'Things can change dramatically' - Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Pogacar face Alpine test at Dauphiné

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) stormed into the overall lead at the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné on stage 4, following a convincing individual time trial performance, a discipline in which he is the current Olympic and world champion. However, the Belgian star maintained that he’s not getting carried away with main rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar still in close contention, with three very difficult stages in the Alps on the horizon.

The 25-year-old Belgian now leads the general classification with Vingegaard sitting 16 seconds behind in fourth place, while Pogačar is fifth at 38 seconds. Despite his strong position, Evenepoel is keeping expectations in check ahead of the crucial mountain stages to come, which will serve as the truest test of them all. There will be no place to hide on these stages, and the general classification can easily be flipped on its head, and this is something that the Belgian remains cautious about.

"I don't want to get too excited after just one time trial victory," Evenepoel told Sporza and Het Nieuwsblad after stage 4. "It’s certainly better to be in front than behind. We need to enjoy this moment while keeping our feet on the ground because things can change dramatically this weekend."

Evenepoel acknowledged the significance of the upcoming mountain stages and the different challenges they will present compared to the time trial, with Pogačar and Vingegaard currently more established in this terrain compared to the Belgian star.

"These are riders who have achieved much more in grand tours than I have," he remarked with a smile. "My primary goal is not to lose too much time to them, and ideally to gain some. However, that has never happened before."

Evenepoel's cautious approach comes with good reason, as both Vingegaard and Pogačar have proven track records in the high mountains, with five Tour de France victories between them. However, the clear ambition for Evenepoel is to close the gap to the duo in terms of Grand Tour racing, after a very impressive Tour de France last year, and based on his current performance at the Dauphiné, it seems the Belgian is continuing to head in the right direction.

The need for caution was only amplified further after Evenepoel suffered a crash at the end of stage 5 during the run-in to the finish in Mâcon, but luckily, as the Belgian said himself post-stage, “In the end it was nothing huge, so I’m just happy that the injuries are not bad.”

Both Pogačar and Vingegaard are well aware of the tests coming up over the next three stages and are up for the fight, with both needing to gain time on the race leader, Evenepoel. "There are still three big stages to come here and I'm looking forward to it. The team is working well, and with the rivals we have here, it's the best place to test ourselves," Pogačar said. 

In in the Visma camp, meanwhile, Vingegaard said after the time-trial on stage 4: “I also have some time to make up. In the last years we have seen that in the mountains you can make up a lot of time. It will be interesting in the upcoming four days.”

The three stages remaining, which Evenepoel referenced, are set to shake things up further and give us a stronger indication of who’s in great form ahead of the ultimate showdown at the Tour de France in July. On Friday, the race heads to Combloux for the first summit finish of the Dauphiné. With over 2,800 metres of climbing to contend with across five categorised ascents, the riders will have already burned valuable matches ahead of the summit finish to Combloux.

However, it is the Queen stage on Saturday that has most people talking, and also the one that the riders will be most alert about. It’s one of the toughest stages in the entire year, packing 4,800 metres of climbing by way of tackling three major alpine passes. The Col de la Madeleine (24.9km at 6%), Col de la Croix de Fer (22.4km at 7%), and a summit finish on Valmeinier 1800 (16.5km at 7%), will answer any questions that remain of the ‘Big Three’ as it’s not only the length and gradient of the climbs that will pose a challenge, but also the altitude. You can’t afford to have an off day here if you plan to win the Dauphiné.

If these two stages weren’t enough to shake the race up, then stage 8 will be on hand to do so. It’s yet another brutal Alpine stage that features over 3,600 metres of elevation gain. The final climb of the stage, the Col du Mont-Cenis (9.6km at 7%), is followed by 5 kilometres of false-flat to the finish, where the Dauphiné champion will be crowned.

Heading into stage 6, Evenepoel leads the Dauphiné thanks to his emphatic victory in the stage 4 time-trial by a margin of four seconds over Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), while Vingegaard sits in fifth at 16 seconds and Tadej Pogačar, seventh at 38 seconds.