Alejandro Valverde enjoyed a well-deserved rest period following probably the most impressive spring season of his career, but even though the Spaniard was set to continue his victorious march towards the Tour de France by taking on his closes rivals, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) at the Criterium du Dauphine, the Movistar leader eventually postponed his return to competition and will line up at the Route du Sud from June 20.

Valverde was expected to lead the Movistar team at the Criterium du Dauphine, kicking off on June 8, following his participation at the altitude training camp held in Sierra Nevada. However, without pointing out to particular reasons, the 34-year old Spaniard decided to change his initial schedule and skip the WorldTour event, preferring to ride three-day Route du Sud instead.

In such circumstances, Team Movistar line-up for the Criterium du Dauphine consists of: John Gadret, Sylwester Szmyd, Giovanni Visconti, Benat Intxausti, Enrique Sanz, Igor Anton, Imanol Erviti and Ivan Gutierrez.