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Monday, June 16, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. - Friedrich Nietzsche
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- June 15 - 22: Tour de Suisse
Upcoming racing:
- June 18 - 22: Baloise Belgium Tour
- July 5 - 27: Tour de France
Latest completed racing:
- June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
- June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
- May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
- May 29 - June 1: Tour of Norway
- May 14 - 18: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
- May 18: Rund um Köln
- May 13: Classique Dunkerque
- May 11: Tro-Bro Léon
- May 10: GP du Morbihan
- May 9: Tour du Finistère
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
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.
2025 Critérium du Dauphiné winner Tadej Pogacar. Sirotti photo
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.”
Here's the report from second-place Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Jonas Vingegaard has secured second place overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné. In the final stage of the eight-day race, the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader launched an attack but was unable to gain time on overall winner Tadej Pogačar. The day's victory went to Lenny Martinez.
In the early part of the final stage of the French multi-day race, Sepp Kuss joined the day’s breakaway on behalf of the black-and-yellow formation. The twelve-man group, including the American, built a solid lead over the peloton. However, that advantage dwindled as the final climb toward Plateau du Mont-Cenis approached. On the ascent, Vingegaard accelerated from a reduced peloton, with only Tadej Pogačar able to follow his pace.
With help from Kuss, the duo reeled in most of the breakaway riders. Only Lenny Martinez managed to stay clear and soloed to the stage victory. Vingegaard crossed the finish line in second place, just ahead of Pogačar - who won the overall victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Matteo Jorgenson, runner-up last year, delivered another solid performance to take sixth in the final general classification.
Jonas Vingeaard and Tadej Pogacar finish stage eight. Sirotti photo
Sports director Grischa Niermann is satisfied with his team’s efforts: “I saw a strong Team Visma | Lease a Bike this week. Jonas was consistently the best behind Pogačar and finishes second overall. Matteo also did well, ending up sixth. On top of that, we win the team classification. Unfortunately, that’s as much as we could achieve.”
“Of course, we would have liked to win the Dauphiné”, Niermann says. “But I’m happy with where we stand as a team at this moment. There’s still some work to be done, but we had anticipated that.” Vingegaard adds: “I have three more weeks to improve ahead of the Tour de France. Then we’ll see where we stand. We're fully focused on ourselves. I’m really looking forward to the Grand Départ in Lille.”
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Here's the Critérium du Dauphiné report from GC third-place Florian Lipowitz's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:
With a strong 3rd place in the general classification and winning the white jersey, Florian Lipowitz wrapped up a successful week at the Dauphiné, continuing his steady progression.
The race unfolded according to plan: avoiding time losses on the opening stages, gaining an advantage in the breakaway on stage three, and delivering a solid time trial midweek. Step by step, Lipowitz moved up the GC. On the decisive mountain stages, he once again demonstrated his climbing abilities and and defending his place among the top contenders.
Following second place at Paris–Nice and fourth at Itzulia Basque Country, the Dauphiné marks another strong result for Florian Lipowitz in a week-long WorldTour stage race.
Florian Lipowitz in the Best Young Rider's white jersey after stage six. Sirotti photo
Florian Lipowitz: "I knew I was coming in with good form, but I didn’t expect to finish on the podium. Standing next to riders like Tadej and Jonas really means something. The team supported me all week, and I’m happy I could turn that into a result.“
Rolf Aldag, Chief of Sports bei Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe: “The Dauphiné was a clear goal in Florian’s season plan. We were aiming for a top-five finish, so a podium is all the more satisfying. Most importantly, he continues to develop with consistency, focus, and patience. This week was another step in the right direction.”
Here's the report from GC fourth-place Remco Evenepoel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Remco Evenepoel improved his result of last year at the Critérium du Dauphiné by three places, coming home fourth on the general classification after a strong and hard week of racing. The double Olympic Champion once again won the only individual time trial of the competition and enjoyed a two-day spell in the yellow jersey before the three mountain stages, where he did his best despite a crash on stage 5, whose effects could be seen on the ascents.
Remco Evenepoel in yellow after stage six. With him is two-time Tour winner Bernard Thévenet.
On the final stage, a 133.3km one comprising six climbs, including the brutal Mont-Cenis one, and 3500 vertical meters, Remco attacked twice: once on the last difficulty of the day, where he accelerated from the favourites’ group making a selection, followed by another move on the plateau leading to the line, where he dropped almost all those with him en route to fifth place – his sixth top ten finish of the week – a result that helped the Belgian seal his position in the overall standings.
“This final stage was another step forward. I underestimated the crash in which I was involved a couple of days a bit and also struggled with the allergies, which prevented me from being at my best for two days in a row, but today was a bit better, I had a good feeling, and that gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”
“In the next couple of weeks, I want to work on the tempo changes, because it’s something that isn’t in my nature, but I also need to improve on the climbs. There’s still some time until the Tour de France and we are confident we can be there with a good team and in better form”, said Remco after bringing home Soudal Quick-Step’s best result in eight years at the Dauphiné.
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Stage eight winner Lenny Martinez's Team Bahrain Victorious posted this report:
Lenny Martinez claimed his third WorldTour stage victory of the season with a brilliant solo win on the final day of the Critérium du Dauphiné, finishing at Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The triumph came at a place that holds precious memories for the young Frenchman, having trained there on his mountain bike with his father eight years ago.
