ProTeam Team of attackers to Critérium du Dauphiné
Lotto Soudal will head to the 73rd edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné - a French 8-day WorldTour stage race - with a team of attackers. Besides five Belgian riders (Steff Cras, Sébastien Grignard, Sylvain Moniquet, Brent Van Moer and Tim Wellens) also the Australian Harry Sweeny and the Brit Matthew Holmes will be at the start in Issoire. Herman Frison, sports director at Lotto Soudal, explains the line-up for the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Herman Frison: “Every rider who wants to perform well at the Tour de France, also needs to be in good shape at the Dauphiné. That is why the level of racing at this French stage race is always really high. In addition to that, this year’s course is quite tough. There are two sprint opportunities, at most. But honestly, I really doubt if there will be a bunch sprint at all at this year’s Dauphiné.”
“We head to the Dauphiné without any general classification ambitions. Tim Wellens might have finished 7th at this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico, but he will not target the GC at the Dauphiné. That is why Tim will race aggressively and seize breakaway opportunities. Besides, we don’t have a sprinter in our line-up. So, we need to attack every day and in this way go for a stage victory.”
“No doubt there will be several nice opportunities, but a lot also depends on how the GC teams take on the first couple of stages. I immediately think of Thomas De Gendt, who won the Dauphiné opening stage back in 2017. Our youngsters like Grignard, Moniquet and Van Moer already proved that they dare to attack. And when everything falls into place, it is possible to win a stage at a WorldTour event such as the Dauphiné. Of course, this is not an exact science but we definitely will have a go with the entire team!”, concludes Herman Frison.
Line-up Lotto Soudal Critérium du Dauphiné: Steff Cras, Sébastien Grignard, Matthew Holmes, Sylvain Moniquet, Harry Sweeny, Brent Van Moer and Tim Wellens.
Stages
Stage 1 – Sunday 30 May: Issoire-Issoire (182 km)
Stage 2 – Monday 31 May: Brioude – Saugues (173 km)
Stage 3 – Tuesday 1 June: Langeac – Saint-Haon-Le-Vieux (172.5 km)
Stage 4 – Wednesday 2 June: Firminy – Roche-La-Molière (16.4 km – Individual Time Trial)
Stage 5 – Thursday 3 June: Saint-Chamon – Saint-Vallier (175 km)
Stage 6 – Friday 4 June: Loriol-sur-Drôme – Le Sappey-en-Chartreuse (167.5 km)
Stage 7 – Saturday 5 June : Saint-Martin-Le-Vinoux – La Plagne (171.5 km)
Stage 8 – Sunday 6 June : La Léchère-les-Bains – Les Gets (147 km)
