Team Picnic PostNL

Critérium du Dauphiné – Race Report

Critérium du Dauphiné
June 10, 2025
Romain Bardet
Romain Bardet
Romain Combaud
Romain Combaud
Max Poole
Max Poole
Chris Hamilton
Chris Hamilton
Enzo Leijnse
Enzo Leijnse
Juan Guillermo Martinez
Juan Guillermo Martinez
Bjorn Koerdt
Bjorn Koerdt

15th June – Stage 8: Val-d’Arc – Plateau du Mont-Cenis

Pinning on numbers for the last time ever in his road career, Romain Bardet was met by a guard of honour from the peloton as he lined and Team Picnic PostNL lined up for the final stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné. A potential day for the break, it was a big fight to try and make the morning move, before eventually a group went clear.

With all Team Picnic PostNL riders in the peloton, they rallied around Bardet and saw him through his final day on the road. A strong pace was set in the peloton to keep those ahead in check and the bunch thinned down over the ascents. Coming onto the final climb of the day, Bardet sat up and let go of the peloton, riding up to the finish to savour the crowds alongside teammate and friend Chris Hamilton.

Bardet said: “I’ve been preparing and then racing for a while in this last period since before the Giro, as I’ve been having a lot of fun. Seeing everything and everyone at the side of the road today; it’s a magnificent finish to the race. It was hard not to let emotion get the better of me too. During the stage, I don’t have too much time to think about that though; there was great emotion at the start but honestly it was a really hard pace during the stage. I’m happy to have been able to end my career in a place I know well; the setting is magnificent in the middle of the mountains. I’m very happy to finish with all my friends, and we get to ride down the mountain together one last time.”

Results

  • 37.322/H
  • 133.3KM
  • 3531M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1MARTINEZ LennyBahrain - Victorious3:34:18-
2VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0:34-
3POGAČAR TadejUAE Team Emirates - XRG,,-
43BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL11:28-
44HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
61COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL16:14-
69KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
103MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL23:55-
107LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL24:50-

14th June – Stage 7: Grand-Aigueblanche – Valmeinier 1800

The Queen stage of this year’s Dauphiné had the peloton traverse three famous mountain passes, which were jam-packed into a 131 kilometre route. Climbing from the gun it was a fast start and groups immediately formed all over the road, with it becoming a race of attrition in the peloton. Team Picnic PostNL were particularly active in tying to make the break, and eventually the elastic snapped with Juan Martinez and Romain Bardet up the road.

However, the peloton kept them relatively close, only allowing the gap to grow out to two minutes. It stabilised there on the lower slopes of Col de la Croix de Fer, but a big change of tempo saw Bardet and Martinez’s break hold onto only ten seconds as the summit approached. In typical Bardet fashion, he attacked over the top and down the descent; in the hope that those behind would cease their tempo in the valley that followed.

A good descent, followed by continuing to stamp on the pedals in the peloton, Bardet built up his lead to 45 seconds but it was clear that those behind would up the tempo once more and battle it out for the stage. Caught with 12 kilometres to go, Bardet would claim the prize as most combative rider on the day for his efforts.

Bardet said: “It was a good stage route for me today and I felt better than I did yesterday. I really wanted to go for it and go all-in, and have some fun, but I knew from the beginning that it was going to be a super hard day. It was good to have Juan in the group with me but we never got too much of a gap. When it was close I attacked on the top of Croix Fer. I wanted to allow myself to get carried away by the pleasure of pushing my limits and riding alone for one last time on these roads. I’m really touched by all of the messages on the roads and all of the fans cheering me on at the side.”

Results

  • 31.584/H
  • 131.6KM
  • 4815M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1POGAČAR TadejUAE Team Emirates - XRG4:10:00-
2VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0:14-
3LIPOWITZ FlorianRed Bull - BORA - hansgrohe1:21-
20MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL8:01-
24BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL12:10-
55HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL26:58-
76COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL32:44-
100KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL37:06-
119LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL38:31-

13th June – Stage 6: Valserhône – Combloux

A short and sharp 126 kilometre route saw the peloton tackle the climbs at the Dauphiné, with a summit finish on Combloux. It was a fast start to the day with lots of attacks in the early period of the stage, before the elastic finally snapped and an eight rider group that featured Romain Bardet went clear.

They quickly built up a two minute advantage but that’s where the gap peaked and it was clear that the main GC teams wanted to control the gap to go for the stage win. On the penultimate climb Bardet’s breakaway had its advantage cut to only 50 seconds so the Team Picnic PostNL rider sat up, to conserve as much energy as possible for the weekend’s stages. Unfortunately, Max Poole stepped off the bike during the stage; still feeling the effects of his crash in the TT.

