Tadej Pogacar won his first Critérium du Dauphiné title just before Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar, the reigning Tour de France champion, finished on top of the podium in the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné race. France’s Lenny Martinez won the stage. The athlete, who won three stages throughout the race, secured his overall victory by 59 seconds ahead of his opponent, Dane Jonas Vingegaard. This achievement was made with just three weeks before the Tour de France begins. With his win, Pogacar expressed: “It’s been a really amazing week… Once again today, the team did a great job. We managed to defend the (yellow) jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour.”  At just 26 years old, Pogacar has now achieved 99 career victories, making him the most successful active rider in professional cycling. 

Highlights of the final stage race

The final stage of the race was a 133.3 km mountain course, alongside a tough uphill finish. Frenchman Lenny Martinez surpassed Enric Mas with 8 km left and secured the stage victory, finishing 34 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar.  Making history, this was the first time a French rider won a stage at this race. Here is the list of the stage eight results: 

1. L Martinez (Fra/Bahrain Victorious) 3hrs 34mins 18secs
2. J Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +34secs
3. T Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) same time
4. M Jorgenson (USA/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +40secs
5. R Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) same time

Moreover, here is the list of the final classification that determined the overall winner:  1 T Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 29hrs 19mins 46secs 2 J Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike +59secs 3 F Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2mins 38secs 4 R Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step +4 mins 21secs 5 T Halland Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +6mins 12mins In a social media post, Pogacar shared his recent milestone with a caption: "Honoured to add my name to the winners of the Dauphiné 🙌...A great week with the team, tough racing, good legs, and good vibes all around. Super happy to take the win here! 💛... Now it’s time for a little rest… and then, the final push toward Le Tour. 🇫🇷⏳" Netizens expressed their excitement in the comments section and stated: "You are the best and your racing style never ceases to amaze me.👑🤍I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do at the Tour de France.🌈💛", "I had no doubt your name was there too. Congratulations tadej bravo I wish you all the best in the world you deserve it. ❤️🔥🙌 (translated)", Let’s go! Fingers crossed for the tour 💪❤️", "Can’t wait for the tour 🙌🙌" and "Truly the greatest of all time."