That just about wraps it up for the Critérium du Dauphiné live today, Cyclingnews will have more news and analysis throughout the evening, and we'll be back again on Saturday with more live coverage.
And what about tomorrow's stage?
Three Hors Categorie climbs jammed into 131.6 kilometres on stage 7 make this the toughest day in the mountains of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné by a long way. Starting in the town of Grand-Aigueblanche, it's straight up one of the best-known ascents of the Alps, the 24.6km Madeleine, then straight afterwards the equally mythical Croix de Fer. A long descent and small section of flat will be the only respite for the riders prior to the 16km Valmeinier1800 ascent - the easiest climb of the three. Pogačar is already dominating the race, but if he's still in yellow on Saturday evening and Vingegaard hasn't made any inroads, then his first ever Dauphiné victory will be all but certain.
The new man in control of the Dauphiné GC...
In terms of the different classifications, while Pogačar has now moved into the overall lead with his ninth win of the season, Van der Poel remains in control of the points jersey. Lipowitz, whose stunning ride has kept him on the provisional podium, albeit a spot behind Vingegaard, is now heading the Best Young Rider's classification and EF breakaway Alex Baudin is the new leader in the mountains ranking. Visma are still ahead in the teams classification.
History fans will be pleased to note that if Pogačar was already the first winner of a Dauphiné stage in the rainbow jersey since Bernard Hinault took four in 1981, thanks to his victory on the opening day, he's now taken a triumph on the same climbs where Hinault forged his World Championships victory back in 1980 in Sallanches - the town at the foot of the valley.
A photo of Vingegaard crossing the line. This isn't the end of his GC bid in the Critérium du Dauphiné by a long shot, but it's definitely a major setback and it puts Pogačar firmly back in the driving seat. Worth remembering, though, that this race still has its two hardest stages to come.
The full Cyclingnews report on the dramatic events of stage 6
Critérium du Dauphiné: Tadej Pogačar decimates field on stage 6 to take overall race lead
And here's the new top ten on GC
Here's the top ten for the stage for today, courtesy of FirstCycling
Some quotes from the winner: "We had our own plan, but then Visma started to go full gas on the first cat climb [the Saxonnex]. Before the start I didn't know if I knew this climb before but for sure it brought back some memories from good times.
"The team were super-strong today, Pavel [Sivakov] and Johnnie [Narváez], all the team actually, and in the end, I felt good.
"Then we said we'd go from the bottom of the climb, the steepest part, and we committed. We had nothing to lose. It was a hot day and a hard day and I had to hurry up to see the finish of Urška [Žigart-AG Insurance-Soudal] in the Tour de Suisse, so I was just in time - all good."
And here's a first shot of Pogačar taking the stage win and lead
For those who felt Pogačar was on the back foot after the time trial where he lost more time than expected, this has been quite the turnaround for the Slovenian.
Evenepoel is 1:50 back. The race lead is now officially lost to Pogačar.
Next up is Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), 1:25 back and likely moving onto the podium behind Vingegaard and Pogacar.
Vingegaard battles on resolutely, finally crossing the line 1:01 down.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wins stage 6 of Critérium du Dauphiné
Pogacar moves into the barrier-ed off segment of the finish. The win and lead are both about to be his.
Into the final kilometre and Pogačar's advantage is still rising to nearly a minute. Plus there's time bonuses on offer.
Jorgenson moves ahead of Evenepoel. 48 hours after his big time trial victory, not a great day for the World TT Champion.
Pogačar, meanwhile, is riding at a very steady pace, despite the intense heat.
Vingegaard is not looking great, slumping in and out of the saddle. Gap now up to 50 seconds.
After the events of the TT stage in Combloux in the 2023 Tour de France, Pogačar is certainly turning the tables today....
Pogačar now starts the Côte de la Cry. 2.2 kilometres to go.
Evenepoel, meanwhile, is now 1:20 back. If this is the kind of damage Pogačar can inflict on two short climbs, what can he do on the major ones?
