Evenepoel To Skip The Critérium du Dauphiné — Belgian Opts For A Tour Build-Up Without A Final Stage Race
Remco Evenepoel will not line up at the 2026 Critérium du Dauphiné — now run under the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes banner — after the Belgian and his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team confirmed he will prepare for the Tour de France without a final stage race on the road. It is a notable shift from the rider many had pencilled in as one of the headline names for the eight-day WorldTour event that begins on 7 June.
Evenepoel had been listed among the expected stars of the race, and his absence reshapes the pre-Tour pecking order. Rather than test himself against his Grand Tour rivals over the Dauphiné's brutal final weekend, the former world champion will instead lean on altitude work and targeted training blocks to fine-tune his condition for July, a build-up philosophy that has become increasingly common among the sport's biggest GC names.
His decision leaves Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike as the clear marquee duo on the start list. Their meeting in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes mountains will be one of the most closely watched dress rehearsals of the season, a final measuring stick before the two resume hostilities at the Tour de France.
The race also doubles as a showcase for the sport's emerging generation. France's Paul Seixas, UAE's Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso are all expected to feature prominently, giving the eight-day event the feel of a generational battle layered beneath the established Pogačar-Vingegaard rivalry.
For Evenepoel, the gamble is a calculated one. Skipping the Dauphiné removes the risk of a crash or illness in the final weeks before the Tour, and it allows him to arrive in July fresher than rivals who will have raced flat out through mid-June. The downside is the absence of competitive sharpness — and no race-day read on where he stands relative to Pogačar and Vingegaard before the Grand Départ.
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes runs from 7 to 14 June, traditionally serving as the definitive launchpad for the Tour de France. With Evenepoel watching from afar, the spotlight in France falls squarely on Pogačar and Vingegaard — and on the next generation eager to gatecrash their party.