Martinez entered the race with ambitions of finishing in the top 10 of the General Classification but struggled on the Queen Stage after being dropped on the Col de la Madeleine, losing valuable time. With GC hopes out of reach, he turned his attention to the final stage, determined to leave his mark.
The breakaway formed early and was allowed a gap of around three minutes by the peloton. With 8 km to go and just Enric Mas (Movistar) remaining from the original breakaway, Martinez launched a decisive attack, dropping the Spaniard and going solo.
Lenny Martinez wins stage eight. Sirotti photo
From that point on, the question was whether GC favourites Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard would chase him down. But Martinez crested the Col du Mont-Cenis (9.6 km at 6.9%) with over 40 seconds in hand and held his lead all the way to the finish line to secure a memorable win ahead of the GC contenders.
An emotional Lenny Martinez at the finish line said:
“Yesterday, I was really bad, and I hadn’t been feeling great the days before either. So I wasn’t expecting much today. But then I finally felt good at the start, so I decided to go for it. At one point, I thought Van der Poel was going to win, then I thought I was going to get caught by the Pogacar-Vingegaard duo a little later… It would have been a real shame, but it worked out!
I was going all out until the last kilometre and it was only at the end that I really believed it was possible to win. I’m very happy with my performance in the Dauphiné. I came here for the overall classification: it didn’t work out, but I’ve salvaged the week.
The team told me never to give up, so that’s why I tried again today. Now we can be proud of what we’ve done here with this victory. I hope to win in the Tour too, we’ll see.”
Here's the Dauphiné report from GC ninth-place Carlos Rodriguez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Carlos Rodriguez rounded off Criterium du Dauphine with a ninth place finish on the GC while Ben Swift battled the rain in the breakaway on the first stage of Tour de Suisse.
Criterium du Dauphine
Rodriguez battled to 11th place on the final mountain stage to take top-10 on the GC.
Tobias Foss bridged over to the break with 110km to go to make a 12-man breakaway.
Carlos Rodriguez headed to the start of stage two. Sirotti photo
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) went solo as the race approached the fourth categorised climb of the day, gaining a minute on the chasers, while the peloton were still almost three minutes back inside the final 50km.
Heading up the Col du Mont-Cenis, van der Poel was caught and was distanced, while Foss also dropped off the pace as attacks came thick and fast behind. Rodriguez was well in with the attacks in the yellow jersey group as the fight for the GC battle went into the final stages.
Rodriguez continued to hold on to finish 11th on the stage, and take ninth on the GC after a tough week in France.
Carlos Rodriguez:
“It hasn’t been my best race, but it’s a fairly good preparation for the Tour de France and that’s what matters the most. I’m happy I have survived every day, fighting my way to a good placing overall. I’m very grateful to my teammates because they believed in me and did a great work to support me. For sure I wanted to be further up in the GC, but it is what it is. I did my best and it’s the the most I can ask for.”
Tour de Suisse
Ben Swift tackled the breakaway in tough conditions on the first stage of the Tour de Suisse, starting and finishing in Küssnacht.
Up the first ascent of the Michaelskreuzstrasse with 107km to go, a break of two got away, with Swift behind in a chasing group.
The chasing group caught the breakaway pair to form a front group of 28 riders with 85km.
As the rain began to fall heavily, the riders racked up a three minute lead. Ben O’Connor (Team Jayco AlUla) led the storm up the second ascent of the Michaelskreuzstrasse, before Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) attacked, with Swift and others just distanced on the climb.
Swift led the third chasing eight-man group as the conditions worsened into the finish, coming in 11th and 10th on the GC.
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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from Team Picnic-PostNL:
The Tour de Suisse got underway on Sunday afternoon with a short but punchy stage. With some tough climbs in the opening 20 kilometres it was a fierce fight from the flag drop, with Team Picnic PostNL represented in an early move with Warren Barguil. That group came back and then Alex Edmondson made it into a counter move, but they too were reeled in before the Michaelskreuzstrasse ascent.
Wet roads as the stage started.
On the climb the bunch completely exploded with Oscar Onley and Barguil towards the fore over the top, as a duo pushed on a few seconds ahead. On the flatter roads afterwards, the attacks continued and Barguil made it into a large group of around 28 riders that broke clear. With the peloton slowing, it fully regrouped behind but those ahead had built up a three minute advantage.
Some teams attempted to chase, but there were equally teams with numbers out front who kept the pace high and coming into the last 25 kilometres and final ascent of Michaelskreuzstrasse it was clear the break would win. Barguil fought as hard as he could but had to let go on the ascent, coming across the line in a group that was one minute 26 seconds behind the winner, while in the chasing “peloton”, Onley showed good climbing legs to finish in that group; albeit three minutes and 12 seconds in arrears.
Barguil said: “It was a super hard restart to racing here at the Tour de Suisse. The goal for us was to try and make the breakaway with Frank or I, but it was a really high pace to the start of the day. After a lot of attacks, I managed to be in it. I kept fighting and tried my hardest but I just did not have the legs to follow on the last climb. Sometimes that can happen when you come back to racing after altitude camp. Hopefully that means we can improve during the rest of the week here.”
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