Three kilometres to go
Further down the twin climbs, Lipowitz meanwhile, is putting in his own spectacular display, dropping Evenepoel and Jorgenson.
Vingegaard leaves Baudin behind and heads off to try and limit the gaps on Pogačar. But the margin is 37 seconds now.
Trailed by Baudin, Vingegaard is not cracking, but the tide is still drifting remorsely in Pogačar's favour.
As things stand, it looks as Pogačar will be heading into his first Dauphiné lead as well as the stage win.
Pogačar's gap on Vingegaard is inching open to 25 seconds and beyond.
Still to come: the Cat.2 Côte de la Cry (2.7km at 7%)
6.1 kilometres to go
Pogačar catches Baudin even before the summit of the Domancy.
Evenepoel meanwhile, is taking a steady pace at the head of a small group including Jorgenson
And now Pogačar drops Vingegaard. Not waiting for the weekend then...
Pogačar attacks 7 kilometres from the finish. ONly Vingegard can follow.
Evenepoel dropped as Narvaez piles on the power.
The UAE shredding has reduced the front group to eight riders in no time at all...
Lenny Martínez dropped again.
Baudin has 55 seconds on the fast-disintegrating bunch
Still some 50 riders in the main bunch but it's lining out fast...
Eight kilometres from the finish and Baudin leaps away from Leonard.
UAE are powering onto the lower slopes of Domancy with Sivakov on the front of the bunch.
9 kilometres to go
Bahrain duo Martínez and Buitrago are back in the main group as well, by the way, but their struggles on the punishing Saxonnex don't bode well for the big climbs the peloton will face this weekend.
14 kilometres to go
UAE continue to lay down a strong pace on the flat roads approaching the final Cat.2 climbs.
Leonard has a stage win in the Tour de l'Avenir in 2024 and Baudin a stage and the overall in the Tour de Limousin, but at the moment they're pushing for their first victory in the WorldTour.
Riding for UAE's Pogačar, Narvaez mops up the last point and bonus second in the intermediate sprint behind Baudin and Leonard.
21 kilometres to go
And here's what to come in terms of the climbs...
A reminder of the GC as we head into the decisive section of the stage
Amongst the reinforcements in that bridging group for the top GC names: Pavel Sivakov and Jonathan Narváez for Pogačar, Kuss for Vingegaard. Nobody, though, for race leader Evenepoel.
Still to come in stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné:
Km 107.5 Sprint: la Grangeat
On the flatter section before the final climbs, a much larger group of chasers has refused with the GC group
A shot of the Evenepoel group prior to it blowing apart on the Mont-Saxonnex
30 kilometres to go
An acceleration by Enric Mas on the downhill. He's 2:04 down on GC so perhaps has a bit of a margin before the top GC names start to react.
Just Baudin and Leonard remain from the original break now, and their gap is around a minute. But it's looking increasingly like a GC day.
Although likely more riders will get back on to the GC group in the flat before the final two Cat.2 ascents, it's notable that Evenepoel is completely isolated -and that Visma are currently in a majority. Also a shout-out for Seixas, just 18 years old and punching several kilograms above his weight.
Just ten riders in the main GC group, three of them Vismas: Lipowitz (Bora); Vingegaard, Jorgenson and Tulett (Visma); Pogačar and Wellens (UAE); Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep); Seixas (Decathlon); Enric Mas (Movistar) and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla).
40 kilometres to go
Lipowitz about to be caught by the yellow jersey group. Fourth overall on GC, he was too dangerous to have too much of a margin.
A UAE teammate now chasing for Pogačar in the main GC group of around 10 riders. Visma, meanwhile, have four riders in the same group.
Lipowitz storms past early breakaway Van der Poel, his advantage rising to eight seconds.
Baudin and Michael Leonard have now dropped Armirail and have gone clear, Baudin setting the pace.
Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martínez, Bahrain's top two climbers, both reported struggling. Meanwhile Lipowitz is gaining ground.
