Coming into the Criterium du Dauphiné — the so-called Tour de France warm-up race — the two main competitors were keen to highlight their excellent form before La Grande Boucle in July.
“At the moment, the numbers and training for me are good,” Tadej Pogacar said. “In December, in February, April, all year round, they are quite good … I’m pretty happy with the numbers.”
Meanwhile Jonas Vingegaard, who hasn’t raced since he crashed at Paris-Nice in March, coming away with a concussion, said: “I can see that I’m doing pretty well in training.”
And it’s Vingegaard, perhaps, who has the most to prove. Having beaten Pogacar to the Yellow Jersey in 2022 and 2023 the Dane is considered the world champion’s closest rival. But after losing out to the Slovenian last year by over six minutes, Vingegaard and Visma—Lease a Bike will be testing the waters at this Dauphiné to see if they can find any weaknesses in Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates XRG.
The pair lock horns on the 2023 Tour
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“I’m definitely planning to go all in,” Vingegaard said before stage one. “Honestly, it would be strange to hold anything back. So yes, I think it’s going to be proper racing — flat out from everyone.”
A typical comment from Pogacar, perhaps, or Mathieu van der Poel, but uncharacteristic from the “quiet” Dane. Vingegaard is not like Pogacar. Pogacar is symbolic of a new style of racing since 2020: he fights for every race, he wants to win, he wants to attack, he likes a hard pace and he loves it when the games begin.
Vingegaard on the other hand, is far more traditional — he leans on his team-mates, bides his time and attacks in the high mountains and time-trials when he can make a difference. It is an altogether more “Team Sky” style of racing. He also focuses on the Tour, sitting out the one-day Classics that Pogacar loves so much.
This, then, is a battle of the artist and the engineer. One rides on inspiration, the other on calculation.
So it was perhaps surprising to see that it was Vingegaard that made the decisive attack on stage one between Domérat and Montluçon.
After a few testing accelerations from the likes of EF Education–EasyPost’s Archie Ryan and Ben Healy it was atop the final climb of Côte de Buffon that Vingegaard broke for it. Pogacar was forced to respond and so was Van der Poel and Santiago Buitrago — soon a gap was made.
Remco Evenepoel was caught out at first, but then burst out of the peloton as it roared along at 55km/h and sprinted to the group closing the gap in seconds. An incredible display of power no one from the peloton could match — a good omen for the Belgian, who is also looking near his best.
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In the end the group would just about make it to the finish as the peloton launched its bunch sprint behind. Van der Poel attacked early, knowing it was the only chance, but it was Pogacar who would take advantage of the tiring Dutchman and take first blood ahead of Vingegaard in second place. Evenepoel would come in fourth after being the main driver of the group.
By launching an attack on what should have been a day to roll in behind a sprint finish, it seemed Vingegaard was trying to out-Pogacar Pogacar and in so doing managed to outsprint even Van der Poel. It was a statement of intent — a new Vingegaard in 2025.
“I think it might be the first time I’ve ever finished second in a bunch sprint,” Vingegaard joked afterwards before putting on the sprinter’s Green Jersey (which he looked after for Pogacar on stage two).
“I just followed the wheels today,” Pogacar said. “I never attacked … I think it’s a good sign. [Vingegaard’s] in good shape, he wants to race, he wants to have fun on the bike … It was nice to see everybody in good shape. But now maybe I can be scared a little bit because they’re so good.”
The Dauphiné should offer an interesting insight into the psyche of the two riders before they take on the Tour
ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Visma were the better positioned team for most of the day, their line of yellow and black “bumblebee” jerseys always at the front of proceedings with valuable lieutenants like Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss surrounding their leader. Pogacar, on the other hand, seemed to have to fend for himself at times.
This is a lesson Visma will have honed with Simon Yates at the Giro d’Italia. Before Yates could set off alone up Colle delle Finestre on the penultimate stage on his way to overall victory, he had to be safe and without injury. The Visma team suffered no DNFs in the Giro, which means they kept their strength intact and, perhaps more importantly, kept Yates positioned perfectly.
But Visma were also the ones to launch the attacks on stage one of the Dauphiné. Jorgensen had a go himself (closed down by Pogacar) before Vingegaard would be the one to do the damage. Getting ahead of Pogacar and forcing him to race on those rare days when he may not want to could prove vital in the Tour de France. Pogacar cannot help himself when the games begin and Visma will know that is their best chance to lure him away from his team.
It is, perhaps, reminiscent of the 2022 Tour, when the might of Visma isolated Pogacar, allowing Vingegaard to unleash a devastating attack on Col du Granon on stage 11, cracking Pogacar. At the Dauphiné, the team will be looking to see if that is possible once again.
Vingegaard and Pogacar will both want to win and the biggest fireworks will surely come on the final three days in the mountains. But on their minds will, of course, be the Tour. Vingegaard will need to use all eight stages to explore the limitations of the “new cannibal” — if that means playing him at his own game, attacking at every opportunity, then so be it. This looks set to be one of the most interesting editions of the “warm-up” race in recent memory.