Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) is in a prime position in the general classification at Criterium du Dauphiné as the race goes into the mountains for three big stages that will truly sort out the pecking order in the 2025 edition.
With the biggest stage race riders in the world in the field, the next three stages are likely to bring fireworks. And while it has been all about Dunbar, from an Irish perspective, so far this week, the EF Education-EasyPost duo of Archie Ryan and Ben Healy can hopefully have a say before the race is done.
Healy has gone about losing time every day and if his form is as good this week as it was earlier in the season, he has given himself the leeway to go on the attack on any or all of the coming three stages. He currently trails overall leader, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) by 22:14 down in 125th place.
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For his part, Archie Ryan has kept a low profile so far and is currently 39th at 2:25. He may be allowed to go in some moves. And even one good day in the mountains would significantly improve his position overall and deliver a very strong general classification result in a World Tour event.
Ryan may be tempted to try and follow the big guns, and improve his general classification position that way. But Healy, once he has the legs, will be jumping around off the front.
Dunbar may also be a follower over the next three days, but given the manner he won the queen stage at the Vuelta last year - and the form he demonstrated in the TT stage 4 yesterday - he could serve up something very special over the next three days.
The big names, and those who all the attention will be on, are race leader Evenepoel, 5th place Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) who is just 16 seconds down, and 7th placed Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who is 38 seconds down. Dunbar is in 6th overall, at 30 seconds.
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With Vingegaard and Pogačar both needing to drop Evenepoel, they are expected to go on the attack. And Dunbar will look to stay with the best of them, and take any chance he can, over the next three stages
Tomorrow's stage 6 is short, at 126km, but finishes with 9km of climbing - three separate climbs, one after the other - to Combloux. Saturday's stage 7, some 131.6km, finishes on the 16.2km HC climb of Valmeinier 1800. And on Sunday the race concludes with a 9.7km cat 1 climb - the Col du Mont-Cenis - before racing along a plateau for 5.5km to the finish.
Today, the 183km stage to Mâcon came down to a bunch sprint, won by British rider Jake Stewart (Israel Premier Tech). He went early in the gallop, taking the lead and driving it home. He won from Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility).
The highly fancied Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek) looked empty in the sprint, after being forced to chase back on when dropped today. He could only muster 5th place; unable to go close to matching Stewart when he kicked hard to take his first World Tour win.
☀️ It was sunny and hot, but that didn't stop the riders from battling it out for the lead! It was a fast-paced day with lots of counter-attacks and plenty of suspense right up to the finish in Mâcon! ?
? Highlights from Stage 5 of the #Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/OSHGua3sh5— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 12, 2025
