Dauphine Libere
 |
|
| Date | Early June |
|---|---|
| Region | Rhône-Alpes, France |
| Local name(s) | Critérium du Dauphiné(French) |
| Nickname(s) | The Dauphiné |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Stage race |
| Organiser | Amaury Sport Organisation |
| Race director | Bernard Thévenet |
| First edition | 1947 |
| Editions | 68 (as of 2016) |
| First winner |
 Edouard Klabinski (POL)
|
| Most wins |
 Nello Lauredi (FRA) Luis Ocaña (ESP) Charly Mottet (FRA) Bernard Hinault (FRA) Chris Froome (GBR)(3 wins) |
| Most recent |
Chris Froome (GBR)
|
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 part of the UCI World Tour calendar and counts as one of the foremost races in the lead-up to the Tour de France in July, along with the Tour de Suisse in the latter half of June.
The race was inaugurated in 1947 by local newspaper, the Dauphiné Libéré, which served as the event's title sponsor until 2009. Since 2010 the race has been organized by ASO, which also organizes most other eminent French cycling races, notably the Tour de France, Paris–Nice and Paris–Roubaix.
Because the Dauphiné is set in the Rhône-Alpes region, part of the French Alps, the race's protagonists are often climbing specialists. Many well-known climbs from the Tour de France – like the Mont Ventoux, the Col du Galibier or Col de la Chartreuse – are regularly addressed in the Dauphiné. Five riders, Nello Lauredi, Luis Ocaña, Charly Mottet, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome, share the record of most wins, with three each.
The race was created in 1947 by newspaper Le Dauphiné libéré to promote its circulation. After World War II, as cycling recovered from a universal five- or six-year hiatus, the Grenoble-based newspaper decided to create and organize a cycling stage race covering the Dauphiné region. The race was named after the newspaper and set in June, prior to the Tour de France. Polish rider Edouard Klabinski won the inaugural edition.
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