Vingegaard puts up a better fight, but Pogacar still clearly superior in Critérium du Dauphiné

It was set to be a brutal day from the very first kilometer. Pogacar had expected fireworks from Visma | Lease a Bike on the Col de la Madeleine, the grueling opening climb, and he wasn’t wrong. Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) launched the first attack, but the moves kept coming on the later slopes of the 25-kilometer ascent. UAE Team Emirates – XRG stayed out of the fray, instead opting to control the pace.

After a relentless flurry of attacks, 15 riders managed to break away. Among them: Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel – Premier Tech), former yellow jersey wearer Iván Romeo (Movistar), Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), and Sepp Kuss. Visma | Lease a Bike had their man up the road in Kuss, allowing Pogacar’s team to do the chasing. The high pace whittled down the peloton, leaving only about 40 riders in the main group, which trailed slightly behind the leaders.

After the descent of the first hors catégorie climb, it was straight back to climbing and how. The riders hit the Col de la Croix de Fer, and the pace remained high. The breakaway was given very little breathing room by the team of the yellow jersey wearer. As a result, the break slowly thinned out: riders like Lutsenko and Paret-Peintre were dropped for their efforts. The descent had also allowed UAE to get three more riders back at the front, albeit temporarily: Domen Novak, Nils Politt, and Tim Wellens managed to rejoin after being dropped on the Madeleine.

The gap was kept relatively small, but on the slopes of the day’s second major climb, the difference finally stretched beyond the 2-minute mark. The breakaway extended its lead, but that didn’t stop Guillaume Martin from jumping across. The climber from Groupama-FDJ bridged to teammate Clémant Braz Afonso, who became an important asset for the Frenchman in the break. Still, it quickly became clear that the real race wasn’t in the breakaway, because the pace among the favorites skyrocketed, thanks to Visma | Lease a Bike.

The group of favorites shattered, and by the summit of the Croix de Fer, only a handful of riders remained, Matteo Jorgenson had taken control of the pace. Pogacar suddenly found himself isolated, as did Remco Evenepoel. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) still had Maxim Van Gils with him, and Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R) was also present. That was about it, although a few riders managed to make their way back on the descent. Romain Bardet dove down like a hawk and stayed ahead of the group of favorites, which had now swelled to around 25 riders: some had rejoined, others had been caught from the breakaway.

Bardet's lead grew to about 45 seconds, but since the descent was broken up into three stages, nerves crept back in on the uphill stretches. Visma clearly had a plan to make life as difficult as possible for UAE. Pavel Sivakov had returned and kept the tempo high. The lone Frenchman at the front began the final climb with a lead of roughly 35 seconds, and the road to Valmeinier 1800 was no easy task.

Under Decathlon AG2R’s pace, the Frenchman was reeled in, and it was Kuss’ turn once again. The American was feeling great, he attacked, forcing UAE Team Emirates back to the front. Sivakov managed to keep him within sight, and then it was up to Pogacar himself. With 12 kilometers to go, the acceleration came, and within just 100 meters, Vingegaard was already dropped. The yellow jersey wearer seemed to vanish over the horizon, but the Dane, with Lipowitz now on his wheel, managed to keep Pogacar within visual range.

Was it still close? Vingegaard seemed to find his rhythm again and dropped the white jersey wearer in pursuit of the Slovenian. Despite his efforts, however, he couldn’t close the gap, Pogacar had found his pace. The time difference hovered around 20 seconds, while Evenepoel was already trailing by a minute and a half with 4 kilometers remaining. In the end, the world champion proved too strong: he extended his lead slightly and crossed the line solo. Vingegaard finished second, ahead of Lipowitz, who once again delivered a strong ride. Evenepoel ultimately lost more than 2 minutes and 30 seconds to the winner.