. It will be a different tactic if Jonas does not start.”

#Dauphine GC favourites ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Roglič ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Evenepoel, Ayuso ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Vlasov, Ca. Rodriguez, Jorgenson ⭐️⭐️ Hindley, Tiberi, Geoghegan Hart, Buitrago ⭐️ Van Wilder, Landa, Gaudu, Sivakov, Ciccone Kuss Harper Tiberi Hindley pic.twitter.com/Au5z0MIfb8 — Cyclingpills (@cyclingpills1) June 1, 2024

There’s even a possibility that Jorgenson could emerge as a GC co-leader for the Tour as well.

A lot of that depends how the Paris-Nice winner comes out of the eight-stage Dauphiné that includes high-altitude climbs the Idahoan’s never faced against the front-line favorites.

Everything is up in the air at Visma-Lease a Bike right now. If Vingegaard starts, everyone’s role is much clearer.

If he doesn’t, well, then anything could happen.

‘GC Kuss’ in no rush to take over

Kuss enters this Dauphiné with nothing to prove, and everything to gain.

Yet after winning the Vuelta, Kuss is not strutting around the peloton as if he’s the newest king of the hill.

In fact, Kuss still pinches himself when he looks back at his spectacular European racing career that includes stage wins and GC victories across some of Europe’s biggest races. The way he tells it, he never expected it to last more than a few seasons.

After emerging as the best pure climbing domestiques in modern cycling, Kuss is keeping his feet on the ground. He readily admits that he won’t be able to match the likes of Tadej Pogačar or Roglič in a straight up duel if he’s forced to, but he’s also proven to able to go the distance in decisive and important moments.

For Kuss, he’d prefer to see Vingegaard at the start line, so he can play his best cards as helper, and perhaps even make a run for yellow if things tilt his way again.

“Jonas is so talented, if he is at the start line, he will be really strong,” Kuss told Velo on Saturday. “For a lot of things, you don’t have the pressure, you can take care of yourself, rather than people taking care of you. It just makes it more simple, for me at least.

“You can play with the tactics and that partnership a bit more when Jonas is there, like I did in the Vuelta.”

Last year, Kuss made history to become only the fourth U.S. rider to officially win a grand tour.

And he’s the first to point out that he won the Vuelta thanks in large part because Vingegaard and former teammate Primož Roglič were on his team.

His race-breaking attack during the opening week of the 2023 Vuelta that eventually put him in red and on the path toward overall victory was designed put pressure on the team’s GC rivals and take pressure off Roglič and Vingegaard.

Kuss knows strength in numbers is a plus.

“I also wouldn’t have won the Vuelta if we didn’t do a tactical move to help Jonas and Primož, of putting me in that breakaway, because that was the function of that breakaway,” he said Saturday.

“It opens things up a lot more for me with better riders on the team.”

But could Kuss go all the way in the Tour as well?

He told NOS in another interview Saturday that he believes he could challenge for the final podium in Paris, but speaking with Velo , he reiterated that his best chance to win the Tour de France is if Vingegaard is race-ready in Florence.

“The opportunity is there,” Kuss said when Velo asked if he could win the yellow jersey. “If I am being honest, if I wanted to win the Tour, my chance is better with Jonas on the team than not on the team.

“If you look at it in another way, it opens up a lot of other opportunities. You can go for GC, you can go for stages,” Kuss said of a possible Vingegaard absence. “I think it’s a matter of calibrating the goals to how we feel. That’s motivating for us and the whole group.”

Kuss is simply being honest with himself and his teammates in admitting as much.

The Vingegaard and Van Aert uncertainty will be one of the biggest narratives in the coming weeks.

Yet just like last year’s Vuelta, Kuss will be ready to exploit any and all opportunities, and ride it as far as he can.

“GC Kuss” might yet make an appearance in the 2024 Tour de France.

Right now, it’s impossible to say which version.

#Dauphiné Let’s get into that Tour de France rhythm. Check out our team for Critérium du Dauphiné. pic.twitter.com/03JGv60PBX — Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) May 31, 2024

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• As it happened: a mass uphill dash concludes Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 3

Carlos Rodríguez on the cusp of his first WorldTour GC victory in Tour de Romandie

Inoes rider not calling the race won yet – 'We don't know what can happen'

Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez is one stage away from a career-defining moment - winning his first WorldTour stage race at the Tour de Romandie .

The Ineos rider leapt away from a select group that had jettisoned overnight leader Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) in the closing kilometre and, while he could not catch stage winner Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), he left some of cycling's best climbers in his wake.

With Ayuso distanced, Rodríguez finished third on the stage behind Carapaz and Bora-Hansgrohe's breakout star Florian Lipowitz , gaining enough time to take the Tour de Romandie lead by seven seconds over Bora's Aleksandr Vlasov.

