UCI WorldTour: Danes take centre stage ahead of the Tour de France

As the last UCI WorldTour stage races before the Grande Boucle, the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse provided insights into riders’ current form. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) flew on French roads and Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) won in Switzerland.

The greatest battles in men’s professional road cycling are looming. A few weeks before the Tour de France (July 1-23), a large part of the peloton is fine-tuning final preparations for the Grand Départ Pays Basque 2023. In France, the Jumbo-Visma team of Jonas Vingegaard delivered exceptional performances on all terrains. The Dane eventually won his first Critérium du Dauphiné ahead of Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën Team).

The Tour de Suisse, bereaved by the tragic death of Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious), saw Mattias Skjelmose take the most prestigious victory of his career, in an emotionally charged context, ahead of Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Jumbo-Visma dominates the Critérium du Dauphiné

Nothing seems to stop Jonas Vingegaard. At 26, the Jumbo-Visma leader claimed his second UCI WorldTour stage race of the season after Itzulia Basque Country. The winner of the 2022 Tour de France flew over the Critérium du Dauphiné, with two stage victories on top of his overall triumph, snatched through impressive displays of dominance up the ascents of Côte de Thésy (stage 5) and the Col de la Croix de Fer (stage 7). Second in the general classification with a gap of 2'23", the Briton Adam Yates could not cope with the superiority of the native of Hillerslev.

And the Dane is not the only rider from his squad to have marked this 2023 edition. The Frenchman Christophe Laporte demonstrated once again the extent of his talents. Winner at Chambon-sur-Lac, he was the first rider to wear the leader's yellow and blue jersey. The Jumbo-Visma handyman went on to win again in Le Coteau (stage 3).

This 75th edition also saw the return to the fore of the two-time UCI World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step). Aggressive throughout the week (10th overall), he took his first success in the UCI WorldTour in more than a year when he won the second stage. Forced to withdraw just before the Giro d'Italia, Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) was beaming with happiness after his solo victory on the final stage.

As they prepare to compete in the first Grand Tour in their young history, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team have proven they can not only chase stages but also a good position in the general classification with Torstein Træen (8th) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (15th). At home, the AG2R Citroën Team saw its Australian leader Ben O'Connor take third place on the podium for the second year in a row.

Youth power in Switzerland

While the Critérium du Dauphiné was reaching its finish on the severe slopes of La Bastille, above Grenoble, the Tour de Suisse launched its 85th edition with a short individual time trial in the streets of Einsiedeln. The first meeting against the clock was won by Stefan Küng. The Swiss rider from Groupama-FDJ showed that he was in great condition, taking the best of a solid competition led by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

The sprinters didn’t have many opportunities to score on the 8 stages of this 2023 route… but Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) found his opening to launch himself into the history of the Tour de Suisse, as the first African rider to win a stage in the event.

Talented youngsters rose to take power in the Vaud Alps. On the slopes of Villars-sur-Ollon, Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose got the better of Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën Team) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates). The Austrian (25) and the Spaniard (20) then distinguished themselves with prestigious successes in stages 4 and 5.

The race took a tragic turn on the descent of the Albulapass. After a neutralized day to reach Oberwil-Lieli, Remco Evenepoel paid a poignant tribute to Gino Mäder by raising his fingers to the sky after his solo victory at Weinfelden, with the rainbow jersey on his shoulders. The UCI World Champion embodied the collective grief.

The general classification was decided during the final time trial (25.6km). At 22 years old, Skjelmose gave the best performance of his life in this specialty and claimed his first UCI WorldTour stage race. Stage winner Juan Ayuso and Remco Evenepoel joined him on the overall podium.

The attention can now turn to Bilbao, which will host the Grand Départ Pays-Basque 2023, where we will find many of the protagonists who animated these two weeks of competition. Candidates for the yellow jersey will have to be present from the first stage!