The 1st stage of the Dauphiné is a hilly race with the last summit 12 kilometres before the finish.
Stage 2 is similar in terms of elevation gain – some 2,900 metres -, while the last climb peaks out with 10 kilometres to go. The home straight runs false flat uphill.
Sprinters are likely to have it their way in stage 3, the first half of which is hilly and the second half predominantly flat.
The 4th stage is an individual time trial on an undulating course of 31.1 kilometres.
Stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné is the mirror image of stage 3. After a flat opener the riders enter the hilly second half, while the finale is a 6.5 kilometres long descent.
The first uphill finish happens in stage 6. The riders traverse the Col des Aravis in the pre-finale before finishing on two short up climbs at over 6%.
The 7th stage packs over 4,000 vertical metres together inside the last 100 kilometres of the race. Two intermediate climbs – Col de la Madeleine, Col du Mollard – ‘pave the way’ for a finale on the Col de la Croix de Fer, which is 13.1 kilometres climb at 6.2%. Ramping up to double digits more than once, the second half is much steeper than that average gradient suggests.
The last stage of the Dauphiné takes in five intermediate climbs. The finale consists of a long descent down the Col de Porte before a punchy climb – 1.8 kilometres at 14.2% – to the Fort de la Bastille above Grenoble rounds things off.
Critérium du Dauphiné 2023: route, profiles, more
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