Pogačar matches every attack in France to finish third on the stage and seal GC victory
With a commanding display on Sunday afternoon, Tadej Pogačar sealed his first Critérium du Dauphiné title with third place on stage 8. The world champion was attacked by Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, but more than matched the Dane on the final climb, measuring his efforts to the line to end a successful week in France.
Crossing third over the line alongside Vingegaard and shortly after stage winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Pogačar brought a close to eight days of racing at the Dauphiné that had yielded three stage victories for himself and UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
With the overall victory, Pogačar becomes the first reigning world champion to win the Dauphiné since Bernard Hinault in 1981. His GC win is also the 45th of the season for the Emirati squad, who can take a big boost of confidence heading into the Tour de France.
It was a day where little seemed to budge between the general classification rivals, given that much of the sort-out had occurred earlier in the week. At the top of the pack, Pogačar and Vingegaard showed their class, with the likes of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) battling it out for the last podium place behind. The first big attack on the final climb, however, came from Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility.
With the increase in pace within the peloton, Tim Wellens came to the fore for his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, Pogačar. The Belgian went to work at putting the pressure on the pack, as Martinez emerged as the strongest member of the day’s breakaway out front. The young Frenchman dropped Enric Mas in the closing kilometres of the Col du Mont-Cenis, setting him up to win the stage.
From behind, meanwhile, Vingegaard decided to mount an attack with 6.6km of the stage to ride, prompting Pogačar to follow the wheel. It quickly became apparent that nothing would separate the pair on the run to home, allowing both riders to trade turns through-and-off to establish their advantage over those behind.
As they came to the line on the plateau that followed the climb, Pogačar was content to see Vingegaard sprint for third, as the Slovenian celebrated his first Dauphiné title.
Pogačar: “After the 2020 Dauphiné, I remember so well how hard that week was, and to come back after so many years with this shape just before the Tour de France… I am really happy and it was a nice victory.
“For sure, this helps the morale and motivation for the Tour [de France] because it is the biggest goal of the season. I think it is a mental boost for all the team. Now, first I want some good rest and then we look a little bit towards the time trial, but otherwise, I don’t think we should rush anything [to prepare for the Tour].
“Obviously, it was a big gap after the time trial [to Vingegaard]. But when you look at the profile, and when we actually rode it, the weekend was even harder than it seemed at first. So I know it was possible to come back, I knew it would be hard, but I am super happy to pull it off.”
Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 stage 8 results
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 3:34:18
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +34″
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t
General classification (final) after Critérium du Dauphiné stage 8
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 29:19:46
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +59″
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2:38
