PREVIEW INFO WITH ONE DAY TO GO
June 7 th 2025 - 17:39
. The 77th Critérium du Dauphiné brings together 154 riders for a punchy start in the Allier department, including the three riders on the final podium of the Tour de France 2024: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel.
. After treating an injured hand, Mathieu Van der Poel is ready for his first participation in the Dauphiné. The Dutch star is even a favourite for the first leader’s jersey if he gets the better of the sprinters, including Jonathan Milan.
. Dark horses such as Carlos Rodriguez and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet are looking for their opportunity to shine as they face a demanding week and battle with a star-studded field also featuring the likes of Romain Bardet (bidding farewell on his home roads), Florian Lipowitz, Santiago Buitrago, Enric Mas…
MAIGNAN: “THE FINAL CIRCUIT COULD TURN EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN”
Sprinters always eye the first leader's jersey of the Critérium du Dauphiné, but will they find their way to victory this year? The course between Domérat and Montluçon, over a distance of 195.8 kilometres, could play to their strength… However, race director Gilles Maignan has designed a final circuit featuring five climbs in the final 60 kilometres. With only 6.7 km to go, the Côte de Buffon is only 600 metres long, but at a severe gradient of 8.6%: "Given that Jonathan Milan is the main candidate in a bunch sprint, we'll have to see whether Lidl-Trek will be able to control the situation. Because if certain teams want to make it hard, the final circuit could turn everything upside down. Mathieu Van der Poel, for example, is the type of rider who can fly away on this climb. Especially as after the descent, the roads leading up to the finish are twisty and suitable for a technically gifted rider like him.”
POGACAR: “IT’S GONNA BE FUN”
The Critérium du Dauphiné remains one of the few races Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) hasn’t won (yet?). The Slovenian star participated once, in 2020 (4th), a few weeks before his first Tour de France triumph. At the time, he had some 17 professional wins… He’s now up to 95, including nine with the rainbow jersey on his shoulders, but the World Champion tries to repel the pressure of victory for his second participation, marking his return to competition six weeks after winning in Liège. “I have to remind myself that I’m coming from a big training block and get rid of this mentality that I need to win”, the UCI World Champion explained on Saturday. “I need to let go of the pressure, see how the legs are turning and try to be as good as possible. Still, Pogacar looks forward to “some nice battles on the climbs and in the TT”, especially with familiar rivals: “[Jonas Vingegaard] looks in good shape from what I saw. I’m looking forward to racing against him, but also Remco [Evenepoel] for example. It’s gonna be fun to watch and I hope also fun to race if I have good legs.” The latest data bodes well for him: “My numbers in training are good in February, April… all year round. And I’m very happy with them at the moment.”
VISMA-LEASE A BIKE “WILL DO EVERYTHING TO WIN”
As always when their paths cross in competition, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) comes to the Critérium du Dauphiné tipped as Tadej Pogacar's main opponent. His sports director Grischa Niermann is enthusiastic about the form the Dane has built up since crashing out of Paris-Nice in March: "Jonas is of course our leader. The competition is strong – with Tadej Pogačar and also Remco Evenepoel – but we always focus on ourselves," he says. “It’s a great opportunity to see where we stand. Most of our riders are coming back after a long altitude camp and are eager to return to racing. The time trial on day four is a good test of strength, and the final mountain stages are really challenging. That’s when we’ll see where we currently stand.” Niermann and Visma-Lease a Bike also count on Matteo Jorgenson, 2nd in last year’s Dauphiné and winner of Paris-Nice, as well as Sepp Kuss, building up towards the Tour de France. “The Dauphiné is ideal because it combines well with a final training block before the Tour”, Niermann explains. “It has worked well for us in recent years, because the Dauphiné is a top-level race that never lies. Obviously, the bigger goal is the Tour de France. But we’ll do everything we can to win the Dauphiné as well.”
EVENEPOEL AIMS TO “MAKE A BIG STEP TOWARDS TADEJ AND JONAS”
Remco Evenepoel’s road to July glory naturally includes a detour in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Last year, his victory in the individual time-trial got him to wear the yellow and blue jersey before stepping on the podium for his maiden participation in the Tour de France. The Belgian leader of Soudal Quick-Step feels even stronger nowadays, which fills him with confidence for the big rendezvous of the summer: “It feels good to finally be in good shape again, to just feel good in my body. The numbers are good, the weight is good… I had a good load of racing in the classics and the Tour de Romandie and a really good training camp in Sierra Nevada, working on everything that makes the overall standings of a Grand Tour: mountains, gravel, some specific exercises for time-trials…” And the Belgian icon is eager to reap the fruits of his work: “I’m probably around the shape I had last year at the Tour, so I’ll be better in the Dauphiné than I was a year ago and I believe I can make a big step towards Tadej and Jonas. I think everyone wants to see where they stand now. I’m gonna give myself to the maximum and it would be nice to see that I can be up there with Tadej and Jonas probably. It would be a good sign for the Tour.”
ROODHOOFT: “WHENEVER MATHIEU RACES, HE TRIES TO WIN”
Among the bigger names lining up for the Critérium du Dauphiné, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is a last-minute addition, following his stellar classics campaign on the road and a crash on the mountain bike tracks of Nové Mesto (Czechia). “Actually, it’s been part of the plan for a long time but things went a bit up and down with his crash”, says Christoph Roodhooft, general manager of Alpecin-Deceuninck. “As soon as we knew he would be fit, he decided to come. Of course, his condition is not optimal. He had a problem with his wrist but he was still able to train, just not at 100%. The Critérium du Dauphiné is important towards the Tour, he wanted to come here because there are stages quite similar to his big targets in July. For example, tomorrow can be a very good chance.” How the legs will respond remains to be seen but Van der Poel is used to making an impact as soon as he returns to competition. “Whenever he races, he tries to win”, Roodhooft says. “But we’ll see because this is also about building up towards a major goal for him with the Tour de France.”
MARTIN-GUYONNET : “TO GET THROUGH A MOUSE HOLE”
Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet is one of the Critérium du Dauphiné’s most loyal contenders, with nine participations and a 3rd place finish in 2020, just ahead of Tadej Pogacar. “It's really one of my favourite races, I have good memories, because when I first took part in 2016, I finished 11th in a demanding stage, which was very satisfying as a neopro”, explains the leader of Groupama-FDJ. Gearing to face the biggest stars of the peloton, Martin-Guyonnet doesn’t shy away but he is well aware that it will be difficult to break into the top-5 again: "In 10 years, there's never been such a high level on the Dauphiné. It certainly complicates things and if we want to get into the fight just behind this trio, we'll have to grab the smallest opportunity. The TT won't be my best day, but I remember that in 2023 it was longer and I still finished the race in 6th place in the final classification.”
CARLOS RODRIGUEZ: “UP AGAINST THE BEST RIDERS IN THE WORLD”
The last stage winner on the roads of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Carlos Rodriguez (last year at the Plateau des Glières) wants to show his best version again after facing some ups and downs since the start of the year. “It’s been a bit of a weird season”, the Spaniard acknowledges. “I started with ambition but I suffered a few injuries and broke my collarbone at the UAE Tour. In Liège [33rd] and Romandie [6th], I was almost back at my level. After some more training, I hope to make a step forward and not only be up there but actually fight for races. I know it will be difficult in the Critérium du Dauphiné, because I’m up against the best riders in the world, but we hope to at least be close to them.” Among his credentials, the 24-year-old Spaniard already managed to beat Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to win stage 14 of the Tour de France 2023 in Morzine.