Iván Romeo (Movistar) soloed to his first WorldTour victory from a 13-man breakaway on stage three of the Critérium du Dauphiné, and took over the GC lead from Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in the process.
The 21-year-old Spaniard capitalised on a lack of cohesion in the group as the finish approached, eventually jumping clear after the final climb of the day once the efforts of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to split the leaders came to nothing.
Lipowitz had repeatedly tried to break free but was persistently tracked by Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and others on the Côte du Château Jaune, with approximately 20 kilometres left in the race.
While the rest of the breakaway watched Lipowitz, the most aggressive rider in the group, Romeo took the opportunity to time-trial away as the chasers never regained cohesion.
Romeo clutched his head in disbelief as he crossed the finish line, with Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) taking second and Louis Barré (Intermarché - Wanty) claiming third.
"I can’t believe it," Romeo said afterwards. "I don't know what to say, honestly. I think it was probably one of the toughest days of my life; the breakaway was so hard to get into today. I was feeling really good, and I told the team car that I had to take the risk and not be very active.
"In this kind of final, I knew that if the others gave me some seconds, then I could make it. They didn't immediately chase me for about a minut,e so I thought ok, time to go flat out to the line."
"I think this is the best day of the year so far for sure," he added. "I've worked so hard for this, I'm very grateful for the team for supporting me… we [Movistar] know we can win, we just have to go for it as we did today. This is for all the team and everyone that's supported me."
How it happened
The third stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné traversed the home region of Romain Bardet, rolling out from the Frenchman’s home town of Brioude before heading to Charantonnay. The riders faced five categorised climbs, with the last ascent, the Côte du Château Jaune, coming around 20 kilometres from the finish.
After the day’s only intermediate sprint point, Van der Poel leapt from the peloton and immediately went on the offensive. A large, high-calibre breakaway soon formed and rapidly built up a gap. Along with Van der Poel, Ineos Grenadiers pair Axel Laurance and Michael Leonard were in the 13-man move. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) were also present.
With 38 kilometres to go, the break held an advantage of a minute and a half over the chasing pack as the start of the Côte du Château Jaune approached, a likely launch pad for an attack. Teams with GC aspirations attempted to organise a chase at the front of the peloton, but the breakaway continued to gain time.
Visma-Lease a Bike, Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates-XRG eventually took control in the main field. The combined efforts of the three teams cut the advantage down to almost a minute, with EF Education-EasyPost also playing a key role in attempting to restore some cohesion in the bunch.
Once the climb began, Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) kicked clear from the break and took Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) with him. Lipowitz also made it across and attacked over the summit, quickly distancing the duo. The increase in tempo on the climb meant that the race leader, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), was quickly dropped. The dig from Lipowitz also pushed the break’s gap to over a minute again.
A brief drop in pace between the three leaders brought Van der Poel and the rest of the chasers back to them. And, sensing the break was too big, Van der Poel immediately attacked as the group entered the final 10 kilometres of the race. Despite the efforts of the Dutchman and Lipowitz, the break remained together before Romeo attacked and time-trialled away from his rivals to seal a maiden WorldTour win and a first victory for Movistar in over a month.
Results
Critérium du Dauphiné 2025, stage three: Brioude > Charantonnay (202.8 km)
1. Iván Romeo (Spa) Movistar, in 4:34:10
2. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +14s
3. Louis Barré (Fra) Intermarché - Wanty, at same time
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +27s
6. Axel Laurance (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers,
7. Brieuc Rolland (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8. Julien Bernard (Fra) Lidl-Trek,
9. Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Uno-X Mobility,
10. Eddie Dunbar (Ire) Jayco-AlUla, all same time
General classification after stage three
1. Iván Romeo (Spa) Movistar, in 14:09:01
2. Louis Barré (Fra) Intermarché - Wanty, +17s
3. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +18s
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +24s
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +29s
6. Eddie Dunbar (Ire) Jayco-AlUla, +37s
7. Brieuc Rolland (Fra) Groupama-FDJ,
8. Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, at same time
9. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:06
10. Fred Wright (Gbr) Bahrain Victorious, +1:12