Team Picnic PostNL coach Phil West explained: “The way we rode and what we tried to create was good and we looked for our opportunities and had Romain in the break, which was nice. I’m happy with the way we rode in the stage. We made a smart decision later in the day when it was clear it would be a GC battle for the win, to sit up and save energy for the weekend, where we’re going to try and be in the fight each day. It’s a shame that Max had to stop the race. Since the TT crash he’s been nursing a knee injury and we hoped that it would improve so he could come good for the weekend, but each day it went the other way a bit. We decided that he should stop, so that he can recover in a good way and prepare for the next goals later in the year.”

Results

  • 42.288/H
  • 126.7KM
  • 2485M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1POGAČAR TadejUAE Team Emirates - XRG2:59:46-
2VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike1:01-
3LIPOWITZ FlorianRed Bull - BORA - hansgrohe1:22-
54COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL13:31-
55BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
59HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
97KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL19:37-
101MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
118LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
DNFPOOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL-

12th June – Stage 5: Saint-Priest – Mâcon

On Thursday, the peloton faced a true transition stage. The first 100 km near Saint-Priest were mostly flat, followed by a series of four categorised moderate climbs, before the stage ended with a flat finish in Mâcon.

On behalf of Team Picnic PostNL, Enzo Leijnse managed to join the early breakaway of three riders. Later on, the group grew to five riders in total. Unfortunately, the peloton—mostly controlled by Lidl-Trek—never allowed the gap to grow beyond just over two minutes. Despite the narrow margin, the breakaway held on for a long time and even made it through the full hilly section of the stage. But with eleven kilometres to go, Leijnse was reeled in. Not long after, the rest of the break was also caught. The stage ended in a bunch sprint, with Stewart taking the win. Team Picnic PostNL came through the day safely and now looks ahead to the mountains on Friday.

After the stage, Leijnse said: “It was really hot out there. At the start, we got away with three riders, and then two more joined us. From that moment on, it was full gas, doing everything we could to stay ahead of the peloton. On the climbs, I tried to keep up as best as possible and then recover where I could. In the end, I just didn’t have the legs to stay with the group. It’s a shame we got caught, but it was a good effort.”

Results

  • 45.043/H
  • 183KM
  • 1705M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1STEWART JakeIsrael - Premier Tech4:03:46-
2LAURANCE AxelINEOS Grenadiers,,-
3WÆRENSKJOLD SørenUno-X Mobility,,-
20HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
34KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
51COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
86POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
92BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
110LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL4:24-
135MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL11:25-

11th June – Stage 4: Charmes-sur-Rhône – Saint-Péray

On Wednesday afternoon the peloton took on a challenging 17.4 kilometre long time trial. A flat opening section was followed by a tough two kilometre climb which averaged just over eight percent in gradient, where the climbers would look to gain time, before a shallow pedalling descent where the riders would have to be on the pedals all the way to the finish.

Early starter Enzo Leijnse put in a good benchmark time for GC finishers Max Poole and Romain Bardet, stopping the clock in 23 minutes and 28 seconds. With the rest of the squad getting round in the good way, it was over to Bardet who rolled down the ramp for his last race against the clock. Putting in a consistent ride around the course he stopped the clock in 23 minutes and three seconds; recording the team’s best time of the day.

Unfortunately it was a TT of misfortune for Max Poole who crashed early into his ride. He was able to continue but had already lost two minutes and 32 seconds to stage winner Evenepoel coming through the first check point. Continuing to ride to the line, Poole ultimately crossed the finish in 23 minutes and 58 seconds.

Team Picnic PostNL coach Phil West expressed: “Today was an important day for the GC and we went full-in with Romain and Max with that in mind. Romain himself did a solid TT and finished in and around those you would expect to. Max unfortunately crashed in the early part of the course. A little gust of wind caught him as he came into a corner, he had to correct it a bit and then found a dusty spot on the road and lost the front end of the bike. It’s a really unlucky crash actually; one of those freak incidents that you can’t do anything about. Max seems okay for the moment but we’ll get him checked over properly by our medical staff. After that we’ll then see what we do in the coming stages.”

Results

  • 50.11/H
  • 17.4KM
  • 214M
  • Time Trial
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1EVENEPOEL RemcoSoudal Quick-Step20:50-
2VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0:21-
3JORGENSON MatteoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike0:38-
42BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL2:13-
61LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL2:38-
84MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL3:01-
90POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL3:08-
99HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL3:22-
119COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL3:43-
121KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL3:45-

10th June – Stage 3: Brioude – Charantonnay

A special day on local roads for Romain Bardet saw him met by rapturous applause from thousands of fans in his hometown of Brioude in the morning, as the peloton rolled out for the longest stage of this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné. The action was as hot as the temperatures in the opening part of the day, with full-gas racing from the flag drop. The peloton split into several pieces and Team Picnic PostNL were active in the moves, with Bardet himself trying to go clear.

At one point several of the big GC contenders were on the attack but eventually a 13-rider group went clear, with Team Picnic PostNL all in the bunch. The searing heat beat down over the peloton for the rest of the race and the gap to those ahead was held steady at between one and two minutes, with a fast tempo throughout the race, but coming over the final climb of the day it was clear that those ahead would stay clear to fight it out for the win. Poole, Bardet and Juan Martinez all finished safely in the reduced bunch, just over a minute down on the stage winner.

