Criterium du Dauphine 2025 Stage 2 recap - Jonathan Milan into yellow after first career win on French soil

Italy’s Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) moved into the yellow jersey after picking up the first win of his career on French soil in the Criterium du Dauphine on Monday.

Dropped on the penultimate climb with around 50km remaining, Milan battled back before benefitting from a perfect lead-out from his Lidl-Trek team to win Stage 2 with a strong sprint in Issoire. Milan held off Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) after a thrilling conclusion to the 204.6km stage through the Massif Central.

Milan’s first win on French soil bodes well ahead of his Tour de France debut this July – as does the 24-year-old taking over the yellow jersey from overnight race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) thanks to the 10 bonus seconds at the finish. The two riders are tied on time but it’s Milan who will now don the maillot jaune by virtue of his finish on Sunday being higher than the Slovenian’s one day later.

With four categorised climbs featuring in the opening half of the stage, Frenchman Paul Ourselin (Cofidis) rode ahead of the peloton for the first two hours – taking maximum KOM points over each climb to consolidate his lead in the blue polka dot jersey standings.

Ourselin was joined by compatriots Romain Combaud (Picnic PostNL) and Victor Guernalec (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and the Dane Chris Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla) with around 90km remaining – but the entire quartet was swept up shortly after the penultimate climb of the day.

Milan battled back into contention after being tailed off on that climb – and the Italian was also forced to dig deep to stay in touch on the last climb of the day on the finishing circuit inside the final 20km. Here, a late attack from local rider Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) threatened to upset the sprinters for a second day running – but the French veteran was caught with 10km remaining, thwarting (for now) Bardet’s bid to add one final win before his impending retirement on Sunday.

The remainder of the stage went to script with Lidl-Trek controlling the final sprint with perfection and Milan wresting the yellow jersey from Pogacar’s shoulders ahead of Tuesday’s third stage – another lumpy offering that could offer the Italian a chance to double up.

"That was really tough. Our goal was to come here to build up condition [ahead of the Tour de France] and to do some nice results. Yesterday, I have to say I was really suffering a lot. It was also my first race for a long time. Today, I also suffered a lot. I was dropped at one point and was really on the limit. But I have to say thanks to my team-mates because they brought me back and took me to the last metres – so a massive thanks to them.

"I’m really happy – this brings a lot of morale to all of us. If you are alone [when you are dropped] it’s super tough to come back but when you have a team that is supporting you and is also believing in you, then it becomes easier. This is what happened today in the end. The support and belief gave me extra motivation.

"We knew that we had to take the last corner in the front – and it was just perfect, a perfect lead-out. Of course, it’s pretty nice [to be in yellow] but we will see, day by day, what happens next."

And an additional prize for Jonathan Milan for winning that stage is… the yellow jersey. The 10 bonus seconds puts him level on time with Tadej Pogacar, but Milan’s result yesterday was better than the Slovenian’s today, which puts him in the maillot jaune. Here’s the new look top 5:

1. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +0
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +02
4. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) +04
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +04

1. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious)
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Stian Fredheim (Uno-X Mobility)
5. Paul Penhoet (Groupama-FDJ)
6. Emilien Jeanniere (Team TotalEnergies)
7. Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
8. Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana)
9. Matis Louvel (Israel-Premier Tech)
10. Clement Venturini (Arkea-B&B Hotels)

At one point it looked like Mathieu van der Poel was going to give Milan a run for his money, but the Dutchman faded and Fred Wright ended up coming through for second place.

For the first time in his career, it’s a win on French soil for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) who wins Stage 2 at a canter, to be fair. A flawless leadout from Lidl after some fruity riding and some near-misses entering the final kilometre.

UAE still lead through Narvaez with 2km to go but Lidl, Israel and Decathlon edge into position. The Ecuadorian gives away ahead of the final kilometre and it’s Lidl-Trek who then take control with their train for Jonathan Milan.

It has lacked the fireworks and unpredictability as yesterday, but it’s not over yet. The pace is super high going over the top and dropping down on a sweeping road back towards Issoire. Pogacar is still sniffing around with three of his UAE team-mates ahead of Alpecin – but here come the teams of the sprinters…

Jonathan Milan is present and correct on this small 5% drag. The Italian has several Lidl-Trek team-mates with him and soon they will have free reign once the GC teams drop back when their leaders pass through the 3km mark. Tim Wellens has taken it up for UAE, with Narvaez and Pogacar right behind.

It’s a mix of Visma, UAE, Movistar, Alpecin and Soudal Quick-Step on the front ahead of the finale, which plays out on narrow roads and includes that small hill in the final 5km. Bardet is back with the pack, which has Ireland’s Ben Healy rooted right to the back in EF’s eye-catching pink jersey. Had Healy gone with Bardet things may have been a bit different, but he’s clearly keeping his powder dry for the mountains later this week.

Just four seconds now for the Frenchman, who gave it his best shot but ultimately needed someone to come with him. He’s about to sit up as we approach the final 10km. Just one small hill to go now ahead of the finish.

Bardet now has 20 seconds and could he – and his fans – start to dream? If he pulls this off, he might as well retire four days early. He has almost zero chance but it’s definitely injected a bit of jeopardy into today’s finale.

Over the top goes the Frenchman with a lead of around 10 seconds on the pack. He knows these roads like the back of his hand – but that means nothing when you have so much speed and class bearing down on you behind. He may well have hoped for another rider to join him on the climb, but Bardet will have to make do with his own company as he bids to pull off the impossible.

The French veteran is on his home roads and, just days from his retirement, he decides that now’s as good a time as any to go for unlikely glory. Off he zips up the road and he has a small gap. But will it be enough?

The Cat.4 Cote de Nonette is just 1.8km at 6% but it’s already spitting out dead wood at the back of the pack. Tadej Pogacar is right near the front, in second wheel behind a UAE team-mate.

It’s not a big one but it could be the springboard for a counter-attack or, by the same token, the place where some fast finishers lose touch. Either way, it explains why the front of the pack has suddenly become a popular place to hang out. Game on.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) are the two fastest finishers in the field, but watch out for the likes of Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ), Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), Magnus Cort (Uno-X), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Emilien Jeanniere (Team TotalEnergies) and, of course, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). Oh, and don’t forget up-coming sprinters Pogacar and Vingegaard, too…

Visma-Lease a Bike are determined to keep their position on the front and ride this approach aggressively. It’s a new showing from the team and it bodes well for the Tour. These roads are narrow and quite exposed, with the odd 90-degree turns, which is making for some tense riding. Victor Campenaerts, in particular, is being very bullish on the front – and Visma’s aggression elicits a response from UAE’s Nils Politt, who swings across the road and shoulder barges Ben Tullett. Feisty.

The peloton stretches out and momentarily splits on a short uphill grind through a small town as Bahrain Victorious take up the tempo-setting on the front.

Besides the one-man move, which morphed into a four-man breakaway earlier, the only flashpoint has been that near-miss with the white car that almost pulled out at a junction just as the race was passing. Somewhat downplayed in the commentary booth, if you don’t mind me saying…

The peloton is all back together now – including that Magnus Cort gruppetto – as they tackle this finishing circuit in Romain Bardet’s back yard. The French veteran hangs up his cycling shoes at the end of the week after a long and illustrious career. He’ll get that chance to win later this week in the mountains but it will be unlikely to see Bardet atop the podium today given the terrain.

Still, we could yet see a crazy counter-attack move like we saw yesterday, with that GC-hitting five-man move going clear near the finish – with Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Buitrago and Van der Poel all holding on to defy the rampaging peloton. The sprinters will be determined to get on back today as the race rides through the Massif Central.