While the classics starts are gathered in Belgium and most of the best grand tour stars are battling it out on the Catalonian roads, another group of stage racers are in Corsica for a unique event on the cycling calendar. With a sprint stage, a time trial and a mountain stage, the Criterium International is a grand tour in a very compressed format and even though it no longer seems to enjoy the prestige it had a few years ago, it is still one of the unique events on the cycling calendar.

 

The week after Milan-Sanremo offers the best stage race riders no less than three events to test their legs. One of the options is the iconic Criterium International whose unique compression of a grand tour into a two-day event has always made it one of the most appealing races on the calendar.

 

First run in 2932 under the name of Criterium National de la Route, it has a deep history.  For many years it was considered a sort of French national championship and was finally opened to non–French cyclists in 1979. Since then it has become a highly esteemed event on the calendar that has been won by cycling giants like Jacques Anquetil, Sean Kelly, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Stephen Roche, Joop Zoetemelk, Laurent Fignon, Jens Voigt, Cadel Evans and Chris Froome.

 

What makes the race special is the fact that it includes a flat stage, a mountain stage and a time trial in just two days. Hence, it tests all the key skills of a bike rider in an intense weekend of racing. However, the nature of the race has changed on several occasions as it is one of the races that is not linked to a region. Upon its creation in 1932, it was held as a one-day race in the Vallée de Chevreuse, finishing in the Parc des Princes velodrome in Paris. From 1941 to 1943, two races were organized each year: one in Nazi-occupied France and one in the free French State. As of 1959 the race location changed every year. The edition of 1960 took place in Oran in French Algeria. From 1963 to 1966 the Critérium was held as a stage race for the first time, and again every year since 1978.

 

From 2001 to 2009 the race was organized in the Ardennes with all stages starting and finishing in or around Charleville-Mézières. That made turned it into a race for strong riders who could handle medium mountains and do a good final time trial. In 2010, organizers ASO moved the race to Corsica and that has changed the nature of the race. While it still includes the three different kinds of stages, the hard stage is now a real mountaintop finish on the Col de l’Osepdale and this has turned it into a race for true stage racers. While Jens Voigt dominated the race while it was held in the Ardennes, winning it on five occasions, the winners list is now dominated by grand tour contenders.

 

Criterium International finds itself in a constant battle with Settimana Coppi e Bartali and Volta a Catalunya for the attention of the stage racers. In 2013, the fact that the Tour de France started in Corsica gave the French race an upper hand and it attracted a star-studded line-up. Since then, things have changed. While Coppi e Bartali remains a largely Italian affair, the Catalonian race has developed into the most competitive one-week race on the calendar, attracting almost all the stars every year. The big loser is the Criterium International which is now completely dominated by French riders.

 

This is reflected in the winners list. While Frank Schleck, Cadel Evans and Chris Froome won the race in the early years in Corsica, the 2014 and 2015 editions have been won by Jean-Christophe Peraud. Last year’s race was seen as an internal French battle between the veteran and Thibaut Pinot and it was the Ag2r captain who took his most notable victory in an otherwise disastrous season, with Fabio Felline delivering the international flavor by taking a surprise third place.

 

The course

Criterium International has a well-known formula with three stages packed into an intense weekend. During the years in the Ardennes, the race started with a long, flat stage before the race was decided by the combination of a hilly stage and a time trial on the final day. Since the race moved to Corsica, the order has been changed and now the double-stage comes on the first day. On the island, things have always started with a short, flat morning stage along the coast where the riders have been tested in an uphill sprint and a short time trial in the afternoon. Things have been decided in the iconic mountaintop finish on the Col de l’Ospedale on the final day. This is again the format for this year’s race.

 

Stage 1:

As usual, the race starts with a short stage starting and finishing in the coastal city of Porto Vecchio. After the start, the riders will follow the flat coastal roads to the southernmost point of the island and then continue along the coast before contesting the intermediate sprint at the 56.5km mark. Here they will head inland to tackle slightly hillier terrain. The Cote de Sotta (1.1km, 5.6%) comes after 73.5km of racing and will determine the first leader in the KOM classification. From there, they will return along mainly flat roads to Porto-Vecchio where they will face the well-known uphill sprint. The final kilometre averages 3.3%.

