The 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné was the 62nd edition of the

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is par ...

(formerly ''Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré'') stage race, and the first since it was renamed. It took place from 6–13 June, and was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and

World Calendar The World Calendar is a proposed reform of the Gregorian calendar created by Elisabeth Achelis of Brooklyn, New York in 1930. Features The World Calendar is a 12-month, perennial calendar with equal quarters. Each quarter begins on a Sunday ...

. It began in Evian-les-Bains with an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

, and ended in

Sallanches Sallanches (; frp, Salenches) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, Megève and Saint-Gervais-l ...

. The race was won by

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Janez Brajkovič Janez "Jani" Brajkovič (born 18 December 1983) is a racing cyclist from Metlika, Slovenia, who most recently rode for UCI Continental team . He was the world under-23 Time Trial champion in 2004. In 2018, while riding for the team, Brajkovi� ...

, riding for . Second in the general classification was

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the V ...

of , while

Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen (born August 12, 1988) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2021 for the , , and . Following his retirement as a cyclist, van Garderen became a directeur sportif for ...

finished third for . Contador won the points classification on a tie-break with Brajkovič, 's

Egoi Martínez Egoi Martínez de Esteban (born 15 May 1978 in Etxarri-Aranatz, Navarre) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2001 and 2013. In his first Tour de France, Martínez finished 41st overall at ...

won the mountains classification and Euskaltel-Euskadi also won the teams classification.

Teams

As the Dauphiné Libéré was a

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, ...

event, the 18 ProTour teams are invited automatically, plus an additional 4 non pro tour teams. They were:

Pre-race favourites

The winner of the event for the previous two years,

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Valverde's biggest wins have been the Vuelta a España in 2009, Critérium du Dauphiné in 2008 and 2009, ...

, had been widely tipped to do well in the event, but was banned from all of UCI registered races for 19 months from a few days prior to the event. Two time

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

winner

started the race as favourite, but emphasized that his priority was to use the race as preparation for the

, without particular concern to win it.

Route

Stages

Prologue

;6 June 2010 – Evian-les-Bains, (

Individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

) Stage and General Classification after Prologue

Stage 1

;7 June 2010 – Evian-les-Bains to

Saint-Laurent-du-Pont Saint-Laurent-du-Pont () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It was the site of the Club Cinq-Sept fire, which killed 146, in 1970. Population Economy There is a large cement works at Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, unusua ...

Stage 2

;8 June 2010 – Annonay to

Bourg-Saint-Andéol Bourg-Saint-Andéol (; oc, Bourg-Sant-Andiòu) is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France. Geography It lies directly along the river Rhône at the southeast end of the department south of the smaller tow ...

Stage 3

;9 June 2010 –

Monteux Monteux (; oc, Monteus) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Monteux is near Carpentras, in middle of Comtat Venaissin, and around 20 km from Avignon, in the ...

Sorgues Sorgues (; oc, Sòrgas) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. The river Ouvèze, a tributary of the Rhône, as well as its tributary Sorgue, which begins at the Fontaine de Va ...

, (

)

Stage 4

;10 June 2010 –

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (; oc, label= Vivaro-Alpine, Sant Pau de Tricastin), sometimes known as -en-Tricastin, is a commune, an administrative region, in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Name The settlement is attested as ''Aug ...

Risoul Risoul () is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is located in the French Alps between the towns of Briançon and Gap. Risoul is home to a ski resort that partners with the neighbouring town, Vars, to form the ...

Stage 5

;11 June 2010 –

Serre-Chevalier Serre Chevalier () is a major ski resort in Southeastern France, near the Italian border, located in the Hautes-Alpes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated to the northeast of Écrins National Park in the French Alps, the res ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

Stage 6

;12 June 2010 –

Crolles Crolles () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is located in the Isère valley, 20 km northeast of Grenoble, upstream on the river Isère. It has given its name to the Dent de Crolles mountain (2,062 m), which s ...

to Alpe d'Huez,

Stage 7

;13 June 2010 –

Allevard Allevard (; also known as Allevard-les-Bains) is a commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Allevardins'' or ''Allevardines'' or alternatively as '' ...

Classification leadership

Final standings

General Classification

Teams Classification

Mountains Classification

Points Classification

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Criterium du Dauphine Libere, 2010 2010 in French sport 2010 UCI ProTour 2010 2010 UCI World Ranking June 2010 sports events in Europe