Team Picnic PostNL coach Phil West said: “It was a really tough and hot day. We wanted to have some attention and focus on the break this morning as because of the hard start we thought a strong group might go clear. In the end it was actually a really, really hard start and it was only a group of about 30 or 40 guys left at the top of the first climb. It was an explosive first hour or so of racing, and eventually a really strong group went clear on the roads after the climb. It was a bit of a strange day after that though because the strong break was pulling hard so the guys were always on the pedals, with the peloton trying to keep it under control, and a few of the sprinters trying to survive. The main thing for us was that we had Max and Romain in the peloton at the right moments with all of the GC favourites and got through the day okay, so we’ll look ahead to the time trial tomorrow now.”

Results

  • 45.345/H
  • 207.2KM
  • 3036M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1ROMEO IvánMovistar Team4:34:10-
2TEJADA HaroldXDS Astana Team0:14-
3BARRÉ LouisIntermarché - Wanty,,-
31POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL1:08-
47BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
76MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
91COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL5:28-
107HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
143LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL10:20-
144KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL,,-

9th June – Stage 2: Prémilhat – Issoire

The second day of racing at the Dauphiné saw the peloton take on the second longest stage of the week, with a 205 kilometre long route. Despite there being no big major climbs, constant rolling roads and short ascents meant that the peloton had to contend with roughly 3000 metres of elevation gain throughout the day.

It was a fast start on the opening climb but things soon settled down when one rider formed the early break of the day. With around 80 kilometres to go and the gap less than a minute, Romain Combaud went clear in a counter-attack to make it a quartet at the head of the race. However, the peloton kept them close and brought them back with over 40 kilometres remaining. Things then settled down somewhat, but there was always a fierce fight in the group for position on the narrow and twisting roads.

Then on the Côte de Nonette with just under 20 kilometres to go, Romain Bardet launched a daring attack, hoping to drag some others clear with him but no one followed. Soldiering on, Bardet tried and honoured his home roads but it was clear that those behind wanted a sprint, and he was reeled in at eight kilometres to go. In the fast finale, the Team Picnic PostNL squad stayed out of trouble with Bjorn Koerdt leading home the team on the day.

After the stage Bardet expressed: “It was a really nice stage with a lot of supporters cheering along the road; which was great to see and experience. I have ridden the last climb, Côte de Nonette, for the last 25 years so it was good for the last time ever to give it a good go and see what could maybe have happened.”

Results

  • 41.639/H
  • 204.6KM
  • 2813M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1MILAN JonathanLidl - Trek4:54:49-
2WRIGHT FredBahrain - Victorious,,-
3VAN DER POEL MathieuAlpecin - Deceuninck,,-
20KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
37POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
56BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
96MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
111HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
138COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL5:34-
150LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL11:25-

8th June – Stage 1: Domérat – Montluçon

The Critérium du Dauphiné got underway with a interesting opening stage from Domérat to Montluçon. A two-man breakaway animated much of the day, with the Team Picnic PostNL riders in the meantine grouped together and well-positioned in the bunch, anticipating a tense finale. The final breakaway rider was caught with 7km to go, at the same time as the final kicked when the race hit the Côte de Buffon for the final time. Attacks flew, and splits formed as the GC contenders came to the fore. After the crest, a group of five GC favourites managed to go clear. Romain Bardet attempted to bridge across, but he was closely marked by rivals. Despite a strong chase behind, the front five managed to stay clear and sprinted for the stage win and the first yellow jersey of the race. Max Poole was our first rider across the line.

After the race, Team Picnic PostNL coach Phil West said: “It was a strange day, actually — a long, quiet one. Some teams were aiming for a sprint, so the race never really opened up. Our focus was on looking after Max and Romain and making sure they were in position for the final — both to avoid losing time and to be ready when the action kicked off. We were where we needed to be at that key moment, which was good. From the top of that last climb, though, it turned into a real scramble. We could, perhaps, have been better as a unit at that moment, so… We didn’t suddenly lose anything, but I think there’s some steps for tomorrow we can make.”

Results

  • 41.927/H
  • 195.8KM
  • 2279M
  • Stage
  • General classification
  • Points classification
  • Youth classification
  • Mountains classification
  • Teams classification
Pos.RiderTeamTimePoints
1POGAČAR TadejUAE Team Emirates - XRG4:40:12-
2VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike,,-
3VAN DER POEL MathieuAlpecin - Deceuninck,,-
24POOLE MaxTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
25KOERDT BjornTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
43MARTINEZ Juan GuillermoTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
54BARDET RomainTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
110COMBAUD RomainTeam Picnic PostNL2:29-
111HAMILTON ChrisTeam Picnic PostNL,,-
142LEIJNSE EnzoTeam Picnic PostNL6:21-