The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné, is considered to be the premium Tour de France warm-up race, and this year runs from 7th-14th June.
Historically speaking, the Dauphiné is one of the final litmus tests before the Tour’s Grand Départ, with yellow jersey favourites often choosing the French race as a chance to size up their opposition on similar roads. It has a convincing conversion rate, with Bernard Hinault, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Jonas Vingegaard all claiming the week-long race before tasting Tour de France glory a month later.
Last year, Tour favourites Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard engaged in a pre-Tour fight, and the Slovenian prevailed by almost a minute, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Florian Lipowitz coming home in third in what would end up being the same podium as seen on the Champs-Élysées in July.
The lineup for the 2026 edition is highlighted by a trio of young stars in French sensation Paul Seixas, whose stratospheric rise this season knows no bounds, Pogačar’s 22-year-old teammate Isaac del Toro, winner of the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico this season, and Del Toro’s former teammate Juan Ayuso, who has had a tough few months but beat Seixas at the Volta ao Algarve earlier in the year.
Other riders to watch in the overall race include João Almeida, Oscar Onley, Matteo Jorgenson, Kévin Vauquelin, Mattias Skjelmose and Tobias Halland Johannessen.
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné 2026 key information
- Date: Sunday 7th June-Sunday 14th June
- Start: Vizille
- Finish: Plateau de Solaison – Brison
- Distance: 1208.1km
- Live TV coverage: HBO Max, TNT Sports 1/3/4, SBS, FloBikes, SuperSport
- 2025 winner: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné 2026 route
This year’s edition of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (TARA, anyone?) is hard from the jump, beginning in the Isère département as opposed to the more-favoured Allier, which hosted the past few editions. Kicking off proceedings is a 146km mountain stage from Vizille highlighted by the Côte de Rousset (8.2km, 7.6%).
Hilly stages follow, as does a lumpy 28.4km team time-trial, which should serve as a good test for the Tour’s opening stage in Barcelona, and Stage 5 offers the best chance for the sprinters, if any dare turn up.
The serious mountains come in the final three days. Stage 6 includes two Category 1 ascents with the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.5km, 5.1%) and a summit finish on the Crest-Voland Cohennoz (5.9km, 7.7%). Stage 7 takes the peloton over the Col du Granier before finishing on Tour de France favourite, the Col du Grand Colombier (8.4km, 10.2%).
The 2026 edition ends with a bang, as riders will take on four tough climbs, finishing atop the Plateau de Solaison (11.3km, 9.1%), last used as a summit finish in 2017.
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné stage-by-stage preview
Stage 1: Vizille – Saint-Ismier, 146.2km
The opening stage of the 2026 Critérium du Dauphiné takes the riders south towards a very early first sprint point of the race before heading out towards the Col de l’Arzelier (8.6km, 5.7%), which is the longest climb of the day. From there, it’s north to skirt around Grenoble, which the Vuelta also passed through last season, and towards Saint-Ismier for a sharp kick up to the line.
Stage 2: Saint-Martin-Le-Vinoux – Le Puy-en-Velay, 234.3km
The longest stage of the race is bookended by a couple of Category 2 and 3 bumps on the way to Le Puy-en-Velay, where Bauke Mollema won at the Tour in 2017. A breakaway might try something with the last ascent coming 12km from the finish and a slight downhill to the line, though versatile sprinters may fancy one.
Stage 3: Perreux – Perreux, 28.4km (TTT)
This is the first team time-trial here since 2018 and takes place around the medival city of Perreux, which is built on a mound of clay and has been labelled a ‘village of character’ since 2022. There are a couple of bumps to contend with, and this could cause some GC separation if recent TTT chaos ensues.
Stage 4: Le Puy en Velay – Montrond-les-Bains, 167.4km
Beginning where Stage 2 finished, this is a day where all the climbing action hits in the first 110km, leaving around 20km of a descent and another 20km of flat. Any sprinter in this race that can’t climb is wasting their time.
Stage 5: Saint-Chamond – Parc des Oiseaux, Villars-les-Dombes, 195.8km
The next stage has an early opportunity for the day’s breakaway to get clear quickly, but with a flat parcours from the halfway point, this is the only opportunity for the purer sprinters.
Stage 6: Saint Vulbas – Crest-Voland, 182.3km
Stage 6 is the first GC-decisive day with its ascent of the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.5km, 5.1%) before the first summit finish of the race on the Crest-Voland Cohennoz (5.9km, 7.7%). Georg Zimmerman was the last rider to win here at the Dauphiné in 2023, and before that it was the scene of Gino Mäder’s triumph at the 2018 Tour de l’Avenir, his first of two stage victories of that race.
