Tinkoff-Saxo sends a team of climbers to the mountainous 67th edition of Critérium du Dauphiné. Robert Kiserlovski, confident about his form, leads the team in the search for stage wins and a good GC result against tough competition.
 
Tinkoff-Saxo lines up with the overall goal of having Robert Kiserlovski achieve a good GC result, while stage wins remain a priority. And according to sports director Bruno Cenghialta, the Croatian climber starts the race in shape.
 
“We have a squad with good climbers and this year's Dauphiné is quite demanding, especially the four last stages, which are mountain stages. Kiserlovski feels very confident about his current form and he has worked very well recently. We will focus on him to achieve a good GC result. Jesper Hansen comes fresh from the overall victory in the Tour of Norway and I think he can perform well on the climbs. So, with these two riders and guys like Chris Anker, Pires, Beltran and Poljanski, I think we can realistically aim at a stage win”, says Bruno Cenghialta.
 
Lining up alongside Kiserlovski are Chris Anker Sørensen, Evgeny Petrov, Pawel Poljanski, Bruno Pires, Jesper Hansen, Jay McCarthy and Edward Beltran.

Bruno Cenghialta notes that while Kiserlovski will play the part as team leader, one of May’s big surprises, Jesper Hansen, could prove capable as well.
 
“According to the plan Kiserlovski will be our rider for the GC but we might get another positive surprise from Jesper Hansen. He showed his form in Norway and his morale is without doubt high right now”, says Cenghialta and adds:
 
“In what regards the parcours, we have a team time trial on stage 3 that is quite unusual and in which one can lose a minute quite easily. It isn't long, a bit over 24km, but it could potentially cost us. We will try to limit our losses there, since our squad here doesn’t have many TT specialists. We aim at a deficit of 30-40 seconds, which would be a good result”.

The 67th edition of Critérium du Dauphiné presents the riders with 1,214km during the course of eight stages in southeastern France. Four stages in a row, all with summit finishes, constitute the second part of the race. Cenghialta underlines that the GC will be decided there.
 
“The four last stages are equally demanding and I couldn't single out one of them as the most decisive one, where the GC will be at stake. All of them have aspects that could turn the GC tables around. There is one with a serious mountain finish, while another one has more climbs and we will have to tackle all four with the same concentration", concludes Bruno Cenghialta.