After two days of survival, it is finally time for the GC riders to test their legs on the third day of the Criterium du Dauphiné. The 24.5km team time trial may not create massive time gaps but as it is an important dress rehearsal for stage 9 of the Tour de France, it will be a crucial one for the ambitious Tour de France contenders who also hope to deal their rivals a blow in the battle for the overall victory in the Dauphiné.

 

The course

For the first time in recent history, there will be no individual time trial in the Criterium du Dauphiné and instead the only time trialling will come in the team time trial on day 3. The race hasn’t had such a stage since 1980 but when it was announced that the stage 9 team time trial would be the only important TT in this year’s Tour, it was always an obvious choice for ASO to skip the traditional ITT in favour of a TTT. Unsurprisingly, they have designed a route that strongly resembles the one that will be found in the Tour, both when it comes to distance and terrain. Its inclusion has had a strong impact on the selection policy of the teams who have not only sent their leaders to the French preparation race but have designed entire rosters that strongly resemble the ones that will be found in the Tour later his summer.

 

At 24.5km, the stage is a few kilometres shorter than the 28km test in the Tour de France and it is a bit less hilly than the Tour TTT which ends at the top of a pretty tough climb. The Dauphiné stage brings the riders from Roanne to Montagny and can be split into two parts. The first section is mainly flat and only includes a small climb and subsequent descent. After 14km of racing, the riders get to the intermediate time check and after another short section of flat roads, the remaining part is almost all uphill. The road never gets very steep but the entire final part consists of a steady climbing effort to the finish in Montagny. There are a few sharp turns along the way and a few technical challenges in the early part in Roanne but otherwise the stage is not too difficult from a technical point of view.

 

Montagny has not hosted a major bike race in recent years.

 

 

 

 

The weather

Rain is forecasted for stages later this week but the nice start to the race will continue on the third day. It will be a pretty cloudy day but the sun should still show itself along the way. It is forecasted to be dry day and the heat of the previous stages has disappeared as the maximum temperature will only be 21 degrees.

 

There will be a moderate wind from a northerly direction which means that the riders will first have a cross-tailwind, then a cross-headwind and finally a crosswind. The wind may pick up a bit near the end of the stage but in general all teams should have equal conditions.

 

The favourites

With no prologue in this year’s race, the first two stages of the race have been all about survival for the GC riders and apart from Wilco Kelderman who went down in a crash in today’s finale, they have all got through the challenges unscathed. Tomorrow is the day that they have been looking forward to and stage 3 is probably the one that has received most pre-race attention.

 

The team time trial will open the first time gaps between the overall contenders but its significance may not be too big when it comes to deciding this race. In fact, time gaps in short team time trials are usually pretty small and even though the hilly terrain may create slightly bigger differences than usual, the gaps are unlikely to be very important when we get to the final four stages that all have summit finishes.

 

Nonetheless, this is a very important stage for all teams who will use it as an important dress rehearsal for the Tour de France. This has prompted many squads to select rosters that are almost identical to the ones they expect to line up at La Grande Boucle and they will probably be more concerned with the implications for the Tour than by the actual result in tomorrow’s test.

 

However, the stage will still create the first differences between the overall contenders and some riders may lose so much time that they can no longer target a spot on the podium. At the same time, team time trials are always some of the most prestigious stages and the big teams that specialize in this discipline, will be targeting the victory.

 

The course includes a bit of climbing and it won’t be a stage for the really big powerhouses. However, this is a race for climbers and so all riders in this event should be able to handle the challenges. The good time triallists in this race are also pretty strong climbers and this is a stage that will be determined by the homogeneity and amount of firepower on the flats and in moderately hilly terrain.

 

BMC go into this season as the reigning world champions but in the first two team time trials of the year, they have been off the pace. However, this is the first time that they got into a TTT with one of their strongest line-ups and on paper they have a very complete and powerful team for this kind of challenge.

 

With Rohan Dennis, Tejay van Garderen, Daniel Oss and Manuel Quinziato, they have four of the six riders that helped them win the World Championships and they are joined by Joey Rosskopf, Samuel Sanchez and Michael Schär who are all solid time triallists. The only really weak point is climber Dylan Teuns who won’t be able to make much of a contribution. However, they have a very homogeneous team and the four main powerhouses are all very strong in hilly terrain. They are all expected to line up at the Tour de France and should be in solid condition. Oss is clearly riding extremely well and Dennis and Quinziato were good in the Tour of Belgium. On paper, BMC have the strongest team for this stage and they are our favourites to win the stage. If they take the win, Quinziato could ride himself into yellow as he is best-placed in the overall standings.

 

Astana are not known as one of the TTT specialists but in this race they have a formidable line-up. Lars Boom, Lieuwe Westra, Andriy Grivko and Dmitriy Gruzdev are all big powerhouses in this kind of terrain and team leader Vincenzo Nibali has improved massively in TTs. Furthermore, Rein Taaramae is a solid time triallist and so the team has a very homogeneous team with lots of power on the climbs and on the flats.