3.3 kilometres from the top, Lipowitz is going clear.
The group spreads across the road, and GC threat Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) makes a move, Matteo Jorgenson chasing him down for Vingegaard.
Attack by Sepp Kuss , Pogačar instantly on his back wheel. Evenepoel comes across, also Vingegaard.
Armirail, Baudin and Leonard are the only three riders left at the head of the break.
Less than a kilometre on the climb and the gap between break and bunch has already shrunk to 53 seconds. Victor Campenearts leads the chase for Visma.
If Evenepoel was caught out, he's coming back up very fast. Bardet dropped from the break.
Antony Turgis (TotalEnergies) dropped from the break and the bunch is splitting. Evenepoel reportedly caught behind.
No less than five Visma-Lease a Bike riders are driving at the front of the bunch, Jonas Vingegaard amongst their number...
Time for the first cat climb of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphine: the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex (5.5km at 8.6%)
An interesting development: a delegation of Visma-Lease a Bike riders have taken over from UAE and Soudal at the front of the bunch.
Dropped early on, the current mountains leader Ourselin has made it back into the main bunch, by the way. Next climbing challenge is the fast-approaching Côte du Mont-Saxonnex.
50 kilometres to go
After De Marchi and Gradek, news of the third abandon of the day: young French racer Louis Rouland (Arkea-B&BHotels)
A reminder that Evenepoel had a crash at the end of yesterday's stage, and though he brushed it off as minor, given he was only a kilometre from the finish, today will be a sterner judge of that.
Colleague James Moultrie had Evenepoel's comments on his own crash and the one which saw key Tour de France domestique and teamamate Louis Vervaeke quit with a broken collarbone in this story here:
'Nothing bad, just some skin off' – Remco Evenepoel uninjured in Critérium du Dauphiné crash, but loses Tour de France domestique to earlier incident
In what is very much a statement of intent by Tadej Pogačar about today's stage, UAE's Domen Novak leads the chase of the break ahead of a cohort of Soudal-QuickStep racers, with Evenepoel in fifth place in the string behind.
With less than 60 kilometres to go, we're now well over halfway on this 126.7 kilometre stage.
Still to come on stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphine:
Km 87.2 Climb: Cat.1 Côte de Mont-Saxonnex (5.5km at 8.6%)
Armirail picks up the two points maximum on offer at the summit of the Col des Fleuries to add to his one from Côte de Villy-le-Peloux. Could he be looking at a crack at the mountains title?
Meanwhile the bunch has picked up its pace (if it ever actually slowed down) even more and has slashed the eight's lead to just 1:20 as they tear down the Fleuries.
70 kilometres to go
Blink and you'll miss it: Romain Bardet is riding his last road race as a pro here in the Dauphiné, and he's currently in the break. Here's colleague Dani Ostanek's report on the reception Bardet got in his home town of Brioude when this year's race started there on stage 3.
'It makes sense to me that it ends here this year' – Romain Bardet enjoys home crowd sendoff at Critérium du Dauphiné
Mathieu van der Poel leads the break
Mountains leader Ourselin, incidentally, is in a group that's nearly six minutes down on the break and four behind the main bunch, so there's a good chance of a new rider in the top spot of that classification this evening.
We've just completed the first hour of racing, which has been run off at a very brisk 46.2 km average speeed. 1:40 the gap.
The bunch in full flight on stage 6
85 kilometres to go
Bunch regrouped after that scare for Evenepoel. Meanwhile we've got a second abandon for the day: Poland's Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious).
Reports that the bunch has split and Evenepoel has been caught behind. UAE are, predictably enough, driving hard in the front group
It's a short climb and French National TT Champ Armirail gets the lone point on offer. 2:00 the gap
The eight will shortly face the first climb of the day, the Cat.4 Côte de Villy-le-Peloux (0.8km at 8.4%)
Gap is rising to over a minute now.
