Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) starts the newly named Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as the clear favourite when the eight-stage race begins on 7 June, the 19-year-old's final meaningful tune-up before his Tour de France debut in July. The race, formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné, runs until 14 June and retains its status as the pre-Tour proving ground, with a team time trial on stage 3, sprint-friendly middle stages and mountain-heavy finishes across the final weekend.
Race Stages
8 Stages • 1,208.1km total
| Stage | Date | Route | Distance | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jun 7 | Vizille – Saint-Ismier | 146.2 km | Hilly |
| 2 | Jun 8 | Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux – Le Puy-en-Velay | 234.3 km | Hilly |
| 3 | Jun 9 | Perreux – Perreux (TTT) | 28.4 km | TTT |
| 4 | Jun 10 | Le Puy-en-Velay – Montrond-les-Bains | 167.4 km | Flat |
| 5 | Jun 11 | Saint-Chamond – Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes | 195.8 km | Flat |
| 6 | Jun 12 | Saint-Vulbas – Crest-Voland | 182.3 km | Mountain |
| 7 | Jun 13 | La Bridoire – Grand Colombier | 133.6 km | Mountain |
| 8 | Jun 14 | Beaufort – Plateau de Solaison | 120.1 km | Mountain |
Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are all absent from the start list (which is yet to be confirmed at the time of writing). Their absence gives Seixas a very good shot at overall victory now, before he meets all of them at the Tour.
Why Seixas starts as favourite
Seixas won Itzulia Basque Country in April in dominant fashion, La Flèche Wallonne, the Faun-Ardèche Classic with a 41km solo move, and a summit stage at the Volta ao Algarve where he beat both Juan Ayuso and João Almeida on the Alto da Fóia. He also finished second at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind Pogačar. For a rider who turned 19 this year, the consistency across different race profiles, from punchy Ardennes to sustained climbing, is the strongest argument for his candidacy.
Seixas is one of the best climbers in the professional peloton, which is incredible considering his age. He has shown that he is the most capable of following Pogačar when he attacks and can really perform on all kinds of terrain. He has also shown talent across the board, with his time trial ability a key asset. His team line-up is extremely strong too, with TT specialists in Daan Hoole and Stefan Bissegger plus exceptional climbers like Matthew Riccitello, Nicolas Prodhomme and Léo Bisiaux. A week-long race where every rival targets you is a different exercise from winning a one-day Classic, and this is the test Seixas needs before July puts him alongside the full elite tier.
Who can take the race away from him
UAE Team Emirates-XRG bring the most dangerous setup, which is the norm these days. Isaac del Toro is the likeliest main leader after winning the UAE Tour overall in February and the overall title at Tirreno-Adriatico in March. He has stage-race composure and a summit finish already in the legs this season. João Almeida is the second card in a double-leader arrangement, returning after illness forced him to miss the Giro d'Italia. His fitness level is uncertain, but even at reduced readiness he gives UAE tactical depth. The team can pressure Seixas across both the team time trial and the mountain stages with two GC options.
Behind UAE, Lidl-Trek pair Juan Ayuso with Mattias Skjelmose. Ayuso has already beaten Seixas this season, taking the overall at Algarve in their first stage race of the year after a solid battle between the two. He lost to the teenager on the Fóia summit finish, but held on where it counted. He is, however, returning for the first time since abandoning Itzulia Basque Country, where illness and crashes disrupted his spring. Skjelmose adds a second punchy climbing option who can survive a varied week and was among the chasers behind Seixas at the Faun-Ardèche Classic.
Netcompany-Ineos come with a trio of potential leaders, and Oscar Onley is likely the spearhead of the squad. The rider from Kelso, Scotland, hasn't had the season he would have hoped for since moving to the British squad but he showed good legs early in the season at Algarve where he finished 4th in GC. With him they have Kevin Vauquelin and Carlos Rodríguez as alternatives rather than equal leaders. The three-card cluster can exploit any wobble from the favourites, even if none of them individually matches Seixas or Del Toro on current form. And the race is always traditionally unpredictable with a series of surprise winners in recent years.
Two more riders returning from absences add intrigue as Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) races for the first time since breaking his collarbone at Amstel Gold Race, though he has been back training at altitude. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) returns after crashing out of the Giro on stage 2 with concussion. Both have worked to get back into form in time with Buitrago having to reshape his Grand Tour season after missing out on his chance in Italy.
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), Dani Martínez (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Ivan Romeo (Movistar) are all outsiders in the GC fight and can all hunt stages in the mountains. Meanwhile, Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) and Dorian Godon (Netcompany-Ineos) will target the flatter days. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) comes back to road racing after winning Paris-Roubaix and the Marly Grav gravel race in the Netherlands and will be hoping he can continue his amazing season so far that also saw him podium at Milan-San Remo.
Seixas should win this race. His form is the deepest, his climbing the sharpest, and the absence of the sport's top three gives him a hierarchy he will not enjoy again in July. Del Toro is the most credible threat with a proven stage-race engine, and Ayuso is the wildcard if his spring disruptions have not cost him too much fitness. But there are so many names that could challenge.
Cover image credit: Jennifer Lindini
