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The mountainous Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is held in early June and France and because of its terrain, become an important tune up race for the Tour de France.
The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. It is organised by the Le Dauphiné Libéré newspaper. Along with the Tour de Suisse, the Dauphiné Libéré is an important race in the lead-up to the Tour de France in July.
Because the Dauphiné is a mountainous area, the winners are often climbing specialists. Many climbs that are famous from the Tour de France, like the Mont Ventoux, the Col du Galibier or Col de la Chartreuse appear often in the Dauphiné Libéré. All cyclists who have won the Tour de France five or more times have also won the Dauphiné Libéré.
The first Dauphiné Libéré was held in 1947 when Eduard Klablinski from Poland was the winner. Nello Lauredi, Luis Ocaña, Charly Mottet and Bernard Hinault share the record of the most wins, with three each.
The Dauphiné Libéré was used as preparation for the Tour de France by riders such as Lance Armstrong. He won the Dauphiné in 2002 and 2003, but was defeated by Iban Mayo in 2004, primarily by Mayo's strong climb of Mont Ventoux. Armstrong finished 4th in the 2005 Dauphiné, finishing 59 seconds off the pace of overall winner Inigo Landaluze, of the Euskaltel-Euskadi squad.