"I'm really happy and super proud of the team and all the commitment throughout the stage," Rodríguez said after the conclusion of the queen stage to Leysin.

Tour de Romandie: Richard Carapaz wins stage 4 as Juan Ayuso's lead crumbles Tour de France 2024 - The GC favourites form guide Carlos Rodríguez signs four-year contract extension with Ineos

"We didn't know how things would turn out. But they have trust in me so I'm really happy for their belief that I could deliver in the end a good result. It's not finished yet. We have to fight still tomorrow, but I'll give everything to try to get this jersey."

Rodríguez signed with Ineos at the age of 19 and is now in his fifth season with the team. He has made steady progress in stage races, finishing seventh at the Vuelta a España in his Grand Tour debut in 2022 and taking fifth overall at last year's Tour de France.

He's won a stage in the Tour de France and stages of the Itzulia Basque Country and Tour of Britain but his best overall finish in a WorldTour stage race was second in this year's Itzulia Basque Country, winning the final stage to Eibar along the way.

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Getting his first general classification victory, he says, would be "amazing", but there is one much flatter stage to go, a 150.8km circuit in Vernier, to get through.

"I've won some races but still not a GC and to win a WorldTour stage race. It's what I cannot say yet, but it would be amazing and I'm really important for me to achieve it.

"We have to be ready. We don't know what can happen, so we can't relax yet. We will do tomorrow after the stage and hopefully we can we can celebrate."

This summer, Rodríguez will head up the Ineos Grenadiers selection alongside Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas at the Tour de France with a podium spot likely within his sights. A big win in Romandie would only cement his reputation as one of the top favourites.

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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.

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Tour de France 2024 Rider Power Rankings

Less than a month out from the start of the men’s Tour de France, we ranked the top yellow jersey threats in the peloton.

This is the latest edition of Bicycling’ s Power Rankings for the 2024 Men’s Tour de France, where we rank the top contenders leading up to July’s race. This continuously updated list will give you an in-depth look at the riders that have the best shot to stand atop the podium at the end of the Tour—and how they’re performing in the races leading up to July.

These rankings will be constantly refreshed, so you can see who’s up and who’s down on the road to the 2024 Tour de France.

The 2024 Tour de France was expected to bring together the sport’s four best grand tour riders: Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), winner of the last two Tours de France; Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), winner of the 2020 and 2021 Tours de France and the recent Giro d’Italia; Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), winner of the 2022 Vuelta a España; and Slovenia’s Primož Roglič (BORA-hansgrohe), a 3-time winner of the Vuelta and the champion at last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Each rider was taking a different route to the Tour de France, with each choosing to mix race days with extended periods of time spent at training camps. And while some of their paths crossed at select races throughout the first few months of the season, they weren’t expected to all race together until the Tour. For fans, it was a dream scenario.

But the dream became a nightmare in early-April after a scary, high-speed crash during Stage 4 of Spain’s Tour of the Basque Country took down several riders, including Vingegaard, Roglič, and Evenepoel. Two of them–Vingegaard and Evenepoel–suffered serious injuries, and all of them had their Tour preparations interrupted.

That was almost eight weeks ago, and they’re all back on their bikes and training again. But with the Tour de France beginning in Florence, Italy just four weeks from Saturday, one big question still remains: Will Vingegaard–who suffered the worst injuries of the three–be on the starting line, and if he is will he have the form he needs to defend his title? This storyline is the one we’ll be watching the most in the month leading up to the start of the Tour, but it’s not the only one.

We’re also excited to see if Pogačar can become the first rider since 1998 to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same season (spoiler alert: we think he can). And last but definitely not least, we’re eager to learn which other contenders–if any–will be ready to challenge him.

So with four weeks left before the Tour’s “Grand Depart,” here’s our latest–and perhaps most optimistic–Tour de France contender Power Ranking.

Tadej Pogačar

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Previous Ranking : 1

Race Days : 31

Race Wins : 14

Best Result : 1st-place, General Classification - Giro d’Italia

Next Race: Tour de France, June 29-July 21

With about four weeks until the start of the Tour de France, there are still no questions about who the Tour’s top contender is. Pogačar just wrapped-up a three-week training camp in Italy. You may have heard it–it’s called the Giro d’Italia.

We’re kidding, right? Well, not really. Pog absolutely dominated the Italian grand tour, winning the maglia rosa by almost ten minutes over the next-closest rider on the Giro’s General Classification. Along the way he won six stages–finished second or third on three more–and won the Giro’s King of the Mountains prize. But more importantly, he finished the race healthy and reasonably fresh for a rider who just won a three-week grand tour. 

