World champion puts opponents on the back foot during Friday’s mountaintop finish, winning by more than a minute to reclaim race lead

News | Team – 13th June 2025

Tadej Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG reclaimed control of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Friday afternoon, with the Slovenian winning stage 6 and putting over a minute into most of his rivals. With the victory, Pogačar rode back into the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of the weekend.

It was a performance to be remembered by the Emirati squad, with Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez providing a textbook uphill lead-out as though they were on the slopes of Milano-San Remo in the spring.

With the pair producing a lightning pace that dropped the race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), Pogačar grasped his opportunity to isolate Jonas Vingegaard on the slopes of the penultimate climb.

Earlier in the day, Domen Novak and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates had worked in unison to ensure that the breakaway would stand little chance in the finale. With their lead, and that of opportunist attacker Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) squashed, Wellens and Narváez could go to work in setting up the move of Pogačar.

Once Vingegaard was isolated, the world champion simply set a ferocious pace whilst seated and rode the Dane off his wheel. With 7.3km of the day to ride, Pogačar went alone in pursuit of the sole survivor from the day’s breakaway, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost). The 26-year-old was soon up alongside the man in pink, and with 6.3km to go, the world champion dispatched of Baudin’s presence.

Between here and the finish atop the Cǒte de la Cry, Pogačar continued to extend his lead. Once he crossed the line, that advantage over the second-placed Vingegaard had exceeded a minute, putting Pogačar firmly into the yellow jersey as race leader.

The world champion will now begin Saturday’s stage 7 with a 43-second advantage over Vingegaard, with Lipowitz and further 11 seconds down in third.

Pogačar: “We had our own plan but then Visma started to go full gas on the first category climb and actually before the start, I didn’t know, but this climb I definitely did before, and it brought back memories.

“The team was super strong, they were all really really incredible today, all the team actually. In the end, I felt good, and we said to go from the bottom of the climb on the steepest part. We wanted to commit, we had nothing to lose, and we can only gain.

“In the end, it was a hot day, it was a hard day, and I needed to hurry up to see the finish of Urška on the Tour de Suisse. I was just in time, so all good!

“I think I was feeling really good and when I attacked, it was an all-out effort, and I knew it was around 15 minutes after that to the top. I had to pace myself after the attack and the feeling was there, the legs were turning, and it was just in my favour to be in the front then and gain time.

“One minute is good and I am super happy.”

Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 stage 6 results:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +49”

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1:01

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1:22

General classification after Critérium du Dauphiné stage 6:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +38”

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +43”

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +54”