Pogacar Dominates Criterium du Dauphine with Third Stage Win

VALMEINIER, France — Tadej Pogacar solidified his dominance in the Criterium du Dauphine by winning the third stage on Saturday. The reigning Tour de France and world champion surged ahead 12 kilometers from the finish on the final climb of the 132-kilometer route from Grand-Aigueblanche to Valmeinier.

Pogacar completed the stage in 4 hours, 10 minutes, and 0 seconds, finishing 14 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, Jonas Vingegaard, who crossed the line in second place. After taking the yellow jersey with a strong performance on stage six, Pogacar now leads Vingegaard by one minute and one second as the race heads into its final stage.

“I launched it and maintained a good pace to the top,” Pogacar said following his 98th career stage victory. This win places him ahead of French sprinter Arnaud Demare for the most stage wins by an active rider. “Today Jonas was really strong. I did not want to go too deep myself. It was a super hot and long climb. Luckily I had enough time to ease up in the last kilometers and recovered.”

Finishing third on the stage was Florian Lipowitz, who trails Pogacar by 2 minutes and 21 seconds. Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel, currently in fourth overall, lost time and is now 4 minutes and 11 seconds behind.

The Criterium du Dauphine is known as a traditional warm-up event for the Tour de France, which starts on July 5. The race concludes with another mountainous challenge over 133.3 kilometers from Val-d’Arc to the Plateau du Mont-Cenis.

Stage seven results:

1. T Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4hrs 10mins 0secs

2. J Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +14secs

3. F Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1min 21secs

4. T Halland Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +2mins 26secs

5. R Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +2mins 39secs

6. B Tulett (GB/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 48secs

7. E Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) same time

8. E Buchmann (Ger/Cofidis) +3mins 51secs

9. C Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) same time

10. G Martin-Guyonnet (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) same time

General classification after stage seven:

1. T Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 25hrs 44mins 58secs

2. J Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 1sec

3. F Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2mins 21secs

4. R Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +4mins 11secs

5. T Halland Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +5mins 55secs

6. P Seixas (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) +6mins 50secs

7. M Jorgenson (USA/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +7mins 18secs

8. B Tulett (GB/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +7mins 24secs

9. C Rodriguez (Spa/INEOS Grenadiers) +7mins 41secs

10. E Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) +7mins 43secs