The 2025 Criterium du Dauphine continued Saturday with stage 7 – a monumental mountain battle on a condensed 131.6-kilometer route from Grand-Algueblanche to Valmeinier 1800. The stage would test the riders on no less than three mountains beyond category and the stage profile included the legendary Col de la Madeleine and Col de la Croix de Fer, before the stage action would culminate on the Valmeinier 1800 climb, which would take the riders to the finish line.

General classification favorites such as Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos-Grenadiers), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) were expected to use the Queen Stage 7 of this year’s Criterium du Dauphine to fight for a stage victory while desperately trying to make up lost time after Pogacar had crushed all other GC favorites in yesterday’s stage 6, in which the Slovenian World Champion reached the finish line more than a minute before the closest GC competitor Jonas Vingegaard. 

Stage 7 started under sunny skies in Grand-Algueblanche and the riders immediately started ascending the legendary Col de la Madeleine, which is categorized as a Beyond Category climb and has an average gradient of 6.1 percent on a long distance of 24.7 kilometers.

Several teams were eager to use the Queen Stage to engage in early breakaway efforts and several breakaway attempts were made soon after the stage start, as pure climbers and outsider favorites for the stage victory united with lieutenants from the GC teams to form a viable breakaway group.

Some of the early breakaway optimists were Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies Team), and Torstein Traen (Bahrain-Victorious). Multiple front groups were formed on the imposing Col de la Madeleine, but the race situation got reshuffled multiple times, before a more viable breakaway group got formed.

The many breakaway attempts had made the pace in the main peloton very high, which had resulted in the main peloton being reduced to less than 45 riders on the climb. 

As the race approached the top of Col de la Madeleine, a breakaway group of approximately fifteen riders had been formed. Beyond Romain Bardet (Team Picnic-PostNL), who is riding his final race as a professional cyclists, the group featured Sepp Kuss, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Torstein Traen, Bruno Armirail, Ben Healy, Ivan Romeo (Movistar Team), Clement Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ), Sergio Higuita, Alexey Lutsenko, Romain Combaud (Picnic-PostNL), Guillermo Martinez (Picnic-PostNL), Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), and Jordan Jegat. The front group had an advantage of more than a minute as it entered the first descent of the stage after Sergio Higuita had been the first rider to reach the Madeleine summit. 

Race organizer A.S.O. was treating spectators and cyclists to a grand menu of mythical mountain terrain in the Queen Stage of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine. Alas, television and streaming coverage of stage 7 would only commence halfway through the stage, which was a significant disappointment compared to coverage of other races, such as RCS Sport’s full-stage TV coverage of the Giro d’Italia.

Following a hectic descent from Col de la Madeleine, the front group reached the legendary Col de la Croix de Fer with a lead of 01:30 minutes. The steep climbing percentages commenced early and Valentin Paret-Peintre got dropped from the front group, while riders from UAE Team Emirates were spearheading the main peloton.

After sixty kilometers of hard racing and halfway up the Col de la Croix de Fer, the breakaway group included fourteen riders and had an advantage of 01:40 minutes over the main peloton, where some GC teams were pondering any possible opportunities of attacking and plotting clever schemes to dethrone GC race leader Tadej Pogacar before the finish of stage 7.

Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) had delivered lackluster results so far this season. The Frenchman launched a solo attack from the main peloton on Col de la Croix de Fer, while hoping to make the leap to the front group and fight for a memorable stage victory. Leknessund was finding it difficult to keep up with his fellow frontmen. Meanwhile, Ivan Romeo got dropped from the front group and he and Martin later joined forces.

Martin joined the first breakaway group, and fifteen riders pressed on while approaching the summit of Col de la Croix de Fer.

While seven frontmen broke away from the fellow breakaway companions, Sepp Kuss received instructions from his team car to wait for the GC favorites peloton. Romain Bardet was one of the seven frontmen, and the Frenchman was eagerly chasing a memorable stage victory in his final race. Bardet escaped from the front group on the descent from Col de la Croix de Fer.

The GC favorites group was twenty seconds behind Bardet when 54 kilometers remained of the stage. Kuss had rejoined the GC favorites group to provide valuable support for Visma team leader Jonas Vingegaard in his battle against race leader Tadej Pogacar and other GC competitors. 

Romain Bardet was the solo man in front when fifty kilometers remained. Bardet had an advantage of twenty-one seconds, while all other breakaway optimists had been reeled in by the GC favorites group. Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, and Florian Lipowitz were all present in the GC favorites group. Riders such as Enric Mas and Lenny Martinez had been dropped and only about twenty men were in the group.