 

The course has been altered as the riders will be head to the south this year. The nature of the stage hasn’t changed but it seems to be slightly less hilly.

 

Last year Ben King rode to a surprise win from a breakaway in this stage. The previous winners are Nacer Bouhanni, Theo Bos, Florian Vachon, Simon Geschke and Russell Downing.

 

 

 

 

Stage 2:

While the morning stage was all about survival, the afternoon will offer the first chance to make a difference in the battle for the overall win. The riders face a 7km time trial in Porto-Vecchio which is completely identical to the one that was used last year. It is not entirely flat as there are a number of small hills, most notably an uphill drag to the line. Furthermore, it is very technical in the first part and only the final 3km give some room for the riders to really use their power.

 

Last year Fabio Felline won the stage ahead of his teammate Bob Jungels and Manuele Boaro while Thbaut Pinot confirmed his progress by taking fourth. The previous winners are Tom Dumoulin, Richie Porte, Cadel Evans, Andreas Klöden and David Millar.

 

 

 

 

Stage 3:

The time trial was a chance to gain a few seconds but the most decisive stage is definitely the well-known mountaintop finish on the Col de l’Opedale. The 171.5km starts in Porto Vecchio and leads the riders along the flat coastal road to the north until they get to the first intermediate sprint in Solenzara at the 39km mark. Here they head into the hilly terrain north of the starting city as they tackle the three climbs of Col de Larone (5.2km, 8.1%), Col de Bavella (7.9km, 8.8%) and Col de Bacinu (10km, 4.5%)in quick succession while they head back towards the south.

 

After the latter climb, they descend to sea level and then face the small leg breaker of Cote de Ceccia (2.1km, 6.1%) at the 128.5km as they head to the coast before following the coastal road back to Porto-Vecchio where the final intermediate sprint comes just 17km from the finish. Then it’s straight onto the final climb of the Col de l’Ospedale which averages 6.2% over 14.1km. It’s a tough climb with a relatively constant gradient of 7-8% for most of the first half. Then it gets easier with 5-6% gradients for most of the time but the 13th kilometre is very steep with a gradient of 10.4% before it levels out for the final 1100m.

 

While the final part of the stage hasn’t changed, the early part seems to have become significantly tougher as the first two climbs are very hard. This will turn it into a more selective race that suits the real climbers who will be ready to battle it on the Col de l’Ospedale which is a very tough climb where the strongest have always come to the fore.

 

Jean-Christophe Peraud has won the stage two years in a row. The previous winners are Pierrick Fedrigo (twice), Chris Froome and Frank Schleck.

 

 

 

 

 

The favourites

With a flat stage, a time trial and a mountain stage packed into just two days, the Criterium International tests all aspects of a complete rider and it requires good skills in all terrains to win the race. However, the time trial is relatively short and the time gaps are usually limited. The Col de l’Ospedale may not be a very hard climb as only the final three kilometres are really difficult but it still creates bigger time gaps than the TT and it also offers bonus seconds that can almost erase the time gaps from the TT. Hence, the race is mostly dominated by climbers but the TT will decide the race if the best riders are close in the mountain stage.

 

The opening stage has occasionally played a role if things have split in the crosswinds and there have sometimes been small splits in the uphill sprint. However, there won’t be much wind on Saturday and as it will mainly be a head- or a tailwind, the only real danger will be splits in the finale which can easily be avoided by an attentive rider. Hence, the race will be decided on the Col de l’Ospedale, with the TT putting the finishing touches to the final GC.

 

Last year Thibaut Pinot went into the race as the overwhelming favourite and was on track for the win when he finished fourth in the time trial. However, he was too eager in the mountain stage where he attacked way too early and paid for the efforts in the end when Jean-Christophe Peraud countered the move. Hence, he had to settle for second.

 

Pinot is again the overwhelming favourite to win this year’s race and this year it is hard to imagine that anyone will be beat him. He has been flying all year since he finished second in GP Marseillaise. He climbed and time trialled well in Algarve and then finished fifth overall in Tirreno where he again did a very good time trial. We didn’t get the chance to see him on a climb but the performance proves that the form is good.

 

In the past he would probably have lost time to most of his rivals in the TT but now he will probably be better than all but Jerome Coppel. He is clearly the best climber in this race and has the strongest team at his side. Pinot is the clear favourite to win the race.

