Pogačar matches every attack in France to finish third on the stage and seal GC victory, whilst Matthias Schwarzbacher takes pink at Giro Next Gen

News | Team – 15th June 2025

With a commanding display on Sunday afternoon, Tadej Pogačar sealed his first Critérium du Dauphiné title with third place on stage 8. The world champion was attacked by Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, but more than matched the Dane on the final climb, measuring his efforts to the line to end a successful week in France.

Crossing third over the line alongside Vingegaard and shortly after stage winner Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Pogačar brought a close to eight days of racing at the Dauphiné that had yielded three stage victories for himself and UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

With the overall victory, Pogačar becomes the first reigning world champion to win the Dauphiné since Bernard Hinault in 1981. His GC win is also the 45th of the season for the Emirati squad, who can take a big boost of confidence heading into the Tour de France.

It was a day where little seemed to budge between the general classification rivals, given that much of the sort-out had occurred earlier in the week. At the top of the pack, Pogačar and Vingegaard showed their class, with the likes of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) battling it out for the last podium place behind. The first big attack on the final climb, however, came from Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility.

With the increase in pace within the peloton, Tim Wellens came to the fore for his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, Pogačar. The Belgian went to work at putting the pressure on the pack, as Martinez emerged as the strongest member of the day’s breakaway out front. The young Frenchman dropped Enric Mas in the closing kilometres of the Col du Mont-Cenis, setting him up to win the stage.

From behind, meanwhile, Vingegaard decided to mount an attack with 6.6km of the stage to ride, prompting Pogačar to follow the wheel. It quickly became apparent that nothing would separate the pair on the run to home, allowing both riders to trade turns through-and-off to establish their advantage over those behind.

As they came to the line on the plateau that followed the climb, Pogačar was content to see Vingegaard sprint for third, as the Slovenian celebrated his first Dauphiné title.

Pogačar: “After the 2020 Dauphiné, I remember so well how hard that week was, and to come back after so many years with this shape just before the Tour de France… I am really happy and it was a nice victory.

“For sure, this helps the morale and motivation for the Tour [de France] because it is the biggest goal of the season. I think it is a mental boost for all the team. Now, first I want some good rest and then we look a little bit towards the time trial, but otherwise, I don’t think we should rush anything [to prepare for the Tour].

“Obviously, it was a big gap after the time trial [to Vingegaard]. But when you look at the profile, and when we actually rode it, the weekend was even harder than it seemed at first. So I know it was possible to come back, I knew it would be hard, but I am super happy to pull it off.”

Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 stage 8 results

1. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 3:34:18

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +34″

3. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

General classification (final) after Critérium du Dauphiné stage 8

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 29:19:46

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +59″

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2:38

Meanwhile, away from France, the racing got underway at both the Giro Next Gen and the Tour de Suisse. At the former, Matthias Schwarzbacher scored the stage victory for UAE Team Emirates Gen Z in the opening individual time trial, putting the young Slovakian into the pink jersey as race leader heading into tomorrow’s stage.

With a stage-winning time of a little over nine minutes, Schwarzbacher becomes the fifth-youngest stage winner at the Giro Next Gen in history, and the first Slovakian to ever taste success at the U23 Giro d’Italia. It marks a great start to the week for the under-23 wing of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Schwarzbacher: “It is a good start and I am just starting to realise what I just did, it is feeling pretty good. I didn’t train so hard after training camp so I didn’t know what to expect here. Also before the start I was quite nervous because I knew I could do a top 10 or something, but I never thought I could win.

“I always like to race in Italy, since I was here as a second-year junior, and it feels pretty good to be riding here and in this jersey. For sure, I would like to keep the jersey until after tomorrow, and then the third stage is a mountain stage.

“Today, two guys of ours started in front of me so I knew what to expect, and they told me to go full gas from the start. I was trying to keep the momentum into the corners and somehow I won by one second.

“I think tomorrow is a sort of sprint stage so for sure I will go for the sprint.”

Giro Next Gen 2025 stage 1 (ITT) results

1. Matthias Schwarzbacher (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) 0:09:17

2. Matisse Van Kerckhove (Team Visma-Lease a Bike Development) s.t

3. Callum Thornley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +0.02″

General classification after Giro Next Gen stage 1

1. Matthias Schwarzbacher (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) 0:09:17

2. Matisse Van Kerckhove (Team Visma-Lease a Bike Development) s.t

3. Callum Thornley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +0.02″

In Switzerland, the race was turned on its head on the opening day of the Tour de Suisse, with a large breakaway letting loose under the rain-soaked skies of Schwyz.

With a little under 100km to ride of stage 1, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla) went on the attack, which soon prompted further moves to occur from the peloton behind. As riders jumped off the front, and mixed reports were sent back to the peloton as regards the time gap, a near-30-man group quickly developed a three-minute advantage over the chasing pack.

Within the breakaway were numerous GC contenders such as Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Romain Grégoire (Jayco AlUla), with the latter going on to win the stage thanks to a late solo attack. For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, meanwhile, Felix Großschartner represented the Emirati squad in the break, eventually riding to sixth place across the line.

Tomorrow, the peloton will hope for nicer conditions, after an opening stage that was contested in torrential rain for the final hour. For Großschartner, the Austrian has ridden his way into a strong position after stage 1, with plenty of opportunities for UAE Team Emirates-XRG to go on the front foot through the rest of the race.

Tour de Suisse 2025 stage 1 results

1. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) 2:50:15

2. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +20″

3. Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t

6. Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:07

General classification after Tour de Suisse stage 1

1. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) 2:50:15

2. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +24″

3. Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike) +26″

6. Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:17