2025 Critérium du Dauphiné - Stage-by-stage guide

The big hitters of stage racing are raring to go and set to line up at the Critérium du Dauphiné, starting on June 8. The build-up race to the Tour de France always offers some useful pointers for the main course in July, and with Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel all in the field, it promises to be quite an appetiser. 

Here is a look at the eight stages that await the riders at this year's Critérium du Dauphiné, beginning on June 8. 

As is often the case, the Critérium du Dauphiné kicks off with a hilly affair. Stage 1 begins in Domérat, the start town for the individual time trial at the 2022 Paris-Nice, won by Wout van Aert. The opening half of this stage is the flattest, with no categorised climbing en route. This changes dramatically in the second half as there are no fewer than seven category 4 climbs for the riders to contend with. The battle for the mountains points in the breakaway should be fierce, as there is a big opportunity to establish a nice lead in the classification and take a leader’s jersey into stage 2.

With all of the short, steep climbs en route, this looks to be a very difficult stage for the sprinters to control. With just over 5km remaining, the riders take on the final categorised climb, the Côte de Buffon, which is 0.6km at 9%. It’s the positioning of the climb which makes this stage hard to control. Therefore, the stage has an air of uncertainty surrounding it, meaning those who are brave enough to try a late attack could thrive.

The pure sprinters should struggle, but the versatile fast men will be fancying their chances, as long as they have teammates to control any late attacks. It’s also not impossible that the breakaway survives to the finish, as Brent Van Moer demonstrated on the opening stage in 2021. Could we even see some GC action on this opening stage?

Despite featuring more climbing than the opening day, with over 2,800 metres of elevation gain, stage 2 is more likely to conclude with a bunch sprint in Issoire. This is because the climbing is spread out over 204.6 kilometres, and a large portion of it comes in the first half of the stage.

In total, there are six categorised climbs, but the final one is the category 4 ranking Côte de Nonette, which is 1.8km at 6%. Combined with the summit being 17.6km from the finish, it’s unlikely that a rider will be able to attack on the climb and then hold off the peloton on the fast run-in to Issoire.

Issoire hosted the finish of stage 3 in the 2022 Dauphiné, where Wout van Aert celebrated prematurely in the green jersey and was beaten to the line by a bike throw from David Gaudu. Pello Bilbao also won stage 10 of the 2023 Tour de France, winning a sprint from the breakaway.

Stage 3 is the third hilly day in a row. It is also the longest stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné at 207.2km in length. The stage begins in Brioude, a town which last hosted the start of a Dauphiné stage in 2021, where Lukas Pöstlberger surprised the peloton with a solo victory to take the yellow jersey.

The stage features five categorised climbs, and in total adds up to just under 3,000m of climbing across the stage. Naturally, it would be fair to assume that the sprinters would be out of contention on a stage like this. However, a large portion of the climbing is done with 80km of the stage remaining. The only significant climbing that features in the final 80km is the Côte du Chauteau Jaune. It's 1.2km long with an average gradient of 9% and the summit just under 20km from the finish.

This stage is likely to be a game of cat and mouse between the peloton and the breakaway into Charantonnay. The break could stand a strong chance if they work well and build a solid lead in the hilly portion of the stage.

The individual time trial is always a prime opportunity to establish yourself as a key contender for the general classification. In a week-long stage race, GC contenders can’t afford to have an off-day in the individual time trial, as this puts them on the back foot, with less time to recover than in a Grand Tour. Luckily, the three standout contenders, Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are all exceptional time trialists and will also appreciate the steep 2km ramp in the middle of the route that averages nearly 9%.

Given that this isn’t a particularly long time trial, standing at 17.4km, there could be one or two surprises, especially with the steep climb in the middle. The intermediate sprint comes shortly after the crest of the climb, where the terrain switches back in favour of the specialists.

For the second year in a row, the Critérium du Dauphiné visits the town of Saint-Priest. Last year, the town hosted the finish of stage 5, which was neutralised due to two mass crashes with 21 kilometres remaining, which saw a large number of riders hit the deck. This year, the town hosts the start of stage 5 and will be hoping for much more favourable weather compared to twelve months ago.

This stage is considered the final chance for the sprinters at this year’s Dauphiné, although as with stages 2 and 3, there are no guarantees that this stage ends with a bunch sprint for victory. It’s the flattest stage of the race, standing at 183km in length and with 1,800m of elevation gain, but the majority of the climbing comes in the second half of the stage.