 

Jean-Christophe Peraud has won the race twice in a row but it will be hard to make the hattrick. The veteran had a very bad 2015 season and in fact only the Corsican race went well for him. This year we haven’t really got the chance to see what he can do as he had the usual slow start to his year and then had his first goal in Tirreno where the queen stage was cancelled. He did a poor time trial but he has never been good in the power TT in the Italian race.

 

Last year Peraud went into the race with a very bad preparation and this year he should be in a much better place. However, it will be hard to beat Pinot. He has not really been up there on the climbs since last year’s race and at his age, it is difficult to imagine that he will be able to return to his best. He may be a TT specialist but this course is too short for him and he is likely to lose time to Pinot there. Nonetheless, you can never rule out the double winner who stands out as the biggest threat for Pinot.

 

Another rival for Pinot could be his lieutenant Sebastien Reichenbach. The climber surprised everybody by beating his captain in the Tirreno TT. He has never done good TTs in the past but it seems that he has taken a major step forward. In this race, he will probably have to work for Pinot but he will be ready to strike if the leader fades. If he again beats Pinot in the TT, he may be allowed to take his own chance and if he can follow Pinot on the Col de l’Ospedale, he will probably be allowed to take the win.

 

Arnold Jeannesson has left FDJ after a few disappointing years and this has apparently done him good. He was already strong in Provence but it was Paris-Nice that really showed his form as he was able to stay with the best on the climbs. He is clearly one of the favourites for the mountain stage but he will probably lose a bit too much time in the time trial.

 

Pierre Latour is the next big French climber as he proved when he finished third behind Contador and Quintana in the Route du Sud and rode to top 10 results in Vuelta a Burgos and Tour de l’Ain in his neo-pro season. He has had a slow start to the year as he has mostly been working for his team but this is his first big goal. His main assets are his climbing skills but he has actually done good TTs in the past.

 

Jerome Coppel is one of the big favourites to win the time trial and this will put him in pole position before the mountain stage. However, he had to abandon Paris-Nice due to illness so he hasn’t had the best preparation. He is a solid climber but he has never been able to match the likes of Pinot on a mountain like this. He needs a solid buffer after the TT to take the overall win and the time trial is probably too short for that.

 

Cannondale go into the race with a two-pronged attack. Pierre Rolland will be the leader but he didn’t show excellent form in Paris-Nice. He will lose time in the time trial and the Col de l’Ospedale is probably not hard enough for him. Lawson Craddock could be a better card as he is getting better and better. He climbed really well in Paris-Nice and he time trials much better than Rolland. He won’t win the race but he will do well.

 

Romain Sicard leads Direct Energie. He hasn’t done much racing yet and his form hasn’t been impressive. He is rarely very good at this time of the year so we doubt that he has the form to win. It will also be interesting to see what neo-pro Lilian Calmejane can do and he may overshadow the captain if he has the legs that allowed him to finish third in the Tour de Provence. He will lose time in the time trial but could be among the best on the climbs. However, he was not at the same level in Paris-Nice.

 

Alexis Vuillermoz is always strong in this race but he crashed out of Paris-Nice so his form is uncertain. Furthermore, he will lose a lot of time in the TT and he doesn’t really like the very long climbs. Alexandre Geniez showed great from by doing the TT of his life in Tirreno but as he is only third in the FDJ hierarchy, he will probably not get his own chance.

 

Finally, we will point to the strong Bora-Argon 18 team with Emanuel Buchmann, Dominik Nerz, Patrick Konrad, Silvio Herklotz, Gregor Mühlberger and Jose Mendes who can all do well in a race like this. However, none of them have shown very good form recently.

 

***** Thibaut Pinot

**** Jean-Christophe Peraud, Sebastien Reichenbach

*** Arnold Jeannesson, Pierre Latour, Jerome Coppel

** Pierre Rolland, Lawson Craddock, Romain Sicard, Alexis Vuillermoz, Alexandre Geniez, Lilian Calmejane, Pierrick Fedrigo

* Thomas Voeckler, Chris Anker Sørensen, Emanuel Buchmann, Dominik Nerz, Patrick Konrad, Silvio Herklotz, Sam Oomen, David Belda, Luis Angel Mate, Kevin Ledanois, Delio Fernandez, Davide Villella