{"id":25260,"date":"2026-06-03T09:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/?p=25260"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:06:47","slug":"dauphine-the-kings-are-away-time-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crankpunk.com\/ja\/2026\/06\/03\/dauphine-the-kings-are-away-time-to-play\/","title":{"rendered":"DAUPHINE! The Kings Are Away, Time To Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

They are asking us to call it the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f4ne-Alpe<\/em>s, which just trips off the ol’ barnacled tongue like lumps of frozen butter, don’t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will always be the Dauphine to most of us, I am sure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, this year’s edition is set to be a cracker! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vingegaard, Poga\u010dar and Evenepoel won’t be there to do yaaaaaawn –<\/em> you know, follow the script – Vingy would be all stoic and do his very very<\/em> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I expect no less at the Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these three away \u2014 resting, reconnoitering, preserving – the podium will need a new king.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Seixas arrives as the man to beat after a spring that turned heads \u2014 three stages and the GC at Itzulia Basque Country, then La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, then second at Li\u00e8ge. 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<\/em> than it already has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there’s Isaac del Toro \u2014 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Del Toro will have Jo\u00e3o Almeida to lean on too – Seixas really has no one, and could end up having to shut down attacks in the high mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Juan Ayuso, 23, doesn’t arrive at the Dauphin\u00e9 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The race runs from June 17-14th.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the DAUPHINE, alright?! Sheesh! Anyway, should be a cracker this one, with Seixas, Del Toro and Ayuso fighting for the throne!<\/p>","protected":false},"author":40955418,"featured_media":25273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_link_nofollow":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159546164,112364],"tags":[1063372,767233944,74634611,767234144,767234181],"class_list":["post-25260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-punkopinion","category-world-tour","tag-dauphine","tag-del-toro","tag-pogacar","tag-seixas","tag-tour-auvergne-rhone-alpes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t