"I grabbed Van der Poel’s wheel, then picked the right moment" - Jake Stewart reacts to first World Tour win of his career at the Dauphine

Jake Stewart has already shown strong for at the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine, leading home the bunch on stage 1 for a 5th placed finish behind Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel. That performance was no fluke either, as the Brit has proven just a few days later.

In a powerful finale to stage 5, the Israel - Premier Tech rider punched past the likes of Van der Poel and Jonathan Milan to take a first World Tour win of his career in a bunch sprint.

“This feels so good. It’s a shame Pascal Ackermann crashed, but that’s what gave me the opportunity to go for it in the end,” the Brit reflected in his post-stage interview afterwards. “For him, this would also have been a great day, and I feel bad he couldn’t compete for the win. The team backed me all the way, and we went for it, so I’m incredibly happy I was able to finish the job.”

“I’ve been improving all season. I already won in Dunkirk, which was my first victory in several years. On day one here, I was close again, so I’m really happy to finally get this breakthrough,” continues Stewart, having used the presence of superstars Van der Poel and Milan to his advantage in the finale. “I followed Milan in the last three kilometres, which put me in a good position to launch my sprint. Lidl-Trek took the inside line, and I grabbed Van der Poel’s wheel, then picked the right moment to go ahead — just ahead of Milan, and I managed to hold it.”