"I was really on the limit" - Pogacar and Vingegaard take Mathieu van der Poel over the limit as Dutchman loses Dauphiné stage
CyclingMonday, 09 June 2025 at 09:27
Mathieu van der Poel fractured a bone in the wrist only a few weeks ago but has returned to competition today at the top of his game. However, his explosiveness was not a match to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard who set out to make the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné as hard as possible.
“That climb was more difficult than expected, especially with the wind up there. It continued for quite a long time," van der Poel shared with Sporza in a post-race interview. The Dutchman immediately responded when Vingegaard launched an attack over the last climb of the day, and then collaborated with the group.
Perhaps because he was the strongest sprinter on paper he felt the pressure and spent too much time in the wind. He attacked just outside the final kilometer, and then again launched his sprint first into Montluçon. These ultimately cost him, and he settled for third behind the previous Tour de France winners.
“I am happy that I can ride to the finish line with those riders today. Losing is always a bit of a bummer, but I mainly try to take the positive with me," he admits after missing out on the victory." I was really on the limit. I noticed that I did not recover as well from the efforts as I am used to. I saw the peloton coming, so I had to start from far away. I did not have the legs to hold on, but I am satisfied with this final.”
However in the bigger picture, this is a terrific sign ahead of the Tour de France where he will be hunting stages and a possible stint in the yellow jersey. “Normally my legs recover a little faster. Of course I would have liked to win, but I think I can be satisfied above all. I would have signed for this in advance. I am very happy with what I had in my legs today. I was able to train well, but it is just the toughness that is missing.”
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🌈 EL ESPRINT DEL AÑO 2025 EN #Dauphiné 🌈
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) June 8, 2025
Tadej Pogacar bate a Jonas Vingegaard y Mathieu van der Poel en un final absolutamente disparatado para abrir el 'mini-Tour' francés
📺 Lo viviste en @Eurosport_ES 2️⃣ y @StreamMaxES #LaCasaDelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/CmzA7g7ajo
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Jonas looks stronger, with more muscle mass than ever. Will that extra weight influence in his climbing skill? I can't wait to watch the last 3 stages!
Jonas looks like he had Tadej on the limit on the last short climb. I think Jonas is going to be tough to get past on the climb's, even if Tadej is still ahead in the mountains, I'm guessing they will be closer to each other.
Based on what we saw today the Tour is going to be a corker.
Totally!
JV sprinting well with no racing, RE catching up well with inspiration from Yates, MVDP climbing well with injury on MTB training, and Pog just being well, Pog, with a useless team. Hard to imagine a better scenario with all the upcoming talent coming to test them. Feel sorry for sprinters, they might only get side roles if it’s a GC battle from the go. But, let’s enjoy this week first and keep fingers crossed that for once there’ll be no major crashes.
Jonas puts some muscle kilos in his body... I'm very curious to understand if that will be translated in climbing less easy for him.
Jonas was very light with less muscle mass in 2024 due to his time off the bike. I think he is in prime climbing form, I expect this week to be intresting.
IMHO he has more muscle mass than ever! Yeah! The last 3 stages will be more interesting because of this "new" variable.
that was actually a GREAT result for van der poel, it seems to me.
Absolutely! He is incredible, he easily went up and down with the GC riders.
And today with the sprinters, his tdf options are growing.
I think so too, If Remco hadn't been in that group with them pulling them to the line they would have been caught and VDP would have probably won the stage.