They are asking us to call it the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which just trips off the ol’ barnacled tongue like lumps of frozen butter, don’t it?

No.

It will always be the Dauphine to most of us, I am sure.

Anyway, this year’s edition is set to be a cracker!

Vingegaard, Pogačar and Evenepoel won’t be there to do yaaaaaawn – you know, follow the script – Vingy would be all stoic and do his very very best but still come second, Evenepoel would win a stage and flounce a bit in front of the media and finish 7th, and Pogacar would just crush and do his usual and very convincing impression of a black hole on wheels.

I expect no less at the Tour.

With these three away — resting, reconnoitering, preserving – the podium will need a new king.

Paul Seixas arrives as the man to beat after a spring that turned heads — three stages and the GC at Itzulia Basque Country, then La Flèche Wallonne, then second at Liège. The 19-year-old Lyonnais has been dismantling older pros all season and has publicly stated his intention here: he’s coming for the win. And to be fair, he looks to be the only rider around with a chance of truly pushing Pogacar in the next 2-3 years. Win here, and win well, and France will lose its collective nut even more than it already has.

Then there’s Isaac del Toro — 22 years old, Mexican, and absolutely very very good. He did throw away a Giro though, so – yeah, there’s that. He’s already banked the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico this season before crashing out of Itzulia. He’s hungry and dangerous and he’ll be looking to put a marker down, one for his team to see and another for Seixas to feel. Expect him to attack early and often on the final climbs.

Del Toro will have João Almeida to lean on too – Seixas really has no one, and could end up having to shut down attacks in the high mountains.

Finally, Juan Ayuso, 23, doesn’t arrive at the Dauphiné with momentum so much as a question mark. His debut season at Lidl-Trek has swung between brilliance and misfortune, but the Spaniard has the ability to beat the other two, on his day. Problem is, there are several days at the Dauphine.

The race runs from June 17-14th.