The Tour Auverge – Rhône Alpes, formerly known as the Criterium du Dauphiné, is taking place from the 7th to 14th June 2026. The French race is highly praised as the Tour de France‘s most important preparation race, and one of the big World Tour events of the year. We take a look at its startlist, featuring big figures such as Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro and João Almeida.Download the startlist in A4. In 2025 the race had the most luxurious startlist it could’ve possibly hoped for with Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz fighting for the overall classification whilst Mathieu van der Poel gave an extra bit of prestige in battling for the hilly days.
This time around the race finds itself with a slightly more modest set of riders, as Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel look towards the Tour de Suisse; Jonas Vingegaard will not race between the Giro and Tour; Remco Evenepoel won’t race at all before the Tour; and Florian Lipowitz will be at the Tour of Slovenia. But many other big names are returning or choosing Auvergne as their final racing step ahead of the Grand Boucle.
Paul Seixas will perhaps be the main favourite for the overall classification – the French super-talent will be the fan favourite and also the leader of Decathlon CMA CGM Team. In the absence of Pogacar, UAE Team Emirates – XRG will have Isaac del Toro in the lead ahead of his Tour debut, supported by the returning João Almeida who was forced to miss out on the Tour de France.
Lidl-Trek will also have both Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose at the start, a duo whose hopes will be quite high ahead of the summer calendar; Whilst Netcompany INEOS has Oscar Onley at the start; and Soudal – Quick-Step have Valentin Paret-Peintre. Wout Van Aert will be the headliner for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, his first race on the road since his Paris-Roubaix victory.
Wildcards have been attributed to TotalEnergies which have last year’s Tour de France Top10 finisher Jordan Jegat and Cofidis from France; Whilst Tudor Pro Cycling Team and Caja Rural – Seguros RGA will also be present ahead of their Tour presence.
Wout Van Aert returns to racing following Paris-Roubaix
Startlist Tour Auvergne – Rhône Alpes 2026 Decathlon CMA CGM TeamBisiaux, LéoParet-Peintre, AurélienRiccitello, MatthewSeixas, PaulTeam Picnic PostNLMartinez, Juan GuillermoNSN Cycling TeamBennett, GeorgeLidl – TrekAyuso, JuanSkjelmose, MattiasTeam Jayco AlUlaPlapp, LukeCaja Rural – Seguros RGACastellon, JanParra, José FélixNetcompany INEOSGodon, DorianKwiatkowski, MichalOnley, OscarRed Bull – BORA – hansgroheCattaneo, MattiaGils, Maxim VanMartínez, DanielTuckwell, LukeLotto – IntermarchéZimmermann, GeorgXDS Astana TeamConci, NicolaFortunato, LorenzoTeam Visma – Lease a BikeAert, Wout vanArmirail, BrunoSoudal – Quick-StepParet-Peintre, ValentinUAE Team Emirates XRGAlmeida, JoãoCosnefroy, BenoîtDel Toro, IsaacOliveira, IvoSivakov, PavelVermaerke, KevinWellens, TimGroupama – FDJ UnitedCostiou, EwenCofidisBuchmann, EmanuelCoquard, BryanIzagirre, IonSamitier, SergioMovistar TeamRomeo, IvánUijtdebroeks, CianTotalEnergiesJegat, JordanUno-X MobilityJohannessen, TobiasKron, AndreasTræen, Torstein