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Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 Stage 7

photo credits @WTFK

Tadej Pogacar rode away from his main rivals on the final ascent as he cemented his grip on the Criterium de Dauphine yellow jersey in Saturday’s mountainous “Queen Stage”. 

“I launched it and maintained a good pace to the top,” he said at the finish.

The Slovenian had grabbed the overall lead the day before when he shot clear on the short closing climb.

On Saturday’s penultimate stage, a 131.7km run from Grand-Aigueblanche, Pogacar’s UAE team-mate Pavel Sivakov reduced the leading pack by setting a ferocious tempo at the front at the start of the 20-kilometer final climb to Valmeinier ski resort.

With 12km to go, Pogacar upped the tempo, standing on his pedals and rocketing clear.

As on Friday, only his main Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard and young German Florian Lipowitz could respond.

Vingegaard settled into a dogged pursuit.

Pogacar, without rising out of his saddle again, was able to maintain an uncatchable pace.

He increased his lead to as much as 30 seconds before relaxing up toward the end. He cruised across the line 14 seconds ahead of Vingegaard, quivering with effort as he came home.

“Today Jonas was really strong I did not want to go too deep myself,” said Pogacar. “It was a super hot and long climb. Luckily, I had enough time to ease up in the last kilometers and recovered.”

“Happy I could defend the jersey like this.”

Lipowitz was again third at 1min 21sec Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who had led the overall classification, until Friday, finished fifth, as he had on Friday, losing 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

With one stage to go, Pogacar increased his lead to 1:01 over Vingegaard, 2:01 over German Florian Lipowitz and 4:11 to Evenepoel in fourth.

For much of the stage, Vingegaard’s lieutenants on the powerful Visma team launched attack after attack, but they could not shake off Pogacar, or Sivakov, either going up or down the day’s biggest climb the Col de la Croix de Fer.

“We wanted to take control on all the climbs, but Visma tried with all the attacks. I was pretty happy with how Pavel and the team rode today. It was sort of defence, to not get attacked by everyone from Visma,” said Pogacar.

He complained at the way Visma had tried to drop him on the descent of the Col de Croix de Fer.

“They went a little bit dangerous in the first kilometers of the downhill,” he said. “I didn’t like that, but it’s modern cycling,” he said.

With the Tour de France starting on July 5, Pogacar beat Vingegaard to take a third stage victory in the race.

It was also the 98th of the Slovenian’s career, breaking a tie with French sprinter Arnaud Demare for most by an active rider.

He has a chance for one more on Sunday when the race finishes with another mountainous stage, 133.3km from Val-d’Arc to the Plateau du Mont-Cenis.

Race Highlights

A brutal battle up La Madeleine

A 135-man peloton set off at noon with a fierce battle immediately unfolding on the way up the first HC-climb of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025. Visma-Lease a Bike are especially willing to make the break. Victor Campenaerts was the first attacker of the day. Matteo Jorgenson also tried to go, before Sepp Kuss eventually got away in a 15-man group built in several waves.

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) led the way from km 8. And they were gradually joined by more attackers until the group settled at km 23 with Kuss, Santiago Buitrago, Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious), Sergio Higuita (XDS Astana), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Ivan Romeo (Movistar), Andreas Lekessund (Uno-X Mobility), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel Premier-Tech), Romain Bardet, Juan Guillermo Martinez (Picnic PostNL), Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).

The race explodes again at La Croix de Fer

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG set the pace in the bunch. The intensity was still high on the Col de la Croix de Fer. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet set off from the bunch and manages to bridge the gap to the front group while V. Paret-Peintre is dropped. At that point, the gap hit a maximum of 2’05’’ (km 64).

Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike brutally upped the ante, which also forced the front riders to accelerate. At the summit, Buitrago went first. Only 18’’ behind, Matteo Jorgenson led a very reduced GC group featuring Vingegaard, Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Ste), Maxim Van Gils, Lipowitz, Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

Pogacar sets off to Valmeinier 1800

Onto the downhill, Bardet accelerated towards Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, where he had claimed his first Tour de France stage win, in 2015. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) returned to the bunch to control the gap. At the bottom of the final climb to Valmeinier 1800, Bardet lead by 35’’.

The French climber was caught 13 kilometers away from the summit. Kuss attacked, but Pogacar later attacked with 12 km to go. Vingegaard tried to resist, with Lipowitz on his wheel. But the slope puts everyone in their place.

At the summit, Pogacar celebrated and takes victory 14’’ ahead of Vingegaard, who trailed by 30’’ with one kilometer to go. Lipowitz completed the top-3 on the day (+1’21’’) ahead of Johannessen (+2’26’’) and Evenepoel (+2’39’’).

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