Tadej Pogacar delivered a blow to Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel in the Critérium du Dauphiné on Friday in the first climbing battle towards the Tour de France. The world champion won the mountain stage and distanced his two rivals by more than a minute.
Pogacar attacked 7 kilometers from the finish on a steep section of the Côte de Domancy, breaking away from a reduced group of favorites. Vingegaard tried to respond, but quickly had to let go. Evenepoel had already been dropped from the group at that point.
After that, Pogacar only increased his lead over Vingegaard. At the finish line, the difference was more than a minute. As a result, Pogacar is also the new leader in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Evenepoel, who wore the leader’s jersey in the stage, finished almost two minutes behind Pogacar.
This gives Pogacar a lot of confidence heading into the Tour, which starts on July 5. Vingegaard is considered the biggest challenger to the world champion, who won the Tour for the second time last year. On Wednesday, Vingegaard gained half a minute on Pogacar in the time trial.
Vingegaard can already seek revenge on Saturday, when the riders face a very tough mountain stage with no fewer than three climbs of the hors catégorie. The biggest preparation race for the Tour concludes on Sunday with another mountain stage.
Van der Poel rides in breakaway
For weeks, the first mountain stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné had been eagerly anticipated, as it would be the first time Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel would cross swords in the high mountains.
The three did not disappoint. While Mathieu van der Poel rode in the breakaway from the start to gain race hardness for the Tour, Pogacar and Vingegaard set their teams at the front during the first climbs.
After that, the pace increased significantly. Van der Poel was caught about 40 kilometers from the finish, and at the foot of the final climb, the peloton had become a reduced group of favorites, including Pogacar, Vingegaard, and overall leader Evenepoel.
As soon as the road started to climb, Evenepoel surprisingly dropped out of the group of favorites. For Pogacar, this was reason enough to attack. It was a decisive attack: Vingegaard quickly had to let a gap form and saw the rainbow jersey disappear further and further out of sight.
In a smooth stride, Pogacar then crossed the finish line first. Vingegaard reached the top of the final climb more than a minute behind him, struggling. The Dane still has some homework to do before the Tour if he wants to prevent Pogacar from winning his third overall victory.