One year ago, a Cannondale team of outsiders won the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné when Alessandro De Marchi memorably held off Chris Froome to take a solo victory in Risoul. This year the team is back in the French race with a focus on stage wins.
Cannondale Pro Cycling will return to action in France after the Giro d'Italia. From Sunday, June 8, through Sunday, June 15, the Green Machine will attend the Critérium du Dauphiné. The eight stages scheduled for the 2014 edition, include an opening individual time trial in Lyon and seven road stages, with the final stage that will finish on the summit of the famed Courchevel. This race will be a chance for the eight attending Cannondale Pro Cycling riders to stand out.
"The Critèrium du Dauphiné is a hard race and an important test for the riders who are going to aim high at the Tour de France," said team director Alberto Volpi, who will lead the team with Gilles Pauchard. "Our goal is to chase the best performance and look for stage wins.
"We don't have a unique leader to support but our eight riders are free to fight. I would like to give room and trust to everyone. The chance to stand out in such an important race must be a strong motivation to do well. We know how challenging the race will be but the stage win taken by De Marchi last year is a good example to follow."
The team selected by Volpi and Gilles Pauchard includes the above mentioned Alessandro De Marchi, who won the final stage of Dauphiné in 2013 in Risoul after an epic breakaway; Damiano Caruso, a key rider for Cannondale Pro Cycling in the mountains of the Tour de France; as well as Marco Marcato, George Bennett, Maciej Bodnar, Kristijan Koren, Jean-Marc Marino and Josè Sarmiento, with a few of these riders on the long list selected by the team to attend the Grande Boucle in July.
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