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Tadej Pogačar put to rest any doubt in his eight-day Critérium du Dauphiné demolition derby about who is the five-star favorite to win the Tour de France next month.

If there were any lingering questions about his team or after that time trial wobble Wednesday, or even if Jonas Vingegaard might be inching closer, they were obliterated over three ruthless, merciless Alpine stages this weekend.

Pogačar could even play kingmaker Sunday — letting Lenny Martinez stay clear to snag a breakaway victory (good politics) and not further humiliating his rivals even more (good vibes) — and chose to mark the wheels when it looked like he could have easily dropped everyone to hit wins No. 99 and 100 in one shot.

The UAE Emirates-XRG GOAT can save that milestone for July.

By Sunday, the real question went from “Can anyone beat Pogi at the Tour?” to “How much will he win by?”

In a league of his own
PogacarGet used to this image: Pogačar alone off the front. (Photo: Chris Auld/Velo)

The Dauphiné opened with plenty of intrigue, but in typical Pogačar fashion, he bulldozed those narratives and paved a pathway of destruction that shows all signs of leading to his fourth yellow jersey next month.

A quietly confident Vingegaard and a puffed-up Visma-Lease a Bike — flying high after its Giro d’Italia raid — came into this Dauphiné hoping and even plotting how to overthrow a perhaps overconfident and overstretched UAE in the Tour preview.

Also read: Why Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel rarely face off

Wednesday’s TT aberration suggested that anything was possible.

That unraveled like a child’s fantasy Friday when Pogačar left Vingegaard and an even more ruffled Remco Evenepoel choking on his proverbial dust with what’s becoming now his new trademark acceleration without standing out of the pedals.

As he did in the Ardennes, Pogačar is now capable of riding everyone off of his wheel while remaining in an efficient seated, morale-crushing attack posture.

Friday’s race-breaking attack backed up by Saturday’s high-altitude tempo confirmed that Pogačar is better than ever.

And even if riders like Vingegaard and Evenepoel insist they too are improving, they’re not doing it in such a way as to have any hope to stay even with the Slovenian slugger in July, let alone surpass him.

Pogačar leaves the Dauphiné with massive momentum and elevates himself above the rest of the July field as the lone five-star favorite.

Vingegaard is still the only one
VingegaardVingegaard couldn’t match Pogačar in the mountains but took gains in the time trial. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Pogačar would’ve been the five-star favorite anyway, but this Dauphiné started with the hope that Vingegaard might have leveled up after his crash-marred 2024 season.

Despite a concussion and crash at Paris-Nice, word coming out of the Visma camp was that Vingo was back at his 2022-23 best, and even better.

Also read: Why the Dauphiné might be a smarter bucket-list trip than the Tour de France

The brutal reality from the Dauphiné is that Vingegaard and Visma were out-raced and out-muscled in all the key stages, except for that odd TT when Pogi either soft-pedaled or was not comfortable with his TT setup.

Vingegaard was humiliated Friday when he was forced to put his head down after not being able to hold Pogačar’s pace for even 100 meters. Things weren’t as bad Saturday, but it seemed like Pogačar could have gone deeper if he needed to, and Vingegaard was racing to his limit.

Sunday’s final stage saw Vingegaard’s tepid accelerations immediately marked by Pogačar, who uncharacteristically held back when it appeared he could have ridden to a third-straight summit finale stage win.

Still, the Dane is the only rider who can take it to Pogačar, but this week revealed that Slovenian is superior when it comes to pure watts and power.

Is there room to improve until the Tour’s most demanding climbs in the Pyrénées and Alps still nearly a month away? Yes. Could Pogačar somehow be peaking too early? Maybe.

That’s the only hope that anyone has — barring some disaster in the form of a crash, illness, or some other unpleasant surprise.

Trouble in Remco world
EvenepoelEvenepoel patiently answered questions all week about his form.

Behind the leading pair, the most interesting thing about this Tour might be the race for third place.

