The Critérium du Dauphiné is a long-established eight-day stage race held in the Avergne-Rhone-Alpes region in south-east France. It was the brainchild of local paper the Dauphiné Libéré and first held in 1947. As the regional name suggests the area includes the French Alps and there is always plenty of climbing in the parcours, sometimes on cycling's most legendary cols.
While it stands alone as a well respected WorldTour event, the Critérium du Dauphiné's place in the calendar makes it a perfect warm-up race for the Tour de France and an ideal place for Grand Boucle hopefuls to test their form. Indeed, it often serves as a very useful barometer for July – since 2012, the Dauphiné winner has six times gone on to win the Tour de France.
Because of this status, the race always attracts a strong field, and this year no less than all three of the biggest Tour de France stars will line up against each other: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step). It should be a fascinating race.
Below, Cycling Weekly has compiled everything you need to know about broadcasters and live streams, so you can watch the Critérium du Dauphiné wherever you are in the world.
In the UK, the Critérium du Dauphiné will be available to watch online on Discovery+, with TV broadcast on TNT Sports also available but varying across its different channels.
There will also be free-to-watch evening highlights on ITV4.
Both TNT and Discovery+ are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and require a subscription.
Discovery+ costs £30.99 a month. TNT Sports is also £30.99 a month, but is cheaper with certain TV packages. Virgin Media customers, for example, can add it to their bundle for an additional £18 a month. Sky TV customers can do the same for an extra £30 a month. EE mobile customers can purchase TNT Sports as an add-on for £20 a month.
Can I watch the Critérium du Dauphiné in the US and Canada
In the USA, fans will be able to watch the race on Peacock, which is NBC's streaming network. The standard service costs $7.99 monthly / $79.99 annually, and if you want the ad-free Premium Plus service, that rises to $13.99 monthly / $139.99 annually.
Canadian fans can watch the Critérium du Dauphiné live on the Flobikes network. This costs $29.99 monthly / $150 annually (USD).
Can I watch the Critérium du Dauphiné in Australia?
If you're an Aussie cycling fan you're in luck – you can watch the race for free on SBS, with free live streaming available on SBS On Demand.
Can I watch the Critérium du Dauphiné for free?
You can watch the Critérium du Dauphiné for free in Australia, with SBS, as outlined above.
Additionally, numerous European countries have free coverage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, including France 3 and the FranceTV streaming platform in the host country of France.
In Belgium, Flemish-language VRT – broadcast on the Sporza website – and French-language and RTBF – available online on Auvio – both have the rights. Those in Spain can watch on RTVE PLay, while in Italy it's on RAI Play.
Coverage is geo-restricted, so if you're not in any of these countries right now, and these channels are your usual port of call, you'll need a VPN to get your usual coverage while abroad – more on that below.
How to watch the Critérium du Dauphiné while abroad
Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN.
A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you're abroad.
With super-fast connections, multi-device support, and compatibility with Android, Apple, Roku, Amazon, and more, there's a reason why NordVPN is considered the best VPN for streaming. There's a money-back guarantee, 24/7 support, and it's currently on offer at a huge discount – that's a win!
The eight-stage race starts out lumpy and only gets lumpier as it heads from the Auvergne region across to the Alps.
The early stages are peppered with cat-four and cat-three climbs, where punchy riders with a fast finish could thrive. Jonathan Milan and Jake Stewart will both be present and may hope to have their day in the first half of the race.
A time trial on stage four will pit riders against a mostly flat 17km course with a 2km climb in the middle of it, and should start to shape the GC. After that, the race continues to get harder, with summit finishes on stages 6, 7 and 8.
Stage 7 in particular, which takes in three hors-category climbs, culminating in a summit finish on Valmeinier 1800 at 16.2km / 6.8%, looks a particular brute and could well decide the overall.
Disclaimer
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields.
Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.
He has worked at a variety of races, from the Classics to the Giro d'Italia – and this year will be his seventh Tour de France.
A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.
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