June 15, 2025
The final mountain challenges of an exhilarating Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 saw Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) take flight to victory. The French youngster proved to be the strongest climber in a star-studded breakaway, eventually dropping Enric Mas (Movistar) with 8 kilometres to go. At 21 years old, he takes his first win in the race, ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who becomes the third reigning world champion to win the Critérium du Dauphiné, after France’s Louison Bobet (1955) and Bernard Hinault (1981). Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) join him in the overall top-3. Pogacar also wins the green jersey while Lipowitz rules the best young rider standings. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) takes the polka-dot jersey after spending the day at the front.
At the start in Val-d’Arc, 135 riders get together, including Romain Bardet, who begins his final day in the professional peloton with a guard of honor paying tribute to his career.
A hard battle to make a 12-man break
As has often been the case this week, the first attacks come from Mathieu Van der Poel, going first atop the cat-3 Côte d’Aiton (km 4.7).
His first attempt is unsuccessful, but, after several more attacks, a group set off at km 14 with Max Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Bruno Armirail (Décathlon-AG2R), Ben Healy (EF Education Easypost), Enric Mas, Romeo (Movistar), Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Alexey Lutsenko (Israel-Premier Tech).
They build up a 4-minute lead at km 36, before Uno-X Mobility riders start chasing to protect Tobias Johannessen’s 5th place in the overall standings from Mas. Atop the Col de Beaune (km 66.7), the gap is down to 2’30’’.
Martinez surges, Pogacar controls
Van der Poel attacks ahead of the intermediate sprint in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (km 75.4). The Dutch star takes 10 points and pushes on, building a lead of 1’10’’ over his former companions up the Côte d’Aussois (km 101.1). Behind him, Romeo pulls the break. Van der Poel is reeled in just before the bottom of climb up Col de Mont-Cenis.
The race explodes on this final ascent of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 with a flurry of attacks in the breakaway and in the peloton. Enric Mas tries to drop everyone but Lenny Martinez hangs on and eventually goes solo with 8 kilometres to go. Behind him, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) accelerates a couple of times and only Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) follow him in the last 1.5 km of ascent.
Over the top (5km to go), the French climber is 50 seconds ahead of Pogacar and Vingegaard. He maintains a gap of 34 seconds on the line to claim his third World Tour victory of the season, after stages of Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie, while Pogacar seals the overall victory, his first in the Critérium du Dauphiné, and takes his 99th professional win before heading to the Tour de France.
Stage 8
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 3h34’18”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +34″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) +34″
GC
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 29h19’46”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +59″
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe) +2’38”
