Wiggins wins his second Criterium

Party like it's 2011! Bradley Wiggins re-wins the Criterium du Dauphine, the one-week stage race preparatory to the Tour de France, which starts later this month. His teammate Michael Rogers came in second in the general standings, over 80 seconds behind, and last year's Tour winner Cadel Evans took third and the green jersey for points. Disappointing performances by Andy Schleck (retired) and Vincenzo Nibali (out of the top 10).

Wiggins pulled off an extremely convincing performance this week, showing that he is to be feared in time trials and climbs alike. Perhaps more importantly, at least given the realities of today's road cycling, Wiggins has a killer team: Rogers, Boasson-Hagen, Flecha, Froome, Porte, Thomas, Uran... all riders that serve Wiggins in Team Sky but that would be captains in any other team! And then there's Cavendish, who's useless in climbs but is guaranteed to win at least three or four sprints at the end of flat stages, so Team Sky could sweep this year's Tour.

As usual, the Criterium is suppoed to give information about who's hot and who's not. This year, it not only confirmed that Wiggins is sitting at the big boys' table, but that he is sitting at the head of the table. This win puts Wiggins in prime position for a Tour victory, and in my opinion he's the one that the usual favorites (Evans, Schleck, Nibali) have to beat.

PHOTOS ~~||~~ Official site ~~||~~ Report #1 ~~||~~ Report #2

Critérium du Dauphiné 2012 starts today!

...with a brief prologue in Grenoble before tomorrow's first real stage. See the official website, the live dashboard of news and results, and the live broadcast.

The Criterium is a week-long road cycling stage race that each year precedes (and in part previews) the more glorious, three-week long Tour de France. It is run in southern France, in the area historically known as Dauphiné, which now comprises several districts. It usually includes famous climbs in the Alps that typically also feature in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, such as Galibier, Ventoux, Huez, and Colombière. This year, only the latter is included, but it is included twice, with two climbs on two different sides. In the past, these climbs have been won by top climbers the likes of Virenque, Pantani, and Schleck, both at the Tour and at the Criterium.

More specifically, the Criterium is well-known in the cycling world for its ability to test the top riders' shape between the end of the Giro and the start of the Tour. A small but significant portion of the Tour is run on the same roads; the structure of the Criterium usually mirrors that of the Tour; the start list is often very similar; the type of terrain is almost identical; and both races are organized by the same committee.

And if you're new to the world of road cycling, you must know that gossip and debate are central to the sport and that what happens off the road is discussed almost as much as the sporting event proper. So since the Tour is the world's most important cycling event, and given all the similarities above, what happens in the Criterium inevitably pours over into the Tour a few weeks later. So whatever happens, it is sure to be a media feast!

This year's route isn't as challenging as it has been in past year, but I think it will be awesome due to three HC climbs (Hors Catégorie: so tough as to be "beyond categorization") and an all-star start list: 2011 Tour champion Cadel Evans, this year's Tour favorite Andy Schleck, 2011 Criterium winner Bradley Wiggins, and then Vinokourov, Menchov, Nibali, Voeckler, Martin, Chavanel, and many more. Read the full start list here.

Many more updates to come in the following days!

EDIT: The Grenoble prologue, a 6.5 kilometer / 3.1 mile individual time trial, was won by the young Aussie, Luke Durbridge. 2011 champ Wiggins came in a close second. Worrying performance by Schleck, who managed to lose almost 40 seconds from Wiggins in such a short time trial. This is so relevant because the upcoming Tour de France includes over 100 km in time trial events, which could put Schleck at a major disadvantage, even though he's expected to dominate the climbs.