He only crashed once–near the end of Stage 2 when he flatted and his front wheel slipped out from him. It was a minor fall, and Pogačar quickly quickly got back on his bike and promptly won the stage. Otherwise, he escaped the race injury-free.

He also stayed healthy, which–considering the terrible weather that the race encountered at the beginning of the third week–was another blessing for the Slovenian. Staying safe and healthy during a three-week is often a greater challenge than overcoming the competition, and Pog came through that battle unscathed. 

And speaking of the competition, between a relatively gentle course and a rather weak (sorry, guys) start list, Pogačar was never really pushed to defend his lead. With the exception of the Giro’s two individual time trials, he basically won the race with a series of quick, uphill accelerations that no one else could follow. Then he simply rode a steady tempo to the finish line, extending his advantage as he pedaled. 

Pogačar’s near-perfect Giro–plus the fact that he raced minimally in the months before it–means that he probably ended the Giro stronger than he was when he started it. That’s bad news for the men he’ll be racing against at the Tour de France. 

With the Giro behind him, Pogačar will rest for a week and then head to a ski station in the French Alps for nineteen days of altitude training. He won’t race before the Tour de France, but with a grand tour in his legs, he doesn’t need to. 

At this rate, we’ll be eating some humble pie in late-July. At the beginning of the season, we didn’t have much faith in his chances of winning the Giro and the Tour in the same season. But given the way things are shaping up, now we’ll be more surprised if he doesn’t. 

Primož Roglič

Read the complete analysis.

Previous Ranking : 2

Race Days : 11

Race Wins : 1

Best Result : 1st-place, Stage 1 - Tour of the Basque Country

Next Race : Critérium du Dauphiné, June 2-10

Roglič also went down in the crash that took out Vingegaard and Evenepoel, and like the other two, he abandoned the race immediately. But after a series of medical examinations, BORA-hansgrohe reported that the 34-year-old suffered no major injuries. Compared to the others, the Slovenian dodged bullet.

He was initially expected to take part in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège last week, but the team changed plans to give him extra time to heal. That was a good call, as the weather in the Belgian Ardennes was atrocious that week, and the risk of getting sick or worse–another crash–just wasn’t worth it. In fact, he probably made more gains by training than he would have by racing. 

The Slovenian spent the past five weeks training–which was always the plan–and now he’s heading to the Critérium du Dauphiné–which starts this Sunday–for his last big test before the Tour de France.

The Dauphiné is essentially an 8-day mini-Tour de France with several stages that mimic key stages from the upcoming Tour. It’s also early enough in the month that riders have time for one more small block of training before the start of the Tour. That makes it a popular dress rehearsal for Tour contenders, and Roglič will be going head-to-head with several of his rivals. And it’s a race he knows well: he won it in 2022. 

That’s why anything worse than a top-5 finish would be bad news for the Slovenian. He doesn’t need to win it; after all, the Dauphiné ends four weeks before the start of the Tour, and he needs to be at his best in July not June. 

But a poor performance against many of the men he’ll be racing against at the Tour will raise some eyebrows, putting even more pressure on a 34-year-old rider who might be staring down his last reasonable chance to win the Tour de France. 

Remco Evenepoel

Previous Ranking : 3

Race Days : 17

Race Wins : 4

Best Result : 2nd place, General Classification - Paris-Nice

Another victim of the crash at the Tour of the Basque Country, Evenepoel broke his right clavicle and scapula in Spain and had surgery a few days later in Belgium to address the broken collarbone. The injury meant the Belgian missed a chance to become only the fourth rider to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège three years in a row. 

But his injuries have healed and he’s been on his bike for several weeks. He even attended a recent training camp with his team in Sierra Nevada. So he’s back on schedule in terms of his training for this summer’s Tour de France. 

This sets Evenepoel up for an important showdown with Roglič–and others–at the Critérium du Dauphiné–the Belgian’s last race before the Tour de France–and the pressure he’ll face there will be intense. 

The winner of the 2022 Vuelta a España, Evenepoel is Belgium’s best chance to win a Tour in several decades (a Belgian hasn’t won the Tour since 1976), so he already carries the weight of a nation of passionate cycling fans on his shoulders.

So there’s really no way for the 24-year-old to come out of the Dauphiné without facing even more pressure: if races well–let’s say, finishes on the podium–everyone will start talking about him as if he’s bound to win the Tour. But a bad Dauphiné will fire up the naysayers, putting the wrong kind of pressure on a rider who sometimes struggles to handle adversity. It’s an unenviable position, but that’s life as when you’re Belgium’s first grand tour winner since 1978. 

