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Criterium du Dauphine 2017 heads to Alpe d'Huez
A different route into resort makes it easier for fans to watch
As predicted the Criterium du Dauphine is coming to Alpe d’Huez and the organisers have certainly managed to surprise us.
As reported back on the 13th of February and as widely rumoured in the cycling press the prestigious Tour de France warm up stage race, the Criterium du Dauphine, will have a stage finish here in Alpe d’Huez on Saturday 10th June 2017.
The one thing that wasn’t reported or predicted though was how exactly the race would make its way up to resort from Bourg d’Oisans at the bottom of the mountain. In an unheralded and unprecedented move the race will come up the Sarenne gorge route rather than the “normal” 21 bends from the base of the mountain.
The Route
In a surprising move, the final 30km of the stage will see the riders ride through the town of Bourg d’Oisans on the D1091 continuing towards Briancon and Les Deux Alpes before taking a left hand turn by the lake on to the D25 to tackle the sinuously daunting Col de Sarenne, which covers 15km at almost 7% average gradient, with some nasty ramps of around 13% to boot.
The route will bring the race all the way up to resort at the very far end by the Altiport and the golf course, at an altitude of 1979 metres, before descending into resort by the Les Bergers lift station and heading off to the left hand side at the large roundabout (the one with all the European flags in it). The race will then descend out of resort on the “alternate” road past the garage before re-joining the main, and normal race route of the 21 bends, road (the D211) for the final 3.7km of the race back up into resort finishing as normal next to the RifNel nursery slope up at the top end of town by the DMC lift station.
The alternate road re-joins the main road in between bends 4 and 3 on the way up into resort (for those of you that know the road it joins at the section with a central reservation by the large illuminated information board).
This route will make for great for viewing in resort as its easily affords fans the opportunity to catch the action on two occasions, the first time over in the Les Bergers/Altiport area and then while the cyclists make their way out of resort you can nip across to either the finish line area or cut across town to the old town area (by the O’Bar) and see the action for the second time.
Stage 7, the Queen stage, which starts in Aoste is 167.5km in length and will see the riders having a very tough day. Before the final climb up to Alpe d’Huez the riders will have already tackled the category 4 Cote de Berland, the category 2 Col du Cucheron and the category 1 Col de Porte and the Hors Category (beyond classification) climb up the Col de Sarenne.
The stage will almost certainly determine the overall race general classification (GC) and it may well come to shoot out on the Col de Sarenne between Team Sky’s 3 times race winner Christopher Froome, BMC’s Australian star Richie Porte and Spanish superstar “El Pistolero” Alberto Contador of Team Trek Segafredo. But don’t be surprised to see Chambery based team AG2R La Mondiale have a crack for stage glory with French star Romain Bardet likely to be their favoured rider.
The Criterium du Dauphine starts on Sunday 4th June with a tough and undulating 170km stage starting and finishing in Saint Etienne. Stage 2 sees the riders covering 171km between Saint-Chamond and Arlanc, whilst stage 3 covers 184km between Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and Tullins.
The GC will begin to take shape in earnest on stage 4, a 23.5km individual time trial between La Tour du Pin and Bourgoin Jallieu, in between Lyon and Grenoble. Stage 5, the 175km route between La Tour-de-Salvagny and Macon, will provide the sprinters with their final opportunity for glory before the final 3 brutal days in the Alps.
Stage 6 will provide the riders with some valuable Tour de France reconnaissance as they will tackle the HC climb up to Mont du Chat at 1504 metres. This climb will feature towards the end of stage 9 of the Tour de France to Chambery in July. After the Alpe d’Huez stage, the final stage (stage 8) sees the exhausted peloton cover a short but very sharp 115km from Albertville to Plateau de Solaison, finishing with a very tough HC climb of 9.8km at average gradient of 8.2%.
I think it will be difficult to bet against Team Sky’s Christopher Froome pulling on the leaders’ yellow jersey after the final stage, as he will no doubt be targeting success here as the final part of his meticulous preparation for the Tour de France in July.
It's sure to be a great week of cycling and well worth taking in if you get the chance. The Criterium du Dauphine is far more relaxed than the Tour de France and you really can get up close to the riders. If you are lucky enough to be in Alpe d’Huez that Saturday, make sure you have a pen paper and your camera with you as the many of the riders will happily pose for photos and sign autographs after the stage. The last time the race came to resort in 2010 my son Harrison managed to get the autographs of the whole Team Sky squad as well a much treasured photo with Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.
