The tour of the Auvergne continues with a ski station summit finish sort of as you can cross-country ski in winter if theres any snow plus it is a long climb. But its open to many riders thanks to the gradual rise.Great Dane: a sprint finish and a win for Mads Pedersen on a day that looked more like April with grey skies, weak light and damp roads. Pedersen was the most powerful in the finish, Sam Bennett tried to come out of the Danes slipstream but couldnt get level. If Pedersen was stronger, he was helped by his team with Alex Kirsch back and it showed and Ryan Gibbon as the leadout when Decathlons train got derailed on the approach.As much as we can muse on what happened, we should also be pleased little else happened because the tailwind in the finish helped the peloton get close to 100km/h on just a false flat approaching the finish but all without incident. The fear of crashing seemed notable for Remco Evenepoel who could be spotted towards the back, not bothered about a split in the field.The Route: a dash across the plains to Chteldon and then up into the hills of the Forez, part of the massif central. The Col Saint Thomas has a surprisingly steep section before the top but if its hard its miles from anywhere so wont shape things.The Finish: 25km uphill but never very steep, the road out of Chalmazel to the Col de la Croix Ladret is the steepest section at 6%. The profile makes it look like the road climbs after this but its often flat as it makes its way to the finish at the Col de la Loge, and its all on a big wide road.The Contenders: Primo Rogli (Bora-hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) both pack a good sprint and their teams can shrink the number of rivals.Giulio Ciccone and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) are both quick too if at their best and can extend their teams winning ways.Ineos pairing Omar Fraile and Micha Kwiatkowski have a shot today, the Polish rider is older but just and a crafty finisher.Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) is a specialist for uphill finishes but an infrequent winner. Romain Grgoire (Groupama-FDJ) is making a name for himself in just this kind of finish. Magnus Cort (Uno-X) is another contender, a big signing for the Norwegian team.Dorian Godon (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) should find the climb too much but if rivals dont set a tough enough pace hell find the flatter finish suits. Astana pair Ide Schelling and Anthon Charmig seem suited but the team are having a rotten season and theyre harder picks. Past Dauphin stage winner Dylan Teuns (IPT) is suited on paper but form unknown too.Rogli, Cort, GrgoireKwiatkowski, Evenepoel, Kron, Ciccone, Gaudu, AyusoWeather: rain drying out and just 16C.TV: KM0 is at 1.20pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 4.50pm CEST.Postcard from ChteldonWith many a bike race passing famous vineyards, todays the chance to talk about water instead. The route goes through Chteldon, home of the eponymous bottled water. The spring here doesnt gush like other outlets and the bottling plant is small and built into the hillside without room for expansion. Apparently it has only four staff and a million bottles a year are produced, which sounds a lot but over at nearby Volvic thats a mornings production.Chteldon is positioned as something special and typically sells for a premium 5 a litre when the likes of Volvic are 0.50. It has an origin story with Louis XIV being prescribed the water by his doctor back as mineral water was seen to have medicinal value. It was even transported by donkey to refresh the monarch. Today can be found in supermarkets sometimes but often the purpose of Chteldon water is to be something you dont find in the shops, its typically served in upmarket French restaurants.It tastes like water but actually of not much. Its not unique chemically in terms of the minerals inside. It is sparkling and the water is naturally so or it used to be. Theres been scandal when the OCLAESP raided the Chteldon plant in December 2020 after a whistle-blower claimed they were using additional CO2 to dope the bubbles while the label claimed the bubbles were natural. OCLAESP? Yes, the same public health police agency thats raided teams at the Tour de France and, as many a cycling fan knows, their raids generate headlines but convictions can take years. However as local paper La Montagne reports, the bottles labels used to read naturellement gazeuse but now say finement ptillante as in finely sparkling with the natural reference gone.For the visiting cyclist the town has a fountain in the square to fill up your bidons but it is not the same source. It is free though so it tastes better.The post Critrium du Dauphin Stage 2 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.