Egan Bernal and Carlos Rodriguez

Previous Rankings : 4 (Bernal) and 5 (Rodríguez)

Race Days : 28 (Bernal) and 24 (Rodríguez)

Race Wins : 0 (Bernal) and 2 (Rodríguez)

Best Result : 3rd place, General Classficiation - Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Bernal) and 1st-place, General Classification - Tour de Romandie (Rodríguez)

Next Race : Tour de France, June 29-July 21 (Bernal) and Critérium du Dauphiné, June 2-10 (Rodríguez) 

We’re hedging our bets with this one because–at the moment–we can’t find a reason to put one ahead of the other. But that could change after the Critérium du Dauphiné, which Rodríguez will be starting this weekend.

The Spaniard flew a bit under the radar at last year’s Dauphiné, but in hindsight he shouldn’t have: he finished ninth overall against some tough competition and won the white jersey as the race’s Best Young Rider. The then-22-year-old went on to finish fifth overall and win a stage at the Tour de France. Perhaps we should have seen it coming.

But Rodríguez won’t sneak up on anyone this year, and his performance will indicate if he’s ready to become a true Tour de France podium contender. If he is, he’ll likely bump Bernal–who last raced in late-April and is currently training in Colombia–down a notch in the team’s leadership hierarchy. And that might not be a bad thing: we like the chances of “Bernal the Dark Horse” better than those of “Bernal the Pre-Tour Podium Contender.” 

Jonas Vingegaard

Previous Ranking : Under Consideration

Race Days : 14

Race Wins : 7

Best Result : 1st-place, General Classification - Tirreno-Adriatico

Next Race : TBD

Given some recent news, we’re optimistically moving the Tour’s two-time defending champion back into our top-5—well, 6 if you consider the INEOS tandem above. 

One of the worst victims of the crash at the Tour of the Basque Country, Vingegaard lay motionless along the side of the road for a few minutes before finally being placed in an ambulance and taken to a local hospital, where tests revealed a broken collarbone and a few cracked ribs. Later the team shared that Vingegaard also suffered a pulmonary contusion and a collapsed lung. He stayed in the hospital for 12 days. 

At first, Visma-Lease a Bike wouldn’t discuss the Dane’s chances of racing the Tour de France. But now they are–albeit in uncertain terms–because Vingegaard is back on his bike and training. He was first spotted on a bike path in Denmark, and this week, he arrived in Tignes, France for altitude training camp.

At the Giro d’Italia last week, his team manager Richard Plugge confirmed that Vingegaard has indeed resumed training but would only head to the Tour if he is 100 percent ready to defend his title. And he didn’t sound as if the possibility of the Dane being ready in time was as far-fetched as it seemed a month ago.  

He won’t ride the Dauphiné, but his teammates racing it will meet him in Tignes afterwards. Things are clearly going better than they were in April for Vingegaard, and we think there’s about a 50% chance that he starts the Tour de France. 

Vingegaard started the season in dominating fashion. In fact, he was so strong that some wondered how he could possibly maintain such a high level of fitness all the way through the Tour. Assuming he’s able to get anywhere close to the form he had before the crash–and he starts the Tour–he’s good enough to break back into our Power Ranking. It’s an optimistic take, but we’re going with it–for now.

Under Consideration

If Vingegaard is ultimately unable to start the Tour de France, American Sepp Kuss (Visma Lease a Bike) –the winner of last year’s Vuelta a España–will likely lead the team instead. Kuss hasn’t raced since the Tour of the Basque Country, but he’s starting the Critérium du Dauphiné this Sunday. With three summit finishes to close out the race, it’s the perfect chance for Kuss to assert himself as a Tour de France contender.

Spain’s Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) is also riding the Dauphiné and likely racing to win it. The 21-year-old finished third at the 2022 Vuelta a España and is set to start his first Tour de France this summer. He’ll be riding in support of Pogačar, but the Spaniard could be a contender himself–both as a domestique (UAE put two riders on the podium last year) and as a back-up plan (should something happen to Pog).

Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) has been training since his last race, April’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The 31-year-old is racing the Tour de Suisse–which takes place one week after the Dauphiné–as his final race before the Tour. And he’ll be racing with a chip on his shoulder: the reigning Olympic champion was not selected to represent his country at the games this summer. Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers)–who won Stage 1 at the Giro d’Italia–was chosen instead.

Since getting hooked on pro cycling while watching Lance Armstrong win the 1993 U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, longtime Bicycling contributor Whit Yost has raced on Belgian cobbles, helped build a European pro team, and piloted that team from Malaysia to Mont Ventoux as an assistant director sportif. These days, he lives with his wife and son in Pennsylvania, spending his days serving as an assistant middle school principal and his nights playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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