On the final climb of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Jonas Vingegaard attempted a last-ditch push to break away from rival Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but the race leader remained firmly on his wheel until the finish. The result? Second place on the stage for the Dane and yet another victory for the Slovenian.

On the Plateau du Mont-Cenis climb, Vingegaard accelerated away from the smaller group with the world champion on his wheel, rejoining teammate Sepp Kuss of Visma-Lease a Bike, who was in the initial breakaway. Despite managing to catch most of the escapees, Vingegaard was unable to shake off Pogačar, having to settle for second place in the overall standings.

In this pre-Tour de France duel between three-time winner Pogačar (2020, 2021, 2024) and two-time champion Vingegaard (2022, 2023), the Slovenian emerged victorious.

'I have to improve everything a bit in the next three weeks before the start of the Tour,' the Dane admitted with a smile after the finish. 'Even in the accelerations on the long climbs. I hope to make a step forward before the start of the Tour, then we'll see when it starts.'

'Tadej looks very, very strong, it's hard to see any weaknesses, we focus more on ourselves, to be honest. And even if I had noticed something, I wouldn't say it here.'

Visma sporting director Grischa Niermann said: 'Of course we would have liked to win the Dauphiné, but I'm happy with where we are as a team at the moment. There's still work to do, but we had foreseen that.'

Vingegaard concluded by saying that 'Tadej is the clear favourite' for the Tour, noting that both have shown in recent years that they can handle pressure well.