To say the Domancy and the finish at Combloux are deeply embedded in cycling history would be a major understatement. The Côte de Domancy was where Bernard Hinault took off to win the World Championships in one of the most legendary editions, and that climb leading to the finish at Combloux were where Jonas Vingegaard won the key time trial of the 2023 Tour de France.
It's not entirely clear if this is the exact same ascent, and the final Cat.2 climb inside Combloux didn't feature back in 2023, but certainly it'll bring back good memories for Jonas Vingegaard.
Eight riders moving ahead now.
100 kilometres to go
Abandon
We're currently powering along at an average speed of 48.5kmh. Riders beginning to get shelled at the back, including Mountains leader Paul Ourselin (Cofidis)
A shot of the short-lived Van der Poel-inspired early break of the day
That early weather forecast of milder temperatures was not correct, by the way. According to the official website temperatures are now up to 32ºC at the front of the race.
107 kilometres to go
Attackers caught
Five more riders get away, making it a six man group including Van der Poel. But they've only got 10 seconds at most. On a such a short stage like this one and with two really tough mountain stages to follow, everyone's wanting a slice of glory.
What's in store today
And green jersey Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is our first attacker of the day
Non-starter
A reminder of who's on top of the different rankings:
General classification: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep)
And stage 6 of the 2025 Criterium du Dauphiné is officially underway,
only 126.7 kilometres to go...
An interesting point from Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), already in the breaks earlier on in the race and a 'regionale de l'étape'.
The peloton is now riding in the neutralised zone. Racing to get underway soon
A shot of Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) at the start. Rodríguez has barely figured on the radar so far, but he has serious stage racing credentials, won the final, very mountainous, leg of last year's Dauphiné and is lying 1:39 down overall. Worth keeping an eye on, then.
Just 2,630 metres of vertical climbing today. That's not a huge amount in comparison with the 4,800 metres in store for the peloton on Saturday, but the double whammy of Cat.2 climbs at the end will do some damage all the same.
Here's a map of what's in store for the riders today. Most of it isn't overly tough, although the Cat.1 ascent of Mont Saxonnex will be the first real climbing test of the day for the GC challengers. And the ascent in quick succession of the Cat.2 climbs of Domancy and Cote de la Cry, the latter being the summit finish at Combloux, could well see a GC battle unfold.
Weather today is set to be sunny for the first part of the stage but not overly warm according to race organisers ASO, with temperatures peaking at 28ºC. Very little wind, just an easterly breeze of up to 6kmh. However, it could rain later on, which would undoubtably toughen up what is, at 127 kilometres, the shortest stage of the entire 2025 race.
And if you want to catch up on a full report of stage 5, look no further than here:
Critérium du Dauphiné: Jake Stewart wins stage 5 as leader Remco Evenepoel involved in late spill
Here's a quick look back at the GC standings as we head into the first of three crunch stages of the race
The stage gets underway with a short neutralised section, at 1350 CET with 2.7 kilometres for the riders to tackle before the actual race proper gets underway at 1400 CET.
Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the first of three crunch stages that will decide the final overall.
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'I did not expect this much of a gap' – Tadej Pogačar a level above rival Jonas Vingegaard on first mountain showdown of 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné
World Champion puts 1:01 into Dane on stage 6, with the biggest test still to come on Saturday's brutal Alpine route -
'Pogačar was superior again' - Remco Evenepoel bows to near-inevitable and cedes Critérium du Dauphiné lead to Slovenian star
Belgian slumps to fourth overall after tough medium-mountain stage on Friday -
As it happened: major GC shake-up at Critérium du Dauphiné as race heads into the mountains
Tadej Pogačar blasts away on final climb to clinch impressive solo victory and lead
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Critérium du Dauphiné: Tadej Pogačar decimates field on stage 6 to take overall race lead
Jonas Vingegaard distances Remco Evenepoel on summit finish
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'If he can follow Pogačar and Vingegaard here, we will go for more than third at the Tour' – crunch time for Remco Evenepoel at Critérium du Dauphiné
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