Tadej Pogacar's 5 main rivals for the Criterium du Dauphiné 2025

The preparation for the Tour de France has begun, and that means the Critérium du Dauphiné 2025 is on the horizon. This year, the race will bring about a star-filled startlist. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel will be the big stars. But there will be many more rivals.

For Pogacar, this race marks his return to competition after his successful classics campaign. His last race was Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which he won convincingly on April 27. After more than a month without racing, can the UAE star win his first Critérium du Dauphiné?

Tadej's only participation there was in 2020, where he came 4th. This year, winning will be very difficult, because in addition to Vingegaard and Evenepoel, as already mentioned, there will be more names threatening the Slovenian: Enric Mas, Carlos Rodriguez, Santiago Buitrago, Mattias Skjelmose, Lenny Martinez, Florian Lipowitz or the young Paul Seixas.... Who are his 5 main rivals?

The clearest. The greatest rivalry of cycling's current era will enjoy a new chapter prior to their stellar duel in the Tour de France. In the Dauphiné, the mental battle between Pogacar and Vingegaard will be tremendous. The Dane will have a stacked team behind him. Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson will be his main mountain domestiques, and the ones who will try to wear down Tadej Pogacar in the key mountain stages.

In reality, the Top 2 was more than clear. Evenepoel has already dueled with Pogacar several times this spring, and came close to beating him in the Amstel Gold Race (which Mattias Skjelmose took in an epic sprint against the two). The Belgian is no longer satisfied with the podium at the Tour de France. He will only fight for the yellow jersey, and that's why he knows that in the Dauphiné he will have to prove that he can take on the Slovenian. In addition, he will have a time trial on stage 4, which could be a great opportunity to gain important time in the general classification before the decisive mountain stages.

The INEOS leader will be in the Dauphiné, and eager to return to his best level. Carlos Rodriguez fractured his collarbone in the UAE Tour, and was unable to compete for more than 2 months. He returned in time for the Tour de Romandie, where he finished 6th. The British team pulled up to Giro d'Italia with a very brave approach to racing. If their strategy is similar and the "Lion of Almuñécar" has the legs, watch out for surprises.

The Movistar Team star is performing at one of the best levels of his career. This year he has been on the podium in Volta a Catalunya and Itzulia, consecutively. Previously he had never finished in the Top 3 of a one-week WorldTour race. Enric Mas is not above Carlos Rodríguez because the Balearic rider is likely going to be weighed down by the stage 4 time trial. The time trials have been the biggest Achilles' heel of the Spaniard for a long time. But in the mountains he is ready to compete with the best. The young Iván Romeo could be a key man for Mas.

Similarly to Pogacar, Mattias Skjelmose has not competed since Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Although in his case it was an ideal period to recover from a hard crash at La Fleche Wallonne. But the Dane is now back to lead the in-form Lidl-Trek. The American team swept the Giro d'Italia, and will be back in the Dauphiné with its leader. In addition, Skjelmose is one of only two riders (the other being Mathieu van der Poel) to have beaten Tadej Pogacar this season.