Criterium du Dauphine began with a seeming groggy start compared to the Giro d'Italia, but by the weekend it roared into life!

Didn't have a Dauphine preview or description in me, recap to come. But I tried harder than usual on my Suisse preview as compensation. Please enjoy!

“Another Grand Tour, another three-week lifestyle change is complete. Another great story has been seen, told, and experienced by not just those traveling with the race, but every plugged-in fan around the globe.”

‘As Bilbao slid back even with his leader, Caruso gave him a quick pat on the back before he took over the pacing himself. The pat was extremely quick, but the emotion of it was bottomless. As old Caruso put his hand on his teammate Bilbao’s back, he was doing much more than saying “Thank you” for all his work today.’

It was an exciting day, but ultimately we are all still scratching our heads about what we think is going to happen in the last two days of this Giro d'Italia...and ultimately that is a very good thing.

Great transition stage. A few of the riders made the most of it what they could. Hats off to all of them, but one rose well above the rest.

Even though all of us know it is never over until it is over. I think it is fair to say all of us were taken aback by what we saw today. Hear about the fireworks on the Sega di Ala climb today.

Very brief "ketchup" on yesterday's stage and the current GC standings while on the Rest Day today.

The neutered profile did not turn out to be a neutered stage.

Well, typically the Sundays of a Grand Tour are slotted to have a highly anticipated stage destined to enthrall the viewership with many hours of action, which should be at most viewers’ disposal on a weekend. But with yesterday’s Zoncolan and tomorrow’s day in the Dolomites, many of the riders really did need the Grand Tour “dog days” transition stage.