Remco Evenepoel revealed some rather gaping chinks in his armor coming into what will be his second Tour de France.

Like Vingegaard, he was hoping to show progress from 2024. Yet across the Dauphiné, he was dropped on all the key climbs.

Also read: Sepp Kuss under pressure to deliver in the Alps

Granted, he’s still building back from his crash in December. He was also fighting through pollen allergies, which can be quite notorious this time of year in France.

But Evenepoel certainly showed vulnerabilities in the high mountains. Can he recover in the next few weeks? Time is on his side as it’s still nearly a month before the highest mountains, and his time trial remains a lethal weapon.

But third won’t be an easy lock for Evenepoel, and it looks unlikely he’ll have the gas to challenge Pogačar or Vingegaard for moving higher up the ladder.

Evenepoel might spend much of July looking over his shoulder as the real race in July will be for that third podium spot.

More to less, with one exception
Florian LipowitzGermany’s next big thing? Florian Lipowitz is expected to make his Tour debut. (Photo: Chris Auld/Velo)

Simply based on what we’ve seen this past week, there were more disappointments than surprises in the back half of the top 10.

Matteo Jorgenson didn’t look as explosive, but again he’s more of a big diesel for the high mountains. He was getting gapped Friday and Saturday but came back strong Sunday. Nonetheless, his stock goes down a little bit, especially in the larger context he will be working for Vingegaard almost exclusively.

Other riders like Enric Mas (Movistar) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), both seemed to be going from más a menos, from more to less.

Can they improve so dramatically in the next few weeks to be considered podium contenders? No.

The big surprise and confirmation of this Dauphiné was Florian Lipowitz, who will line up next to Primož Roglič as a potential second card for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

The 24-year-old German won the best young rider’s jersey — usually a lock for Evenepoel in any race he starts — and will bring momentum mixed with youthful exuberance to what is expected to be his Tour debut next month. Can he win the Tour? Nope. But he could ride into the top 10 and maybe even more.

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) revealed new consistency in the big climbs to hit fifth, perhaps giving the Norwegian team a legitimate top-10 prospect for what will be his third Tour start.

The big revelation came in the form of 18-year-old Paul Seixas (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), who almost unfortunately for him will immediately see the hopes of an entire nation piled onto his slender shoulders after riding to a very solid eighth overall.

Seixas won’t be racing the Tour, but along with stage-winner Martinez and Romain Grégoire (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), winner of stage 1 at the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, there is hope for French fans champing at the bit for its first Tour de France winner since Bernard Hinault back in 1985.

And those who were not there
Ben O'ConnorO’Connor is among a handful of Tour favorites racing this week at the Tour de Suisse. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

This Dauphiné was a treat because it was the first time since last year’s Tour that Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel faced off in the same race.

There are a few big names who were not in France last week who will be in the yellow jersey tug-of-war.

Pogacar’s Dauphiné domination scrambles the Tour pecking order. Only second or third seem up for grabs. Is there an outsider? Top among them is the eternal enigma of Roglič.

Also read: Powless wins Swiss one-day in Tour de France primer

After his Giro flameout, does he come into the Tour fresher than ever? Can he hit another podium? With Roglič, those questions can never truly be answered, and that’s why we love watching him race.

The top prospects worth watching this week at the Tour de Suisse are Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG). If these two can make a strong impression, they can certainly move up the pre-race rankings and challenge for a podium spot.

DauphinéPogačar adds the Dauphiné to his list of career wins. (Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Rescrambling the Tour de France hierarchy

⬆️ = UP | ⬇️ = DOWN | ➡️ = EVEN

  1. Tadej Pogačar ⬆️
  2. Jonas Vingegaard ⬇️
  3. Remco Evenepoel ⬇️
  4. Florian Lipowitz ⬆️
  5. João Almeida ➡️
  6. Primož Roglič ➡️
  7. Matteo Jorgenson ⬇️
  8. Ben O’Connor ➡️
  9. Carlos Rodríguez ⬇️
  10. Enric Mas ⬇️