Critérium du Dauphiné 2025, June 8 - 15

[James M]

The only caveats to today that need to be added is that Evenepoel and Vingegaard were honestly just bad if you compare them to the rest of the field.

Wasnt both Jonas and Evenepoel supposedly better than ever just a few days ago though? And it would be a awesome Tour?

Help me out Red im getting confused by all the goalpost moving by the ones desperately claiming something is close when its very obvious isnt in reality.

 

[Netserk]

Anyone knows if the first 6 km of the final climb today, are the same 6 km of the ITT Combloux 2023?

Same.

 

[Lequack]

Bruyeneel with some words

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eOMUyTzQz0

 

[hayneplane]

So what for tomorrow? The queen stage, classical Alpine struggle. I actually think Visma-LAB will try to detonate the race and eliminate other teams helpers on the penultimate climb. They have nothing to lose if they want to win the race. Then Vingo will have a go on the last climb hoping his main rival is weaker than today. Obviously Pogacar's legs will have a lot to say and he may counter Vingo at some point and win alone again. Should be interesting.

If it was stage 19 TDF with 1 more stage of GC relevant possibility left then Visma would throw the kitchen sink at it trying to put Jorgensen in the break on Croiz de Fer and force UAE to fry their team in a 2 hour chase while Kuss and Tulett sit in to have the energy to launch Jonas on the last climb.

Tomorrow I think more conventional tactics will be all they go for and save the matches for the Tour.

 

[Fos]

So what for tomorrow? The queen stage, classical Alpine struggle. I actually think Visma-LAB will try to detonate the race and eliminate other teams helpers on the penultimate climb. They have nothing to lose if they want to win the race. Then Vingo will have a go on the last climb hoping his main rival is weaker than today. Obviously Pogacar's legs will have a lot to say and he may counter Vingo at some point and win alone again. Should be interesting.

Creating another PDB...

 

[Lequack]

Some pics

 

[Unchained]

I have said it for awhile and now others mention it on Move video, this is an exceptional skill to be able to crush the pedals as if sprinting or steep climbing from the saddle instead of getting up and applying extra leverage on the cranks, certainly impressive, Remco also can modulate his cadence in crazy way while sitting, lots of momentary power increases and other riders struggle when they pulse hard like that.. More cartoon like example!!

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sVbwngNoHm0&pp=ygUbSmFwYW5zZSBraXJpbiByYWNlciByb2xsZXJ6

Shorter cranks were always a thing!!

 

[Sciatic]

I'm joking man. Cycling in 2025 is a show so let's enjoy it.

Good point!

 

[Bolder]

Today was just discouraging. I’m not really a fan of Jonas, Pog or Remco in particular, but all I want is a competitive race, whether it’s the Tour or the Antwerp Port (non) Epic. I realized again today how important that is to me as someone who invests significant time and money in following the sport.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Today was just discouraging. I’m not really a fan of Jonas, Pog or Remco in particular, but all I want is a competitive race, whether it’s the Tour or the Antwerp Port (non) Epic. I realized again today how important that is to me as someone who invests significant time and money in following the sport.

Before the start of today's race, nobody seemed to doubt it would be a competitive stage. The prevailing sentiment seemed to be that Pog would be dropped or that this would end up in a sprint. Two days ago Remco blew the doors off the rest of the peloton in the TT and nobody complained that it's not a competitive race.

 

[Red Rick]

Before the start of today's race, nobody seemed to doubt it would be a competitive stage. The prevailing sentiment seemed to be that Pog would be dropped or that this would end up in a sprint. Two days ago Remco blew the doors off the rest of the peloton in the TT and nobody complained that it's not a competitive race.

Comparing winning a 20 minute ITT by 20s to winning a 20 minute 7% average climb by a full minute is a bit of a false equivalence if you ask me.

That TT margin happens all the time. That MTF margin happens only in 2024-25.

 

[James M]

Before the start of today's race, nobody seemed to doubt it would be a competitive stage. The prevailing sentiment seemed to be that Pog would be dropped or that this would end up in a sprint. Two days ago Remco blew the doors off the rest of the peloton in the TT and nobody complained that it's not a competitive race.

No one expected Pogi to get dropped outside of a few people here. If they did, I would argue they don’t know cycling or watch it.But keep in mind, the people you refer to here also get surprised every single race and then, after the same result every time, the same few ppl complain that the sport is ruined, only to say before the next race that it’s going to be exciting. It’s borderline hilarious to follow.

Some people are just very emotional in this, I’ve come to learn. personally find it super weird but what ive learned here. Vingegaard attacking on Stage 1 over the top for 10sec apparently proved he was better than ever, apperently thats where the bar is , a good example. Sigh.. stay ignorant to everything else we know, .And seemingly in shellshocked 2-3 days later again, like clockwork I dont know honestly at this point

Pogacar was the odds-on favorite to win the stage, and the general consensus was that he would still win, even if some thought he wasn’t in top shape. A forum with 50-60 people, all with different favorite riders, is not a good indication of the big world.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Comparing winning a 20 minute ITT by 20s to winning a 20 minute 7% average climb by a full minute is a bit of a false equivalence if you ask me.

That TT margin happens all the time. That MTF margin happens only in 2024-25.

That's a fair point. I'd respond that (1) nobody expected a 40+ second beating of Pogacar in the TT, (2) the margin on the TT was so astonishing precisely because of the short distance (17km, I think?). People were saying that in a 50km TT, Pog would ship minutes.
I'm just at a loss seeing the Pog criticism on here. He's either washed when he loses or destroying the sport when he wins.

 

[Tim Cahill]

What the *** is 'Valmeiner 1800', it sounds like some weird tour of central europe 2.pro climb where a 42 year old conti guy tips up and smashes a load of World Tour guys.

