CyclingFans: Saturday's Criterium du Dauphine Stage 6 departs Saint-Alban-Leysse at 10:00am CET (4:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Morzine at around 2:42pm CET (8:42am U.S. Eastern).  Criterium du Dauphine live streaming video should get underway at around 1:00pm CET (7:00am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Arthur Vichot (FDJ-Big Mat) took the biggest win of his career as he claimed stage 5 of the Criterium du Dauphine with a fine solo move inside the final six kilometres.

TwistedSpoke: BMC put on a show on stage five of the  Criterium du Dauphine and Team Sky closed the show. Nevertheless it was a great fireworks display that gave us some nice clues and reminders as Le Big Show looms ahead.

Critérium du Dauphiné - June 3-10 (Races & results),
Trans Germany - June 6-9 (Races & results),
Tour de Suisse - June 9-17 (Stages & results),
Air Force Cycling Classic - June 9-10 (Stages & results),
Tour de France - June 30 - July 22 (Stages),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
More...

SBS: Prologue winner Luke Durbridge has ended his participation at the Criterium du Dauphine before the start of the first mountain stage to Rumilly, after an old achilles injury flared back up.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "Travel efficiency combines with good performance."

VeloNation: Stage and race lead for British climber on hilly Basque stage.

CyclingNews: German champion Ina Teutenberg (Specialized-lululemon) won the opening stage of the 2012 Emakumeen Bira, beating American Shelley Olds (AA Drink) and her own teammate Trixi Worrack to the line to claim the race leadership.

CyclingNews: By bringing home his second consecutive stage victory at the 2012 Trans Germany, Christoph Sauser (Specialized) is one step closer to earning the general classification title for the third straight year. The Swiss rider, the reigning marathon world champion, finished 13 seconds ahead of Matthias Leisling (Black Tusk Racing).

PodiumCafe: "It's Friday afternoon (somewhere), it's been a long week, we need to unwind. So here's the (un)official Dauphiné vs. Suisse Hottitude Thread. This year, I'm calling it unequivocably for Suisse. Why? Let's ponder..."

Boulder Report: Today’s fourth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné was crucial, not just for the race but for the riders in it; it’s the last long time trial test they’re likely to get before the Tour de France starts on June 30.

CyclingFans: Saturday's Tour de Suisse Stage 1, a 7.3km Individual Time Trial at Lugano gets underway at 2:26pm CET (8:26am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.  Tour de Suisse live streaming video should get underway at around 4:10pm CET (10:10am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNews: Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) starts Saturday’s prologue at the Tour de Suisse with the Tour de France on his mind. The defending champion is hoping a hard week of racing across a demanding course over the Swiss Alps is just what he needs to hone his fitness ahead of July’s Tour.

Spaniard returns to Riis.

CyclingNews: At this stage in his career, Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) is well-versed in downplaying concerns about his condition in the weeks leading up to the Tour de France and on Friday, he duly looked to put brave face on another disappointing day on stage 5 of the Critérium du Dauphiné.

VeloNews: Considered the season’s “fourth” grand tour, the Tour de Suisse provides the last true testing ground before the Tour de France.

CyclingNews: Italian team Liquigas-Cannondale has announced its line-up for the upcoming Tour de Suisse this Saturday. The squad will be headed by Peter Sagan, joined by his teammates Elia Viviani, Moreno Moser, Daniel Oss, Timmy Duggan, Stefano Agostini, Tiziano Dall'Antonia and Ted King.

road.cc: His Lycra is now baggy and even his feet got thinner, but nine chains later he's back home and talking to Mat Brett.

Evelyn Spence: What's it like to pedal 7,710 vertical feet to the summit of Colorado's Pikes Peak?

Riis's book — a best-seller in both Denmark and Germany — is an open, warts-and-all tale of one dogged and determined man's climb to the top of his sporting ladder and his well-documented fall from grace when, 11 years after winning the Tour, Riis called together a press conference and admitted to using EPO during the crowning glory of his career.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "This strong budget option is a little rough around the edges but does the job perfectly well."

VeloNews: Evidence of reduced doping due to a pioneering blood passport programm can be seen in racing and not through the number of cyclists sanctioned in the past four years, world cycling chief Pat McQuaid said Friday in a press conference.

Peloton: A Denver Post journalist, covering the Tour de France for the first time a few years back, famously said: “Why don’t they just have mountain stages instead of all these boring flat stages!” He was right, but not accurate. If grand tours were comprised of just mountain stages, the same guys would be winning every day and the race would, perhaps, be even more boring. So what about time trials?

road.cc: Move to brand that took Mark Cavendish to world championship success will net team a reported €6 million a year.

CyclingNews: RadioShack-Nissan's Chris Horner is eschewing the normal Critérium du Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse preparation races for the Tour de France, choosing instead to remain home in San Diego, California to train in hopes he will be chosen for the team in July.

VeloNation: Rider to target Vuelta a España and world championships.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Minimalist gloves with good bar feel and handy tabs."

road.cc: Dutch brand releases new carbon race machine.

Cyclismas: Fresh off the heels of his Giro d’Italia victory, Ryder Hesjedal has caught the eyes of Hollywood in his adopted United States home thanks to the lobbying efforts by “Slacker Pack” member Owen Wilson.

RedKitePrayer: "Earlier this week we ran an excerpt from Bill and Carol McGann’s latest release, The Story of the Giro d’Italia, Volume II. I don’t think I can do anything here to recommend this book more highly than the incredible narrative the McGanns wove, but this is my chance to comment on it directly."

Bicycling: Next to flat tires, the most common midride mechanical is related to poor shifting, and it usually starts at the rear derailleur.

CyclingNews: Turgot is the fourth French rider to run into problems over whereabouts filings: track sprinter Grégory Baugé lost his 2011 world titles in the individual and team sprints over violations, while Yoann Offredo was given a one-year ban. Jeannie Longo also accused of whereabouts violations but was cleared of her offense.