Team BikeExchange-Jayco head to France for the eight-day Criterium du Dauphine later this week with sprint star Dylan Groenewegen leading the team with an eye on stage victories.
 
Fresh from two wins in May, the 28-year-old is building back his form after a small break and like many other riders in the peloton, Groenewegen will be using Criterium du Dauphine as a part of his preparation for the Tour de France. The Dutch star will be hoping to claim his fifth victory of the season at the race, with multiple stages marked out as potential sprint opportunities.
 
Despite having 60 career wins, Groenewegen has yet to claim a victory at the French race and will be hoping 2022 is the year to do it with a strong team around him. For the fast finishes, Australian duo Alex Edmondson and Luke Durbridge will be key support riders for the finale along with Norwegian powerhouse Amund Grøndahl Jansen. For the hillier stages the team recruit Ethiopian Tsgabu Grmay, Australian rider Nick Schultz and young Italian Kevin Colleoni.
 
With a mix of everything, the race features a summit finish on day three before a hard Queen stage on day eight. A mid-race individual time trial on stage four breaks up the flow with stages one, two, five and six all with the potential to finish in reduced bunch sprints or breakaways.
 
Team BikeExchange-Jayco Line-up:
Kevin Colleoni (ITA)
Luke Durbridge (AUS)
Alex Edmondson (AUS)
Tsgabu Grmay (ETH)
Dylan Groenewegen (NED)
Amund Grøndahl Jansen (NOR)
Nick Schultz (AUS)
 
Dylan Groenewegen:
“After a small break I was very happy to take two victories in May and now I’m ready for the final preparation block before the Tour de France and that continues at Dauphine. It’s a race I like, it’s a hard race and I think we will have some good opportunities to try for a victory. There’s a couple of stages which look like they can be sprint finishes and it would be nice to get another win to keep the momentum as we get closer to the TDF.”
 
Tristan Hoffman (Sport Director):
“The goal for us at Dauphine is to go for stage wins. We have Dylan who is in good shape, he had some wins in May and is ready to try to take a stage win in Dauphine. It will be a high level of competition as always at this race and with the parcours, there looks to be a few stages that could finish in bunch sprints, so we will be ready for those. 
For the hillier stages we have young Colleoni, so he will have a go and see what he can do on those hard stages and look if he can place himself high up on the GC.”
 
2022 Criterium du Dauphine details:
Sunday, 5^th June: Stage 1 La Voulte Sure Rhone to Beauchastel, 192km
Monday, 6^th June: Stage 2, Saint-Peray to Brives-Charensac, 170km
Tuesday, 7^th June: Stage 3, Saint Paulien to Chastreix-Sancy, 169km
Wednesday, 8^th June: Stage 4, Montbrison to La Batie d’Urfe, 31.9km ITT
Thursday, 9^th June: Stage 5, Thizy-les-Bourges to Chaintre, 162.5km
Friday, 10^th June: Stage 6, Rives to Gap, 196km
Saturday, 11^th June: Stage 7, Saint Chaffrey to Vaujany, 135km
Sunday, 12^th June: Stage 8, Saint Alban Leysse to Plateau de Solaison, 139km
 
Photo: Getty Images