British riders have dominated the last decade
of the Critérium du Dauphiné: the Union Jack flag has been raised six times out
of the last nine editions thanks to victories by Bradley Wiggins (twice), Chris
Froome (three times) and Geraint Thomas. What’s more, all three British winners
of the French race went on to win the Tour de France in the same year at least
once.
The Critérium du Dauphiné is an important
appointment on the UCI WorldTour calendar that traditionally serves as a tasty
appetizer to the Grande Boucle; eight days of racing in June to test the legs
before the big hunt for the most prestigious yellow jersey the following month.
The first edition was held in 1947, organised by the local newspaper, Dauphiné Libéré. Thanks to its special
geographical location, the Rhône-Alpes region, the race offers some of the most
renowned climbs of the French Alps, such as the legendary Alpe d'Huez and the
charming Col du Galibier. But it’s not just a game for climbers, because every
year there is a crucial time trial totackle.
The Dauphiné’s roll of honour is impressive: from Jacques Anquetil to
Eddy Merckx, from Bernard Hinault to Miguel Indurain, but also Raymond
Poulidor, Louison Bobet, Luis Ocaña, Greg Lemond, and more recently, Alejandro
Valverde. Then, in the 2010s came the decade of the Britons’ domination.
Sir
Bradley Wiggins’ double, 2011-2012
Wiggins won the prologue of the Critérium du
Dauphiné in 2007 when he was racing with Cofidis; he was captain of Team Sky on
5 June 2011 in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, when he was among the favourites for
the general classification. He finished third in the prologue behind Dutchman
Lars Boom and Alexandre Vinokourov from Kazakhstan, then 11th in the
first medium mountain stage to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse won by the Belgian
Jurgen Van den Broeck. Then ‘Wiggo’ claimed the yellow jersey after finishing
second on stage 3, in the long time trial at Grenoble, won by the German Tony
Martin.
He defended the lead in the last two tough
high mountains stages, both won by the Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez, arriving
sixth on the top of Le Collet d’Allevard and tenth on La Toussuire keeping a
margin of 1’26” from Australian Cadel Evans and 1’49” from Vinokourov. That
July the Briton was forced to retire from the Tour de France due to a crash,
but made the podium of the Vuelta a España.
Wiggins returned to the Dauphiné in 2012 in great shape after winning
Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie. He missed victory in the prologue by just
one second but he took over the GC leadership from Australian Luke Durbridge
the next day, after a very tough six-climb stage to Saint-Vallier, won by
Evans. Wiggins took his revenge over Tony Martin in the 53.5km time trial in Bourg-en-Bresse
with a 34-second margin, then perfectly managed his advantage in the last
mountains stage, eventually winning with more than a minute’s gap from his
teammate Michael Rogers of Australia, and his compatriot, Evans. Wiggins then
famously went on to become the first British winner of the Tour de France.
Chris
Froome’s triple, 2013-2015-2016
Chris Froome is one of the five riders (with
Nello Lauredi, Luis Ocaña, Charly Mottet and Bernard Hinault) who won the race
three times, and on all the occasions he then went on to also win the Tour de
France the following month.
The Kenyan-born champion finished third on the
fourth stage of the 2013 edition, a 32.5km time trial – won by none other than
Tony Martin – then dropped his rivals on the final climb of the Montée de
Valmorel the next day, taking the race lead from the Australian Rohan Dennis
and managing his margin in the remaining stages. He won with a 58-second gap
from his Team Sky team-mate, Australian Richie Porte, and 2’12” from the
Spaniard Daniel Moreno.
Froome crashed hard on stage six of the 2014
Criterium du Dauphiné while in the race lead, so he couldn’t defend his
victory. But he went on to win the French race again, for two years in a row.
In 2015 he finished second on the sixth stage to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and he
won the last day, in Modane Valfréjus, overhauling the GC leadership of the
American Tejay van Garderen for a winning margin of 10 seconds. In 2016, he
took third in the Les Gets prologue won by Spain’s Alberto Contador, and
claimed the leadership after winning the fifth stage to Vaujany.
Geraint
Thomas’ 2018 showdown
In 2018 it was the turn of Geraint Thomas to
win the Dauphiné then go on to also claim the Tour de France. The Welshman hit
the general classification top five after the third stage, the team time trial
to Louhans-Châteaurenaud won by Team Sky. He then gained some precious seconds
finishing third on the next day’s stage to Lans-en-Vercors, won by the
Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, and became race leader on the fifth stage to
Valmorel, where he finished second to the Irishman Daniel Martin.
‘G’ then finished second and sixth in the final
two mountain stages and ultimately triumphed with a one-minute advantage over
his compatriot Adam Yates.