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2025-06-15T14:16:37.496Z

Another climb summited for Mathieu van der Poel, as he takes maximum points over the top of the Côte d’Aussois and Bruno Armirail comes through in the group behind to take another three points in mountains classification, extending his virtual lead to nine points over Tadej Pogačar.

2025-06-15T14:04:29.255Z

This is a brilliant solo effort from Mathieu van der Poel. If this is a sign of things to come, then we can definitely expect to see the Dutchman animating the race on some the hilly stages in the opening week of the Tour de France.

2025-06-15T13:59:32.849Z

The riders are now onto the slopes of the penultimate climb of the Côte d’Aussois (6.3km at 6.2%), with Mathieu van der Poel still holding more than a minute of an advantage over the chasing group as he begins the category two ascent. It has all come back together in the peloton, with main bunch currently two minutes and 45 seconds behind the Dutchman at the head of race.

2025-06-15T13:54:07.733Z

A small split in the peloton on the descent has seen three Uno-X Mobility go clear with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard in the wheel. It should all come back together though, as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are working to bring it back together for Florian Lipowitz.

2025-06-15T13:50:32.025Z

The weather has taken a turn and rain has started to fall as they begin the descent of the Côte de Saint-André. A little moment for Van der Poel through one of the corners forced him unclip his right foot from the pedal, but he stays upright and continues his effort.

2025-06-15T13:46:00.973Z

Van der Poel is first over the summit of the Côte de Saint-André, but the two points in the mountains classification will be of little consequence to the Dutchman. Bruno Armirail comes through to collect the sole remaining point to further extend his virtual lead in the classification.

2025-06-15T13:40:39.376Z

Van der Poel’s gap has now gone out to a minute over the chasers, but his advantage to the peloton has come down gradually to two minutes and 40 seconds under the continuing pace of Uno-X Mobility.

2025-06-15T13:37:55.149Z

The riders are now inside the final 50km of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné and are approaching the foot of the category three Côte de Saint-André (2.5km at 7.6%).

2025-06-15T13:33:30.625Z

After the intermediate sprint, Van der Poel has continued his effort and has extended his gap over the rest of the breakaway to 40 seconds. His advantage over the peloton now sits at three minutes with around 50km to go.

2025-06-15T13:30:19.284Z

Lenny Martinez was first over the top of the Col de Beaune ahead of Bruno Armirail, who now moves into the virtual lead of the mountains classification with a five-point lead over Tadej Pogačar.

2025-06-15T13:27:07.720Z

The riders have summited and descended down the other side of the Col de Beaune. Mathieu van der Poel has put in a small acceleration to take the maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, opening up a 15-second gap on his breakaway companions.

2025-06-15T13:22:49.161Z

The breakaway has begun to splinter slightly on the slopes of the Col de Beaune. Stage 5 winner Jake Stewart has been dropped from the lead group and caught by the peloton.

2025-06-15T13:10:19.267Z

The peloton have closed the gap to the breakaway to around two and a half minutes, as Uno-X Mobility are setting the pace in the main bunch. They are probably concerned with Enric Mas’ presence in the lead group, as the Spaniard sits in tenth place in the general classification, just one minute and 40 seconds behind their leader Tobias Halland Johannessen in fifth place.

2025-06-15T12:54:20.536Z

No time for horsing around on today’s stage, as the riders at head of the race had averaged 44.5km/h for the first hour.

PLATEAU DU MONT-CENIS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: A general view of Maxim Van Gils of Belgium and Team Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, Sepp Kuss of United States and Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Tobias Foss of Norway and Team INEOS Grenadiers, Valentin Paret-Peintre of France and Team Soudal Quick-Step, Lenny Martinez of France and Team Bahrain - Victorious, Bruno Armirail of France and Team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Ben Healy of Ireland and Team EF Education - EasyPost, Enric Mas of Spain, Ivan Romeo of Spain and Team Movistar, Mathieu van der Poel of Netherlands and Team Alpecin - Deceuninck - Green points jersey, Jake Stewart of Great Britain and Alexey Lutsenko of Kazakhstan and Team Israel - Premier Tech compete in the breakaway during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 8 a 133.3km stage from Val-d'Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis 2095m / #UCIWT / on June 15, 2025 in Plateau du Mont-Cenis, France.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2025-06-15T12:50:58.889Z

Some shots of the breakaway as they make their way towards the foot of the Col de Beaune (6.6km at 6.8%), the first of two category one ascents on today’s stage.

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PLATEAU DU MONT-CENIS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: (L-R) Lenny Martinez of France and Team Bahrain - Victorious and Ivan Romeo of Spain and Team Movistar compete in the breakaway during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 8 a 133.3km stage from Val-d'Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis 2095m / #UCIWT / on June 15, 2025 in Plateau du Mont-Cenis, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)PLATEAU DU MONT-CENIS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: (L-R) Ben Healy of Ireland and Team EF Education - EasyPost, Mathieu van der Poel of Netherlands and Team Alpecin - Deceuninck - Green points jersey and Enric Mas of Spain and Team Movistar compete in the breakaway during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 8 a 133.3km stage from Val-d'Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis 2095m / #UCIWT / on June 15, 2025 in Plateau du Mont-Cenis, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)PLATEAU DU MONT-CENIS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: (L-R) Sepp Kuss of United States and Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Ivan Romeo of Spain and Enric Mas of Spain and Team Movistar compete in the breakaway during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 8 a 133.3km stage from Val-d'Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis 2095m / #UCIWT / on June 15, 2025 in Plateau du Mont-Cenis, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)

2025-06-15T12:38:14.840Z

Julien Bernard looks to be heading back to the peloton as he is currently around two minutes behind the breakaway. It was a bold move, but he may regret it with the climbs to come later on.