 

The 8 riders on the roster are likely to be joined by Jakob Fuglsang to form the 9-rider team for the Tour de France and so tomorrow’s stage will be a hugely important test for them. In the past, they have done well in tricky TTTs as they won the opening stage of the 2013 Vuelta. Their team for this race is even stronger so it won’t be impossible for them to win this stage. If that’s the case, Grivko could find himself in yellow at the end of the day.

 

Etixx-QuickStep are former world champions and have not won a team time trial this year. They will be keen to make up for that gap in their victory list. However, they don’t have their strongest teams for TTTs in this race and several of their biggest specialists are missing from the start list.

 

Nonetheless, they could very well find themselves on the top step of the podium. In the past, Tony Martin has almost won team time trials himself and he can make a huge difference in this kind of stage. The German is very strong in this moderately hilly terrain and he proved in stage 1 that he is in very good condition. Niki Terpstra will be the other big powerhouse in the team while Maximu Bouet and Pieter Serry – if he is back in good condition after his injury – should also do well.

 

However, David de la Cruz, Julian Alaphilippe, Stijn Vandenbergh and Martin Velits are no TT specialists and they will have a hard time making much of a contribution. To win the stage, Martin and Terpstra have to be at their very best but with an in-form Martin to guide the troops, a stage victory and a yellow jersey for Alaphilippe are definitely within their reach.

 

Team Sky have done a lot of work to improve in team time trials and that effort paid off in the Tour de Romandie where they won the opening stage. In this race, they hope to repeat that performance and they should be among the strongest in this stage.

 

They have lots of powerful riders in the roster but only Chris Froome can be regarded as a real specialist. However, Ian Stannard, Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan can all do decent TTs on their good days and with his track experience, Peter Kennaugh is usually a valuable card in TTTs. The Manxman will be keen to defend his lead and with a homogenous team, Sky should be among the best.

 

Cannondale-Garmin were once known as one of the best teams for team time trials but they have changed their focus. Nowadays, they rarely finish in the top 10 in TTTs as they no longer have the amount of specialists they once had. However, they have gathered a very strong team for this race with lots of time trialling power. Andrew Talansky, Sebastian Langeveld, Dylan van Baarle, Ramunas Navardauskas are all real specialists and Nathan Haas and Jack Bauer ate pretty powerful too. That makes for a very homogeneous team that should be able to do well and set Talansky well up for his title defence.

 

Looking at the names on the team, Movistar rarely pop up as a great squad for a team time trial. However, they are always among the best and always do well on hilly courses. In fact, they have often won team time trials in the Vuelta and those TTTs are not too different from tomorrow’s. In this race, they even have specialists Alex Dowsett and Jonathan Castroviejo on the roster and as they are joined by solid time triallists Alejandro Valverde, Gorka Izagirre, Benat Intxausti and Rory Sutherland who are all good in this terrain, they should be among the best.

 

MTN-Qhubeka did a very good team time trial when they made their Vuelta debut in 2014 and in this race they should again be able to do well. In fact they have lots of TT firepower as Edvald Boasson Hagen, Stephen Cummings, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Daniel Teklehaimanot are all solid time triallists. Their main weakness is that they have a few climbers that they need to bring to the finish but don’t be fooled by Louis Meintjes’ tiny stature. The South African is no poor time triallist and he should be able to keep up with the big engines that could achieve another great result for the African team.

 

Bora-Argon 18 may only have one real specialist in the team and there is no doubt that Jan Barta will have to do a huge amount of work. However, the German team have a very homogenous team and they have always been among the strongest in this discipline. Earlier this year they created a surprise when they beat a powerful Sky team to win the Giro del Trentino TTT and tomorrow they could again create a small surprise. They won’t win the stage but they could find themselves in top 5 contention.

 

LottoNL-Jumbo have a pretty strong team for this kind of test. Martijn Keizer, Jos van Emden, Wilco Kelderman, BramTankink and Maarten Wynants are all powerful riders who know how to do well in this terrain. The main issue is the fact that Kelderman crashed in today’s stage and it remains to be seen how he is feeling tomorrow. Furthermore, they rarely live up to expectations in TTTs but tomorrow may be the day for them to change that unfortunate trend.

 

IAM lost Matthias Brändle before the start of this race and he will be missed in tomorrow’s stage. However, they still have a strong team for this kind of test as Stef Clement, Reto Hollenstein, Marcel Wyss and Mathias Frank are all good time triallists. Frank is very keen to do a good GC in this race and his team should be strong enough to get it all off to a good start.

 

Lampre-Merida have never been known as a team for team time trials but tomorrow they should be able to do well. Rui Costa, Nelson Oliveira, Filippo Pozzato and Ruben Plaza are all powerful riders who are strog in this kind of terrain. Oliveira seems to be riding really well at the moment and after a couple of poor seasons, he has returned to his former level in the time trials. He will be the driving force that should set the team up for a good performance.

 

CyclingQuotes’ stage winner pick: BMC

Other winner candidates: Astana, Etixx-QuickStep

Outsiders: Sky, Cannondale-Garmin, Movistar

Jokers: MTN-Qhubeka, Bora-Argon 18, LottoNL-Jumbo, IAM, Lampre-Merida