Romain Bardet increased his advantage to fifty seconds on the descent from Col de la Croix de Fer and GC favorites group, which was spearheaded by riders from Team Visma-Lease a Bike, was possibly granting the Frenchman the opportunity to take a stage victory in his final race. Forty kilometers remained.

Matteo Jorgenson, Remco Evenepoel, and Sepp Kuss launched brief attacking efforts from the GC favorites group, so Pavel Sivakov moved to the front of the group to control the race and discourage breakaway efforts.

28 kilometers remained and Romain Bardet passed Lac des Oudin, where Frenchmen were cooling off and swimming in the mountain-sourced water. Bardet had an advantage of 47 seconds at this point. Would the Frenchman take a stage victory in his final race, or would the GC favorites engage in a furious battle on the Valmeinier 1800 climb to the finish line?

Bardet entered the Valmeinier 1800 climb thirty-seven seconds before the chasing GC favorites group. The 16.2-kilometer climb was Beyond Category and would expose the cyclists to an average gradient of 6.8 percent.

Bardet’s lead had been reduced to fourteen seconds with fourteen kilometers remaining. Sergio Higuita, Clement Braz Afonso, and other riders got dropped from the GC favorites group.

Romain Bardet got caught by the GC favorites group with thirteen kilometers left to the finish line and the Frenchman would not be taking the stage win today. American rider Sepp Kuss launched a counterattack.

Kuss formed a small lead while Sivakov moved to the front of the GC favorites group to do the chase work for Pogacar.

Pogacar attacked with twelve kilometers left and Jonas Vingegaard tried to stick to his rear wheel, but with little success. Florian Lipowitz also fought to close the gap to Pogacar, while Remco Evenepoel and Tobias Johannessen were chasing further back.

Pogacar was a few meters in front of Vingegaard and Lipowitz with a bit more than ten kilometers left. German Lipowitz refused to assist Vingegaard in closing the gap. All the hard work was handed to the Dane.

Vingegaard dropped Lipowitz at the ten-kilometer mark and could spot Pogacar further up the road. The Slovenian rider was looking strong in his yellow race leader jersey riding his World Champion-striped Colnago bike.

Tadej Pogacar was eighteen seconds ahead of Vingegaard at the eight-kilometer mark. LIpowitz was 25 seconds back, while Evenepoel was almost a minute behind together with Johannessen.

Vingegaard was fighting furiously on the climb, but the Danish rider from Team Visma was twenty seconds behind Pogacar with 4.4-kilometers left. Florian Lipowitz was still chasing 54 seconds behind, while Evenepoel was almost 01:30 minutes behind leading rider Pogacar. It appeared Tadej Pogacar would have no problems with winning next month’s 2025 Tour de France.

Tadej Pogacar continued increasing his advantage as he approached the finish line at the summit of Valmeinier 1800. The UAE Team Emirates rider crossed the finish line in solo manner and took his third stage victory in this year’s Criterium du Dauphine.

Jonas Vingegaard was the next rider to reach the summit, but his performance was a huge disappointment for himself, his team, and fans around the world. What could possibly be done to improve his performance in the next two weeks before the start of the Tour de France?

“Today we wanted to take control on all the climbs, but Visma tried with all their attacks. I was happy with the help from Pavel Sivakov today and I am really happy I could defend the yellow jersey today,” stage winner and race leader Tadej Pogacar explained to Roadcycling.com after the finish.

“Visma attacked near the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer and then they attacked on the downhill and tried to drop me, which was a little bit dangerous, but that’s part of modern cycling. I didn’t want to dig too deep today as it was super-hot and the stage was long and challenging. I’m looking forward to the Tour de France, but first I must win this race tomorrow,” Pogacar explained.

“To be honest I think I did quite a good job and I can be proud of myself. I tried to follow Pogacar, and I had to slow down as I did yesterday. I can see on my numbers they’re quite good. I hope this race will help me arrive in even better form at the Tour de France. Congrats to Tadej,” second-place finisher Jonas Vingegaard told Roadcycling.com after the stage.

Tadej Pogacar increased his lead in the general classification. Jonas Vingegaard remains second - now 01:01 minutes back, while Florian Lipowitz is still third, 02:21 minutes behind the leader. Remco Evenepoel is fourth on the GC, 04:11 minutes behind, while Tobias Johannessen is fifth.

Sunday’s stage 8 of Criterium du Dauphine will be the final stage of this year’s race. Stage 8 will expose the remaining riders in the peloton to additional climbing in mountainous territory on a 133.3-kilometer route from Val d’Arc to Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The stage will feature two Category 1 climbs, two Category 2 climbs, and two Category 3 climbs. The stage will conclude with a ride to the finish line on the plateau after the final Category 1 climb of Col du Mont-Cenis.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Criterium du Dauphine and for coverage from the 2025 Tour de Suisse.