"Where does Vingegaard stand in relation to Pogacar? And what’s the gap between Pogacar and Evenepoel?” - Dauphiné TT set to answer important Tour de France questions

This afternoon on stage 4 of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné, arguably the three leading contenders for the Maillot Jaune at the Tour de France this summer do battle against the clock in what is a perfect, pre-Grand Tour measurement of where they stand in regards to their rivals. But who will come out on top, Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard or Remco Evenepoel?

“A time trial always serves as a benchmark,” analyses Sporza commentator and long-time cycling expert Jose de Cauwer on the Belgian broadcaster's coverage of the race. “It’ll be a real test. That little climb — 2 km at 9% — will force some gear changes. It’ll be interesting. All three are capable of handling this kind of time trial; they’ve trained for it.”

In the opinion of De Cauwer, there are some serious pre-Tour de France questions that could be answered today. “We’ll get a great benchmark of their current form. A time trial is always a reference point — it shows where each rider stands and what’s still possible,” he explains. “If Remco wins it — especially with that being the Wolfpack’s 1,000th victory — it’ll be incredible. But then the big question is: where does Vingegaard stand in relation to Pogacar? And what’s the gap between Pogacar and Evenepoel?”

“Or maybe Pogacar wins the time trial," continues De Cauwer's theorising. "Then we’ll see what the differences really are. The three of them will be going full gas to stay close. But if one of them takes a full minute on the others — then something’s off with the other two.”

Whilst all eyes are on those three big names however, there is also the prospect of a rider to slip under the radar. After gaining time on stage 3 through the breakaway, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's big GC hopeful Florian Lipowitz could be a dark horse.

"Should we consider him a contender for the overall? Playing devil’s advocate — top 3 candidate?” Asks De Cauwer's Sporza colleague Renaat Schotte. “That extra 1 minute and 17 seconds puts him in the conversation," De Cauwer acknowledges.

"Lipowitz, for sure — he was already a top 5 candidate. If he didn’t suffer too much yesterday and took advantage of the 12 others in the break, then he’s got a shot,” the vastly experienced Belgian analyst concludes. “He gained a minute, but it wasn’t handed to him — he had to work for it. It was a tough race: 45 km/h average in hot conditions. You could see the salt on the riders’ faces. And we haven’t seen everything Lipowitz can do yet. He’s definitely one to watch. You’ve got the Big Three, and just behind them are Buitrago, Lipowitz, and a few others.”