As it happened: Breakaway holds on for victory ahead of GC contenders on the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the final stage of this year's race and the last opportunity for some of the GC contenders to make their mark before the Tour de France.

The final stage of this year's Critérium du Dauphiné is set to get underway at 13:25 local time with a short neutralised section before the official start in Val-d'Arc.

The riders will head straight into the action on today's stage, as they face the Côte d'Aiton and the Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières in the opening 15km, which could play a role in the formation of the early breakaway.

A quick look at the overall standings heading into today's stage. With just over minute of a deficit to Tadej Pogačar, it will take something special for Jonas Vingegaard to win this Critérium du Dauphiné.

Today's stage marks the final day of Romain Bardet's professional career, as he is set to retire from professional cycling after the Critérium du Dauphiné. Could it be a fairy-tale ending for the Frenchman with a victory on the Plateau du Mont-Cenis?

Whatever happens today, it has been a pleasure to watch him race over the years and we wish him a happy retirement. Chapeau Romain!

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Stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné is officially underway. Here's a clip from the start, where the peloton lined up for a guard of honour for Romain Bardet.

The riders are now at the foot of the Côte d'Aiton (1.2km at 8.8%), which could serve as the perfect opportunity for an early breakaway to go clear.

Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty) took maximum points ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) as they summited the category 3 ascent of the Côte d'Aiton. The Dutchman has now pushed on over the top of the climb and is alone at the head of the race with a small advantage over the peloton.

Despite an unsuccessful first attack, Van der Poel is attempting to go clear again as the peloton reaches the foot of the category two Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières (4.7km at 7.1%).

Van der Poel managed to drag a small group clear, but they have now been caught once again. Meanwhile, several riders have been dropped off the back of the main bunch, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) and Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers).

A new breakaway has now formed at the head of the race, with a group of Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Enric Mas (Movistar), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Ivan Romeo (Movistar) and Alexey Lutsenko (Israel-Premier Tech) out front with around 20 seconds over the peloton behind.

Bruno Armirail took the maximum points over the top of the Côte de Saint-Georges-d'Hurtières ahead of Lenny Martinez, Sepp Kuss and Maxim Van Gils. The Frenchman is now just three points behind leader Tadej Pogačar in the mountains classification.

Van der Poel has now bridged the gap to the breakaway, making it a group of ten riders at the head of the race with others also attempting to come across from the peloton.

Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) have also now joined the lead group, as the peloton move to around 15 seconds behind the breakaway.

The gap to the breakaway has now gone out to over a minute, as the twelve-man leading group look to grow their advantage over the peloton behind.

The breakaway has officially formed as the peloton has now let the gap grow to nearly three minutes. Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) is currently attempting to bridge across on his own in a move that seems doomed to fail.

Here's a map of today's stage as the race heads deep into the Alps towards the Franco-Italian border.

Julien Bernard looks to be heading back to the peloton as he is currently around two minutes behind the breakaway. It was a bold move, but he may regret it with the climbs to come later on.

Meanwhile the lead group now have a gap of four minutes over the peloton, as their advantage continues to grow.

Some shots of the breakaway as they make their way towards the foot of the Col de Beaune (6.6km at 6.8%), the first of two category one ascents on today's stage.

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No time for horsing around on today's stage, as the riders at head of the race had averaged 44.5km/h for the first hour.

The peloton have closed the gap to the breakaway to around two and a half minutes, as Uno-X Mobility are setting the pace in the main bunch. They are probably concerned with Enric Mas' presence in the lead group, as the Spaniard sits in tenth place in the general classification, just one minute and 40 seconds behind their leader Tobias Halland Johannessen in fifth place.

The breakaway has begun to splinter slightly on the slopes of the Col de Beaune. Stage 5 winner Jake Stewart has been dropped from the lead group and caught by the peloton.

Meanwhile, Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) has abandoned the race. The Irishman won in Val-Cenis, where today's stage finishes, on stage 7b of the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023.

The riders have summited and descended down the other side of the Col de Beaune. Mathieu van der Poel has put in a small acceleration to take the maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, opening up a 15-second gap on his breakaway companions.

Lenny Martinez was first over the top of the Col de Beaune ahead of Bruno Armirail, who now moves into the virtual lead of the mountains classification with a five-point lead over Tadej Pogačar.

After the intermediate sprint, Van der Poel has continued his effort and has extended his gap over the rest of the breakaway to 40 seconds. His advantage over the peloton now sits at three minutes with around 50km to go.

The riders are now inside the final 50km of this year's Critérium du Dauphiné and are approaching the foot of the category three Côte de Saint-André (2.5km at 7.6%).

Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has abandoned the race, leaving Tadej Pogačar a teammate down going into the final stretch of the race.

Van der Poel's gap has now gone out to a minute over the chasers, but his advantage to the peloton has come down gradually to two minutes and 40 seconds under the continuing pace of Uno-X Mobility.