PLATEAU DU MONT-CENIS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: Julien Bernard of France and Team Lidl - Trek competes in the chase group during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 8 a 133.3km stage from Val-d'Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis 2095m / #UCIWT / on June 15, 2025 in Plateau du Mont-Cenis, France.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2025-06-15T12:29:10.603Z

Here’s a map of today’s stage as the race heads deep into the Alps towards the Franco-Italian border.

Route map of stage 8 of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine

(Image credit: ASO)

2025-06-15T12:23:45.191Z

The breakaway has officially formed as the peloton has now let the gap grow to nearly three minutes. Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) is currently attempting to bridge across on his own in a move that seems doomed to fail.

2025-06-15T12:17:48.160Z

The gap to the breakaway has now gone out to over a minute, as the twelve-man leading group look to grow their advantage over the peloton behind.

2025-06-15T12:08:16.191Z

Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) have also now joined the lead group, as the peloton move to around 15 seconds behind the breakaway.

2025-06-15T12:06:38.473Z

Van der Poel has now bridged the gap to the breakaway, making it a group of ten riders at the head of the race with others also attempting to come across from the peloton.

2025-06-15T12:03:39.382Z

Bruno Armirail took the maximum points over the top of the Côte de Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières ahead of Lenny Martinez, Sepp Kuss and Maxim Van Gils. The Frenchman is now just three points behind leader Tadej Pogačar in the mountains classification.

2025-06-15T11:59:06.370Z

A new breakaway has now formed at the head of the race, with a group of Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Enric Mas (Movistar), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Ivan Romeo (Movistar) and Alexey Lutsenko (Israel-Premier Tech) out front with around 20 seconds over the peloton behind.

2025-06-15T11:55:22.071Z

Van der Poel managed to drag a small group clear, but they have now been caught once again. Meanwhile, several riders have been dropped off the back of the main bunch, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers).

2025-06-15T11:50:48.349Z

Despite an unsuccessful first attack, Van der Poel is attempting to go clear again as the peloton reaches the foot of the category two Côte de Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières (4.7km at 7.1%).

2025-06-15T11:46:30.506Z

Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty) took maximum points ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) as they summited the category 3 ascent of the Côte d’Aiton. The Dutchman has now pushed on over the top of the climb and is alone at the head of the race with a small advantage over the peloton.

2025-06-15T11:35:32.613Z

The riders are now at the foot of the Côte d’Aiton (1.2km at 8.8%), which could serve as the perfect opportunity for an early breakaway to go clear.

2025-06-15T11:33:41.643Z

Stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné is officially underway. Here’s a clip from the start, where the peloton lined up for a guard of honour for Romain Bardet.

2025-06-15T11:29:05.749Z

Today’s stage marks the final day of Romain Bardet’s professional career, as he is set to retire from professional cycling after the Critérium du Dauphiné. Could it be a fairy-tale ending for the Frenchman with a victory on the Plateau du Mont-Cenis?

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Team Picnic PostNL's French rider Romain Bardet cycles in a breakaway during the 7th stage of the 77th edition of the Criterium du Dauphine cycling race, 131,6 km between Grand-Aigueblanche and Valmeinier, on June 14, 2025. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)(Image credit: Getty Images)VALMEINIER 1800, FRANCE - JUNE 14: Romain Bardet of France and Team Picnic PostNL celebrates at podium as most combative rider prize winner with his father Philippe Bardet during the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 7 a 131.6km stage from Grand-Algueblanche to Valmeinier 1800 (1830m) / #UCIWT / on June 14, 2025 in Valmeinier 1800, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)VALMEINIER 1800, FRANCE - JUNE 14: Fans of Romain Bardet of France and Team Picnic PostNL after the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 7 a 131.6km stage from Grand-Algueblanche to Valmeinier 1800 (1830m) / #UCIWT / on June 14, 2025 in Valmeinier 1800, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)VALMEINIER 1800, FRANCE - JUNE 14: Fans of Romain Bardet of France and Team Picnic PostNL after the 77th Criterium du Dauphine 2025, Stage 7 a 131.6km stage from Grand-Algueblanche to Valmeinier 1800 (1830m) / #UCIWT / on June 14, 2025 in Valmeinier 1800, France.(Image credit: Getty Images)

2025-06-15T11:13:22.851Z

A quick look at the overall standings heading into today’s stage. With just over minute of a deficit to Tadej Pogačar, it will take something special for Jonas Vingegaard to win this Critérium du Dauphiné.

Overall standings after stage 7 of the Criterium du Dauphine.

(Image credit: FirstCycling)

2025-06-15T10:55:53.084Z

The riders will head straight into the action on today’s stage, as they face the Côte d’Aiton and the Côte de Saint-Georges-d’Hurtières in the opening 15km, which could play a role in the formation of the early breakaway.

2025-06-15T10:53:58.399Z

The final stage of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné is set to get underway at 13:25 local time with a short neutralised section before the official start in Val-d’Arc.

2025-06-12T16:51:46.372Z

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the final stage of this year’s race and the last opportunity for some of the GC contenders to make their mark before the Tour de France.