8 seconds ahead

Roglic wins Criterium du Dauphine dress rehearsal!

Primoz Roglic (m.) has won the Criterium du Dauphine.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Thomas SAMSON)

Primoz Roglic has won the Criterium du Dauphine for the second time and thus the dress rehearsal for the Tour de France. Although the Slovenian ran into problems on the final stage to the Plateau des Glieres on Sunday, sixth place was enough for the triumph. In the end, Roglic relegated the US American Matteo Jorgensen to second place with a lead of eight seconds.

The 34-year-old had won the two previous mountain finishes, but on the final stage of the eight-day tour, the man from Bora-hansgrohe ran out of energy around five kilometers before the plateau. Spaniard Carlos Rodriguez took the stage win ahead of Jorgensen and Canadian Derek Gee, who also came third overall.

Suffered a lot
"It's a bit crazy for me to win the Dauphine, given everything that had happened before," said Roglic after his second overall victory in the race after 2022. He had always kept an eye on the time gap to Jorgensen. "I definitely suffered in the last three days. We still have work to do. The Dauphine is one thing, the Tour is another. You don't win every day. That's why I want to enjoy the moment."

Roglic crashed heavily at the Tour of the Basque Country in April. Also involved in the crash were Tour title defender Jonas Vingegaard and second-time world champion Remco Evenepoel. While Vingegaard has not raced since and a Tour participation is still open, Evenepoel finished seventh in the Dauphine. Although the Belgian won the individual time trial, he lost time on the mountain stages.

Remco Evenepoel

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Thanks to his triumph, Roglic and his compatriot Tadej Pogacar are the top favorites for overall victory in the Tour. Pogacar won the Giro d'Italia in May and wants to be the first professional since Marco Pantani in 1998 to do the double.