Stage 7: La Bridoire – Grand Colombier, 133.6km
There are plenty more climbs on the menu on Stage 7, with riders immediately facing the Category 2 Col du Banchet (5.4km, 5.7%). The Lacets du Grand Colombier – the hairpins of the Grand Colombier – hits after 76km of racing before the peloton traverses Le Rhône and head north to the Col de Richemond (7.7km, 6%) before the big finish on the Grand Colombier (8.4km, 10.2%).
The likes of Thibaut Pinot, Primož Roglič, Tadej Pogačar and Michał Kwiatkowski have all won here in the past at either the Tour de l’Ain or the Tour de France, and the GC should provide a big GC showdown.
Stage 8: Beaufort – Plateau de Solaison, Brison, 120.1km
The decider isn’t one to be missed. The action again kicks off immediately with the Category 1 Col du Pré (6.9km, 10.1%), sweeping down to the Lac de Roselend before circling back to Beaufort and heading to the longest ascent of the day in the Montée de Bisanne (11.4km, 7.7%). The Col des Aravis (7km, 6.8%) leads to a nice long descent for some last-ditch respite before the road kicks up again to the Plateau de Solaison (11.3km, 9.1%). This climb was last deployed as a finale for the Dauphiné in 2017, where Jakob Fuglsang won ahead of Dan Martin.
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné 2026 favourites
This should be a tantalising showdown between Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro and, provided he’s healthy and stays upright, Juan Ayuso.
Seixas has been a man unleashed this season and has grown in confidence every step of the way while Del Toro has taken the step to being an established favourite by taking stage race victories at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico. Ayuso beat Seixas in the Algarve but since crashing out of Paris-Nice has been away from racing for a while, and struggled at Itzulia before pulling out on Stage 4.
Elsewhere, Matteo Jorgenson is carrying the flame for Visma-Lease a Bike having finished second at Tirreno-Adriatico, and João Almeida returns to racing for UAE Team Emirates XRG following an illness that stopped his Giro challenge before the race even started. There are a couple of strong team duos that could get up to some trouble, with Netcompany Ineos bringing Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley and Lidl-Trek bringing Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. Keep an eye on Norwegians Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X and Jørgen Nordhagen of Visma too, they’re both in form and could make strong pushes in the top ten.
Cyclist’s favourites
- ★★★★★: Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- ★★★★: Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
- ★★★: Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★: Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos), João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- ★: Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana)
How to watch the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné 2026
The Critérium du Dauphiné will be shown live on TNT Sports 1, 3 and 4 throughout the week in the UK and Ireland. Elsewhere, fans in the US can catch the action on NBC Sports, in Canada it’ll be on FloBikes, in Australia it’s on SBS, ESPN International for Latin America and the Caribbean and Supersport in Subsaharan Africa.
It’s also available on all the usual channels throughout Europe like RTBF/VRT in Belgium, Rai Sport in Italy and NOS in the Netherlands. Check below for a full live broadcaster list.
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked.
Live TV and streaming times
All times BST and subject to change by broadcasters
Stage 1, Sunday 7th June
- TNT Sports 3: 13:00-14:00
- HBO Max: 13:00-14:00
Stage 2, Monday 8th June
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
Stage 3, Tuesday 9th June
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
Stage 4, Wednesday 10th June
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
Stage 5, Thursday 11th June
- TNT Sports 1: 14:15-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
Stage 6, Friday 12th June
- TNT Sports 3: 14:15-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:15-16:15
Stage 7, Saturday 13th June
- TNT Sports 4: 13:30-15:30
- HBO Max: 13:20-15:30
Stage 8, Sunday 14th June
- TNT Sports 4: 14:45-16:15
- HBO Max: 14:45-16:15
International broadcasters
- Australia: SBS
- Belgium: VRT, RTBF
- Canada: FloBikes
- China: Zhibo TV
- Colombia: Caracol, RCN
- Denmark: TV2 Sport
- Europe: Eurosport 2
- France: France 3, Eurosport France 1
- Italy: RAI Sport
- Japan: J Sports
- Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN International
- Luxembourg: RTL
- Middle East & North Africa: Abu Dhabi Media
- Netherlands: NOS
- Noway: TV2 Sportskanalen
- South East Asia: Eurosport
- Spain: RTVE, EiTB
- Subsaharan Africa: Supersport
- Switzerland: SRG SSR
- United Kingdom and Ireland: HBO Max, TNT Sports (ITV4 – highlights only)
- United States: NBC Sports
Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Dauphiné 2026 start list
Team line-ups are not yet fully confirmed, so the list is subject to change pre-race