The final climb comes with just under 30km remaining, meaning that the breakaway will still need to have a strong lead at the summit of the Côte des Quatre Vents. This is because there is enough time for the sprint teams to re-establish the chase after the climb and catch the breakaway before the finish in Mâcon.

This stage has been described by the race organisers as hilly, but don’t let that fool you. In total, this stage has five categorised climbs over 2,800m of climbing, including a category 1 test, a summit finish up a shorter but very steep climb.

Beginning in Valserhône, the fight for the breakaway could be fierce as there’s hardly a metre of flat in the opening part of the stage. The GC riders may have one eye on the two stages that follow this one, which may motivate riders to try their luck from the breakaway. This is not to say that this won’t turn into an important day for the GC riders because the first category Côte du Mont-Saxonnex is a tricky test, standing 5.4km in length at 9%.

Additionally, the finale of this stage is broken up into two separate climbs, the Côte de Domancy, which is 2.4km at 9%, and the Côte de la Cry (Combloux), which is 2.7km at 8%. However, there is practically no respite between the climbs, so it will likely feel like one major effort. It would be a major surprise if there are not gaps within the GC group come the end of this stage, and the same can be said for the other stages remaining in this Dauphiné.

Stage 7 is the queen stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné. It stands at 131.6km in length, features over 4,800m of elevation gain across three hors categorie climbs, including a summit finish on Valmeinier 1800. Beginning in Grand-Aigueblanche, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the south-east of France, the climbing on this stage starts immediately with the renowned Col de la Madeleine. Some 24.9km long, the Madeleine averages 6%, but this doesn’t tell the full picture.

There is a short plateau midway through the climb, which skews the average gradient, so in reality, the climb is even harder than first described. Additionally, as is a theme with all three climbs on the menu, the altitude isn't to be sniffed at. To demonstrate the significance, the Col de la Madeleine has twice hosted the Souvenir Henri Desgrange award at the Tour de France. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is awarded to the first rider to cross the summit of the Col du Galibier at the Tour de France, or if this climb isn’t featured in that year, the award is contested at the highest point of that year’s race. The climb reaches 2,000 metres above sea level.

Following the summit, the riders will descend the climb, briefly pass through La Chambre and Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines before heading straight back uphill on the next hors category climb. The Col de la Croix de Fer is one of the most well-recognised climbs in all of cycling and has featured in many editions of both the Tour de France and the Dauphiné. Jonas Vingegaard was victorious when the Dauphiné last featured the climb (22.4km at 7%), when stage 7 in 2023 finished on its slopes.

After a long descent of the Col de la Croix de Fer into the Arc valley, and an intermediate sprint at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, the riders will tackle the final climb of this mammoth stage, Valmeinier 1800. The climb is another long one, standing at 16.5km in length with an average gradient of 7%, rising to 1,840m above sea level. After a very attritional stage like this, the gaps at the summit could be significant, and we should have a much clearer picture of who is likely to win the Dauphiné.

The final stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné isn’t as savage as the previous day, but it’s still a very tough mountain affair. In total, there are 3,600m of elevation gain across 133.3km of racing, with the stage beginning in Val-d’Arc. The stage starts with two shorter climbs, the Côte d’Aiton and Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières, both of which will likely serve as the setting for the breakaway battle.

Some flat roads follow, before attention turns to the first category climb, the Col de Beaune. It’s a 6.6km long test with an average gradient of 7%. The climb featured in stage 6 of the 2019 Dauphiné, which was won by Julian Alaphilippe from a two-man sprint ahead of Gregor Mühlberger. Since the climb comes midway through the stage and a lengthy valley section follows, it’s unlikely that any GC attacks will come on the climb. However, it should still help build fatigue in the legs of the riders. As will the Côte-de-Saint-André and Côte d’Aussois before the final climb of the 2025 Dauphiné, where the final roll of the dice will be thrown.

The first category, Col du Mont-Cenis, is 9.6km and averages 7%. Despite being in France, the climb featured consecutively on stages 15 and 16 of the 2013 Giro d’Italia when the race visited the Col du Galibier. In recent times, stage 7b of the 2023 Tour de l’Avenir finished on the climb, which was won by Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), ahead of Giro d’Italia stars Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). Regardless of the GC situation, we can expect fireworks on the climb from the top GC contenders, but crucially, the stage doesn’t finish at the summit. There are still 5km of false flat road remaining, meaning that the riders will need to have managed their effort wisely on the climb to ensure they do not blow up before the finish.