The route for the opening stage of the 2025 Criterium du
Dauphine has been announced, with a challenging ride from Domérat to Montluçon
kicking off the main Tour de France warm up race. The Dauphine is often a
brilliant indicator of which riders in teams are best prepared for the Tour in
July, and the details of the opening stage were confirmed earlier today by the
race organiser, ASO.
Set to take place from Sunday, June 8th, to Sunday, June
15th, the 2025 edition of the Dauphiné will begin with a stage tailor-made for
riders who excel on rolling terrain and hilly profiles. Last year, the first
stage was claimed by Mads Pedersen, while Primoz Roglic ultimately secured the
overall title, fending off a spirited challenge from Matteo Jorgenson to hang
on for the overall win on the final day.
Primoz Roglic was victorious at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2024
The 2025 opening stage spans 189.2 kilometres and offers a
mix of flat and hilly sections. The first half of the route is predominantly
flat, providing an opportunity for the peloton to settle in. However, the real
test begins in the latter half, where riders will face a series of undulating
challenges, and the second half of the race includes seven categorized climbs,
all ranked as fourth category.
The stage concludes with the Côte de Buffon, a short but
steep ascent of 0.6 kilometres at an average gradient of 8.6%. From the summit,
the riders will have just 4.5 kilometres remaining to the finish line in
Montluçon, ensuring an explosive start to the Dauphiné.
Roglic won two stages on his way to overall victory last
year, and Jonas Vingegaard was unbeatable in 2024. It’s actually a rare stage
race that Tadej Pogacar has not won, and it remains to be seen whether he will
use the famous race in his preparations for his Tour de France defence next
season, where he will try and win his fourth yellow jersey.
🤩 Critérium du #Dauphiné 2025 : première explication à Montluçon le 8 juin ! Après Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule en 2024, le #Dauphiné reste fidèle à l'Allier pour son Grand Départ 2025 !
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) December 10, 2024
📲 Plus d'info: https://t.co/dVsX4ZGOpq
🤩 Critérium du Dauphiné 2025: Montluçon to host the… pic.twitter.com/Mzm7PyYhK1
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Ernesto Maggioni - The president of the commissaires Mafia. It is getting evident that this guy is basically "Iamalwaysrightandyouarestupidsoiwontlistentoyou" kind of guy. So fire him so that he can be always right in his homeabstractengineer10-11-2026
- Somehow it has got into his mind that he is a GC rider. He is primarily a classics and stage rider who can perform on GC given his day. As a result he is wasting his time on TDF GC and once committed to GC you are too tired to do anything else.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment