Criterium du Dauphiné 2020 – Stage 2 Preview
By David Hunter
Vienne – Col de Porte 135km
D-Day.
A short stage, and one that’s all about the big finish.
The Col de Porte is officially 17.5km at 6.2%, but that does include a short descent. It starts off with a brutally steep ramp(2km at 10.4% ) and ends with 11.5km at 7.5%. As you can see, the final 3.5km is actually the easiest of the whole climb, but what size will the bunch be at this point?
Weather
Thunderstorms will be around in the afternoon, but it looks like they’ll start after the race is over. There will be a moderate wind too, mostly tail or cross/tail on the climb.
Tactics
With Jumbo-Visma and Ineos seemingly involved in a dick measuring competition(apologies for my language), this will be fast, hard and probably a little boring. We won’t see attacks, simply riders sliding out of the back door until the front group is small. For those not in those teams it’s simply a case of trying to stay in the wheels and be patient, there is no point attacking while Jumbo-Visma and Ineos have domestiques. Just stay in the bunch and take your chances in a sprint.
Contenders
Primož Roglič – his performance in the Tour de l’Ain marks him as the favourite for this stage. It will be interesting to see how Jumbo-Visma shuffle their train as George Bennett was last man in that race, but he’s away in Italy. It could be Dumoulin, Kruijswijk, or even Sepp Kuss in that role. This stage will help to shape a large part of the Tour de France, it is hugely important, and you can bet Roglič has it as a huge target.
Egan Bernal – can he turn the tables on Roglič? He looked in a fair bit of trouble on Sunday, but still managed second place. It’s the first time, for a long time, that we’ve seen the Colombian looking troubled. Bernal is used to dominating races, his climbing ability did look unmatchable, but has that all changed? If Thomas and Froome can up their game, Ineos will have a change of putting pressure on Jumbo-Visma, especially with Sivakov returning to the train. The problem is, Bernal must go early, Roglič looks too strong in the sprint.
Nairo Quintana – the little Colombian looked way off the pace climbing Ventoux, but the Tour de l’Ain was more like it. Given he is still recovering from a training crash, his recent performance was encouraging. He’ll be pleased if he follows the best and competes for the win.
Emanuel Buchmann – the consistent German rarely fails to deliver. Bora have a strong team to support him, don’t underestimate them. As this is his first race back, I can’t guarantee he’ll go well, but I do expect it.
Tadej Pogačar – with all eyes on Roglič and Bernal, it’s amazing to think he could slip under the radar. His performance at the Vuelta was out of this world, but he’ll need to be at that level if he wants to challenge for the win. In his favour is his sprint, he’s the fastest finisher of all the GC men.
Prediction Time
The climb is going to be carnage, and I expect to see Primož Roglič taking the stage.
David Hunter
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