"Great entertainment for the spectators, but a nightmare for us sprinters" - Frustrated Pascal Ackermann sees chances limited by GC fighting at the Dauphiné

On paper at least, the first two stages of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine looked a great opportunity for Israel - Premier Tech's former German national champion Pascal Ackermann to take some positive sprint results. That's not quite how things have panned out though, with the fight for the general classification already making life difficult for the peloton's fastmen.

On stage 1, Tadej Pogacar himself prevailed in a bunch sprint ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel following a truly chaotic finale. Whilst stage 2 was slightly more predictable with Jonathan Milan sprinting to the win, the GC teams fighting for position on the climbs had earlier seen a rising of the pace that in turn saw Ackermann and the majority of the rest of the sprinters dropped from the bunch, with the German eventually crossing the line over a minute and a half down in 128th.

“That’s just how cycling is these days. It’s great entertainment for the spectators, but it’s a nightmare for us sprinters when they start riding like that," Ackermann assessed with some frustration in a pre-stage 2 interview with TV2. "That said, there will be other types of stages – also in the Tour, where there’ll be more sprint teams. If we get the chance to sprint, we’ll take it."

As mentioned already, one of the names right at the forefront of the stage 1 action was Jonas Vingegaard. Although the Dane is in no way known for his ability in a bunch sprint, Ackermann was impressed by how the two-time Tour de France winner performed the finale.

“Jonas has never been a weak rider, and that finale was a tough one. But generally speaking, for us sprinters, it’s a real pain when Vingegaard also starts attacking and sprinting on the short, punchy stages – just like Pogacar does," says the five-time Grand Tour stage winner. "Jonas wanted to show he’s in great shape, and I respect that – even if it comes at a cost for us. If he develops more of a taste for sprinting, we might be seeing more stages like this.”