 

[Cookster15]

Today was just discouraging. I’m not really a fan of Jonas, Pog or Remco in particular, but all I want is a competitive race, whether it’s the Tour or the Antwerp Port (non) Epic. I realized again today how important that is to me as someone who invests significant time and money in following the sport.

Now you know how I felt in the Indurain era. Was a Rominger fan hoping for an upset after '93 but my hopes were crushed. But let's see what happens in the Tour. Remember Iban Mayo.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Tim bring me up to speed who we hate watching this race?

Quickstep, specifically the likes of Casper Pedersen and Pascal Eenkhoorn have offended me by chasing down a Benjamin Thomas+misc French randomers move for no apparent reason yesterday, leaving Lidl with all their leadout.

I usually quite like the kid Evenepoel but when he dropped today I couldn't help but crack a smile. Serves him right, that one was for Benjamin.

Unchained seems to have taken a specific dislike to EF for some reason, we have been getting several paragraph rants every day about the ins and outs of how they rode the stage. Though Baudin was quite good today so he might not be as upset.

 

[Gratemans]

A forum with 50-60 people, all with different favorite riders, is not a good indication of the big world.

Luckily, there are also quite a few here that don't really have one favorite rider. Overall, I find their posts are often the most interesting to read, and you can actually have a nice discussion with them. It's the "emotionally invested ones"- as you call them- that I often can't stomach.

 

[James M]

Quickstep, specifically the likes of Casper Pedersen and Pascal Eenkhoorn have offended me by chasing down a Benjamin Thomas+misc French randomers move for no apparent reason yesterday, leaving Lidl with all their leadout.

I usually quite like the kid Evenepoel but when he dropped today I couldn't help but crack a smile. Serves him right, that one was for Benjamin.

Unchained seems to have taken a specific dislike to EF for some reason, we have been getting several paragraph rants every day about the ins and outs of how they rode the stage. Though Baudin was quite good today so he might not be as upset.

Unchained dislikes EF? Okay, okay respectable work between you two there, love to see it.

Alright, alright, I take it further for my part and go with Quick-Step, in general then, seems like an easy target and a W to me. Seriously, screw them and their small-minded potato tactics.

 

[DJO]

Another good ride from Seixas. The young man continues to impress me with each ride he does.

 

[dazaau]

That was worse for Jonas than Remco imho. Remco crashed hard, he was always doomed today. Jonas has to stare into a minute time loss on a mild mountain stage with nothing to cling on to 🫤

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congrats to Pogi on winning the stage in demolishing fashion.

Visma very active on penultimate climb then UAE regathered and launched Pogi on the ultimate climb. Don't know if anybody expected such gaps. Jonas struggling and losing a lot of time and Remco dropped rather badly, likely crash left consequences. Lipowitz in great form. In next two stages Visma needs to show something or morale will be low.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Today or tomorrow Teddy will finish a stage chatting with Milan (and OTL) trolling the whole cycling world and making Visma-LAB think they are unbeatable. The effect at the Tour will be magnified when the troll strikes hard...

Good God I pray that Teddy wasn't trolling.

 

[Gratemans]

Unchained dislikes EF? Okay, okay respectable work between you two there, love to see it.

Alright, alright, I take it further for my part and go with Quick-Step, in general then, seems like an easy target and a W to me. Seriously, screw them and their small-minded potato tactics.

I mean, I kinda have some love for QS still. But that's mostly because of how they attacked the classics and also did their thing in GT's in the old days (well, a couple of years ago, but you know what I mean).
But yeah, by now I'm inclined to agree with @Logic-is-your-friend that the collective IQ in the teamcar hardly surpasses the tire pressure in their bikes. Today didn't help either.

 

[Oldman]

I saw something completely different, super impressed with final effort by Pogacar, but almost as impressive was top ten within 2 minutes of monster climb. Jonas keep it together, fantastic recovery to not give away more time. Jorgenson and Lipowitz both made choices to go a little deeper, both of them had excellent days.. Pog won but a single minute is hardly overwhelming. Most of UAE not looking so helpful to Pogacar.

UAE's guys were seemingly up front most of the drag to the climb. 2 UAE riders caught back on at about 25km to go and set up Pogi's launch. It looked like a crit finish leadout and when he went you could see from top view he spun up and then went to a bigger gear in sprint mode. Jonas was on his wheel and maintained contact until the corner where he went inside of Pogacar and got out of the saddle. He reset and began spinning and then shut down after a quick look at his wattage output. You can see Pogacar downshift and spin a bit to maintain cadence until a lighter grade allowed him to reassume a higher gear.
It wouldn't be surprising if Jonas backed off because he was overheated like Remco; who scarcely put up a fight. Jorgenson seemed to recoup, then rode up to monitor Remco for too long before moving after Lipowitz or wherever he thought he was headed at a pretty good speed.
Considering how oddly Remco, Jonas and Matteo applied effort; they did fairly well. None of them seemed to blow up except Jonas in the last 1.5km when he shipped some 10 seconds to everyone.
Some of it looked downright amateurish for pacing.

 

[James M]

I mean, I kinda have some love for QS still. But that's mostly because of how they attacked the classics and also did their thing in GT's in the old days (well, a couple of years ago, but you know what I mean).
But yeah, by now I'm inclined to agree with @Logic-is-your-friend that the collective IQ in the teamcar hardly surpasses the tire pressure in their bikes. Today didn't help either.

I agree again. The Wolfpack days were legendary. Boonen, in particular, was a personal favorite of mine, I admire extraordinary talents, he had one. The team, in general, and how they approached the big classics back then was simply brilliant. Anyway, they were literally attacking in a pack, swarming everyone by attacking not defending, a breath of fresh air then.