Van der Poel is first over the summit of the Côte de Saint-André, but the two points in the mountains classification will be of little consequence to the Dutchman. Bruno Armirail comes through to collect the sole remaining point to further extend his virtual lead in the classification.

The weather has taken a turn and rain has started to fall as they begin the descent of the Côte de Saint-André. A little moment for Van der Poel through one of the corners forced him unclip his right foot from the pedal, but he stays upright and continues his effort.

A small split in the peloton on the descent has seen three Uno-X Mobility go clear with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard in the wheel. It should all come back together though, as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are working to bring it back together for Florian Lipowitz.

The riders are now onto the slopes of the penultimate climb of the Côte d'Aussois (6.3km at 6.2%), with Mathieu van der Poel still holding more than a minute of an advantage over the chasing group as he begins the category two ascent. It has all come back together in the peloton, with main bunch currently two minutes and 45 seconds behind the Dutchman at the head of race.

This is a brilliant solo effort from Mathieu van der Poel. If this is a sign of things to come, then we can definitely expect to see the Dutchman animating the race on some the hilly stages in the opening week of the Tour de France.

Another climb summited for Mathieu van der Poel, as he takes maximum points over the top of the Côte d’Aussois and Bruno Armirail comes through in the group behind to take another three points in mountains classification, extending his virtual lead to nine points over Tadej Pogačar.

A closer look at the profile of the Col du Mont-Cenis (9.6km at 6.9%) as the riders begin the final climb.

The opening three kilometres ease the riders into the climb before the slopes begin to ramp up, with gradients of up to 13%. Over the top of the climb, the riders will head into the final 5km to the finish on the Plateau du Mont-Cenis.

After an incredible solo effort, Mathieu van der Poel has been caught and dropped by the breakaway. Iván Romeo has also been dropped, with the Spaniard almost coming to a standstill on the lower slopes of the final climb.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG are now setting the pace in the main bunch, as the attacks begin in the breakaway. Maxim Van Gils made the first initial effort, but a counter-attack from Enric Mas has dropped the Belgian rider off the back. Lenny Martinez has followed the Spaniard, with Ben Healy looking to bridge across to the leading duo.

There has been a crash in the main group, as Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) among those to hit the deck after a touch of wheels at the back of the group.

Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is the only remaining teammate for Tadej Pogačar. The Belgian rider is setting a strong pace for his team leader. Are we about to see another display of strength from the maillot jaune?

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) has launched an attack from the main group, forcing Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) to bridge across with Pogačar and Vingegaard in his wheel.

Lenny Martinez has now attacked Enric Mas to go solo at the head of the race. The Frenchman made his move just as his breakaway companion was taking a drink, with no response from the Spaniard as of yet.

Jonas Vingegaard has launched an attack, which Tadej Pogačar has closed with relative ease. They are now catching the remnants of the breakaway, with Martinez still holding a steady advantage at the head of the race.

Remco Evenepoel was unable to follow the move though, with Florian Lipowitz and Matteo Jorgenson now bridging the gap to him and Tobias Halland Johannessen.

The riders are now over the top of the final climb and onto the Plateau du Mont-Cenis. Lenny Martinez is now under the flamme rouge and into the final kilometre of the stage and looks to be on for a stage win with around a 30-second gap over Vingegaard and Pogačar behind.

Lenny Martinez wins stage 8 of the Critérium du Dauphiné as Tadej Pogačar seals overall victory

The Frenchman takes the victory on the final stage of the race for Bahrain Victorious ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in second place and Tadej Pogačar in third place, with the World Champion sealing the overall victory ahead of his Danish rival by 59 seconds.

Paul Seixas finishes more than two minutes down on Lenny Martinez, still riding on a damaged bike after his crash on the final climb. An impressive effort from the 18-year-old Frenchman to limit his losses, but he looks to have lost positions on the general classification to Matteo Jorgenson and Enric Mas, dropping him down to eighth overall.

In his post-race interview, Martinez said "yesterday, I was super bad, but the team told me to never give up and I tried today, I felt better and finally a victory at the end, so I'm super happy."

When asked for his overall assessment of the week, the Frenchman stated that "honestly, it was not a good week until this stage, but I think we can proud of this victory."

Looking ahead to the Tour de France, he went on to say "I hope to take a victory at the Tour, but we will see."

Results - Critérium du Dauphiné Stage 8

After sealing the overall victory with third place on the final stage, Tadej Pogačar said in his post-race interview that "it's been a really amazing and once again today, it was a great job by the team and we managed to defend the jersey, so we can now go home happy and prepare for the Tour."

When asked about his plans ahead of the Tour de France, the Slovenian said "now we go to altitude camp at Isola 2000 and then a few days at home before the Tour. Basically, not too much to do but rest after this great week and do some extra work on the time trial maybe."

On winning the Critérium du Dauphiné for the first time, he said "I was here in 2020, it was a shortened Dauphiné because of COVID-19 and it was one of the hardest five days I've ever done in my career. Since then, I didn't return. Finally, I did it and I'm super happy and proud."