Favorites stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné 2024 | Pedersen to face off against in-form Bennett?

The Giro is over, the initial high-altitude training camps to prepare for the Tour de France are behind us, and that means it's time to start the important preparation races for La Grande Boucle, beginning with the Critérium du Dauphiné, which starts on Sunday. IDLProCycling.com guides you through everything you need to know about the first stage.

Course stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné 2024

We start off in the middle of France, where Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule has the honor of being the start and finish location for the opening stage of this edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné. While the organization has sometimes opted for tough opening stages in the past, this time we are dealing with one of the (relatively) easier days in this stage race.

From the start of this 172.5 kilometer long day, we move to the part where most of the altitude meters lie hidden, with the Côte de Jenzat (1.4 km at 6.9%), Côte de Gannat (2.5 km at 6.0%) and Côte de Chouvigny (2.4 km at 7.9%) as obstacles in the first fifty kilometers. It is during this phase that a strong breakaway group could potentially take off.

Then, we gradually head towards Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, where two local laps of thirty kilometers each are on the menu. These include a tricky hill with a descent, but with a long, final straight line of more than four kilometers, we expect little action there. For general classification teams like Visma | Lease a Bike, BORA-hansgrohe, Soudal Quick-Step and UAE-Team Emirates, positioning will be especially important here.

The last time a major race finished in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule was in 2015. That year, the third stage of Paris-Nice finished in the town, with Michael Matthews emerging as the winner.

Climbs
17,5 km: Côte de Jenzat (1,4 km at 6,9%)
26,9 km: Côte de Gannat (2,5 km at 6,0%)
44,4 km: Côte de Chouvigny (2,4 km at 7,9%)

Times
Start: 12.50 PM
Finish: around 4.50 PM

Weather stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné 2024

In the morning hours, there is still some chance of rain in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, but it doesn't seem like the riders will have to deal with it later in the day. With a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, it is a bit chilly for the time of year.

Favorites stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné 2024

The Critérium du Dauphiné is not really a race you associate with sprinters, given the number of altitude meters that are usually on the menu. However, every year a few fast men opt for the race, often to gain toughness for the important races that follow in the coming months.

For this first stage, we see two absolute top favorites: Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek and Sam Bennett of Decathlon AG2R. The Dane, as usual, did not go on a high-altitude camp with his teammates, but is bringing Alex Kirsch, Ryan Gibbins and also Toms Skujins, three men that will do all they can to help him achieve top results.

Bennett recently showed in the Four Days of Dunkirk that he is in peak form, which actually applies to his entire team. With Dorian Godon, Edvald Boasson Hagen and lead-out Oliver Naesen, he also has some strong riders by his side. If the Irishman can grab the victory here, it would be his first WorldTour win since 2022.

Other teams are also traveling with a sprinter, although in many cases these are better climbing types like Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny), Magnus Cort (Uno-X) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar), Emils Liepins (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Clément Venturini (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) and Davide de Pretto (Jayco AlUla).

Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan Team) might be able to snatch a place of honor, either through an early breakaway or not. The same is true for the likes of Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) or Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost).

Who are the favorites for stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2024, according to IDLProCycling.com?

Top favorite: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R)
Outsiders: Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny), Magnus Cort (Uno-X) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty)
Long shots: Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar), Emils Liepins (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Clément Venturini (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Ide Schelling (Astana Qazaqstan Team)