2024 Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 7 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 7 of the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The 7th stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné takes in four intermediate climbs before a mountain top finish in ski station Samoëns 1600. The 145 kilometres long route includes an elevation gain of 4,268 metres. The climb to the line is a beast, spanning 10 kilometres with an average gradient of 9.3%.
The route climbs from the start, gradually getting steeper until the Col des Saisies is crested after 33.4 kilometres of action. The Saisies is a 9.4 kilometres ascent with an average gradient of 6.6%, and the riders descend from the top to Flumet. Moments later, the Col des Aravis presents a climb of 6.9 kilometres at 6.9%.
After the downhill to Saint-Jean-de-Sixt, the riders are almost halfway. They cross the River Borne and climb at moderate gradients to Le Grand-Bornand, at the foot of the Col de la Colombière. At 11.6 kilometres, this is the longest climb of the day; the average gradient sits at 5.8%.
The riders descend into the Arve Valley, and after 10 kilometres on the flat, the Côte d’Arâches begins. This 7.1 kilometres ascent slopes at 7.1%. The route does not descend straight away, but a few kilometres later. The riders then fly down into the Le Giffre valley and follow the river for 10 kilometres before tackling the finishing climb from Samoëns to the Samoëns 1600 ski station.
The finishing climb is a brutal test – 10 kilometres long with an average gradient of 9.3%. Overall, it’s even harder than that statistic suggests, as the first kilometre is negligible, the second is somewhat steeper, and the subsequent kilometres go up at 12.3%, 10.2%, 11%, and 10.8%, respectively. The last 4 kilometres to the top average 8.6%.
Last year’s Tour de France also moved through Samoëns, but the race tackled the Joux Plane on the opposite side of the valley. Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard were watching each other, allowing Carlos Rodriguez to catch up and eventually walk away with the stage win.
The first three riders at the finish gain time bonuses of 10, 6, and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint has 3, 2, and 1 seconds on offer.
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