The Dauphin, the Tour of Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes or the Tour de lAvenir? This race does feel futuristic as the last two Avenir winners Isaac Del Toro and Paul Seixas are set to duel here and for years to come. There are other challengers including 23 year old Juan Ayuso and 21 year old Jrgen Nordhagen, and a tough course ahead.The RouteIt starts this Sunday and goes to the following Sunday. Theres a more in detail in Januarys stage-by-stage look when the route came out. The summary is that the opening day could be a GC day, theres only one flat sprint stage but two other chances for those that can handle the hills. Theres a 28km team time trial under Paris-Nice rules as a dress rehearsal for the Tour de France and three summit finishes that get increasingly hard. No solo time trial and no time bonuses.The ContendersUAE bring Joo Almeida and Isaac del Toro. Almeida missed his big goal of the Giro with illness and his form is unknown, hes said hes not at his best and is rebuilding for the Vuelta rather than planning to do the Tour de France. Thats downplaying expectations but hes not here to make up the numbers. If his quest is to win a grand tour, hes a proven winner in one week stage races and can aim for a result to lengthen his elongated palmars.Del Toro has won Tirreno-Adriatico and the UAE Tour this season and is now after a big win, a triumph here would show he can master the Alps and crucially this is a rare chance at team leadership in such a big race, of all the contenders hes the one for whom this week matters most. Well see how he fares in the high mountains, the assumption is brilliantly but this is a frontier for him as hes been so good in hilly races and capable in the mountains but not yet decisive. 20 year old Pablo Torres is one to watch too. The team time trial is a challenge, despite all their talent this discipline is a persistent concern, see how they were eighth in Paris-Nice, within seconds of being beaten by Groupama-FDJ and Cofidis and so need to show reliability here.Home hopes rest with Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and hes not playing down his chances with open talk of going for the win. An encouraging eighth last year, his progress since has been fulgurant. This season hes won the Itzulia Basque Country with an extravagant performance, taken the Flche Wallonne by riding the field off his wheel and was the only rider who could follow Tadej Pogaar up La Redoute on the road to Lige. Since then hes been to altitude which seems as important for his confidence as his physiology and the form is here going by his Strava KOM on the Tourmalet and if context such as wind and drafting matters, it shows hes not struggling. Daan Hoole and Stefan Bissegger strengthen the squad for the team time trial but the team look top-5 rather than winners so itll be on Seixas to out-climb the field. All this and hes now in the spotlight with le Seixasmania on the up, everyone will want a piece of him this week, his every move studied. Theyll be an inquisition if he loses, as in finishes second, but itd be no bad thing to moderate expectations.Lidl-Trek are having a dire season and have just sacked management, Cofidis-style. But a lot of the poor performance was down to injury and among them Juan Ayuso. No staff changes could prevent him crashing out of Paris-Nice while wearing yellow. He makes his racing return and where to set expectations? Heres here as a GC contender and a podium finish ought to satisfy on his comeback at itll confirm hes on track for the Tour. Hes got backing for the team time trial and Mattias Skjelmose as a second option for GC as the Dane arguably needs a result more as he risks being recategorised as a domestique or shopping for a new team.If Lidl-Treks management shake-up got the headlines, Netcompany-Ineoss CEO John Allert has just left although he wasnt a public figurehead. Theres a wider point about a team with grey jerseys searching for a project and identity and it wont be solved this week. In the meantime they have a great squad for the team time trial and if they win this puts them ahead. The test will come in the mountains and if they win the TTT whether Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodriguez and Kvin Vauquelin can defend their lead for three straight days. Each has a point to prove. For Onley just repeating last years fourth place at the Tour de France is a big ask but with experience and a better-resourced team hes expected to improve, a similar story for Vauquelin too although for both this need not mean instant results this week. For Rodriguez, the sizzle has stopped but the underlying talent is there and a week of good weather is a useful pre-Tour test.Visma-LAB have Matteo Jorgenson and Jrgen Nordhagen. Jorgensons been second here before and has shown he can win week-long stage races like Paris-Nice but how to win? This years route has steep, long climbs up the Grand Colombier and to the Plateau de Solaison which dont suit him as well, hes excellent on 20 minutes but 40 minutes is harder but this is relative, at his best hes capable. Nordhagen is more the pure climber or to use a lazy shortcut, the new Vingegaard as hes a similar build and Scandinavian but wiser view is hes out to define himself and due a result soon. Theyll enjoy the team time trial with Van Aert, Affini and Armirail as engines.Uno-X come with Tobias Halland Johannessen, another Tour de lAvenir winner and sixth in the Tour de France last year and never outside the top-10 in three world tour stages this year hes becoming more consistent but not sparkling.Movistar are quietly improving and Cian Uijtdebroeks is their leader. A win would be surprise, now in his fifth season as a pro hes only won the Tour de lAin. The team looks coherent for the team time trial.Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the team in the absence of Remco Evenepoel and was second in Paris-Nice thanks to making the split on the rainy day in the Morvan but never bothered Vingegaard. Luke Tuckwell and Callum Thornley are here for experience and worth watching.Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) is here after leaving the Giro after the Stage 2 crash. A great rider but an infrequent winner, hed surely settle for a stage this week.Finally Luke Plapp (Jayco) is here with some gentle GC ambitions. Third place in the UAE Tour and fifth in Romandie shows his stage racing abilities but now has a test on a trickier course where descending and positioning will count for more.Del Toro, SeixasAyusoAlmeida, Jorgenson, NordhagenOnley, Rodriguez, VauquelinTV: Its on the same channel you watch the Tour de France. For locals and VPN users see France3.The good news is that no clash Roland-Garros tennis means more normal timing except for this Sundays opener which finishes at 3.00pm CEST. Mid-week its 5pm every day, the following Saturday is 4.00pm and the final stage is at 5.00pm. The bad news is that we get light coverage with often only the last 90 minutes but more for the final weekend.Weather: mainly warm and sunny but with this the chance of thunderstorms later in the day, and caution that its hard to rely on predictions this far out.The post Tour Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.