Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 Route stage 6: Frontenex

Critérium du Dauphiné 2018 Route stage 6: Frontenex – La Rosière

Saturday, 9 June 2018 - The penultimate stage on the Critérium du Dauphiné is the same as stage 11 in the upcoming Tour de France. At 110 kilometres, the race travels from Frontenex to La Rosière. The route takes in the Montée de Bisanne, Col du Pré and Cormet de Roselend to finish uphill in ski resort Espace San Bernardo after a final climb of 17.6 kilometres.

The route of the Tour de France stage is 1.5 kilometre shorter, that’s the only difference. The Dauphiné begins in Frontenex and the Tour in Albertville, which is slightly closer to the base of the first climb, Montée de Bisanne, a 12.4 kilometres toil at 8.1%.

The riders fly down to Beaufort only to race back up another pass. Col du Pré is 12.6 kilometres at 7.6%, so similar to the Montée de Bisanne, although the Pré features a pepped up section before the top. The last 2 kilometres go up at more than 10%.

Just a short descent and 4 rolling kilometres before the road goes back up again. The Cormet de Roselend is 5.7 kilometres and averaging 6.4%. Time for a breather, as the route drops down for almost 20 kilometres to reach Bourg-Saint-Maurice.

Three down, one to go. The ascent to La Rosière amounts to 17.6 kilometres, while the average gradient is 5.8%. The middle section is the most arduous part. Starting at kilometre 7 the road slopes at 8.2% for 6 kilometres before it flattens out to 4.6% in the last 4.3 kilometres.

Gregor Mühlberger and La Rosière, no, that’s not the best match you can think of. In the 2015 Tour de l’Avenir the Austrian (now 24) was leading the race when he took a wrong turn in the last kilometre. Guillaume Martin said thank you, and climbed to victory. The year before that, in 2014, Miguel Ángel López won the Tour de l’Avenir stage to La Rosière.

The first three riders on the line win time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds. The race does not include intermediate sprints.