Fred Wright Sprints to Second on Stage 2 of Critérium du Dauphiné

Fred Wright powered to an impressive second place on Stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, after a challenging 204.6km from Prémilhat to Issoire — the same town where teammate Pello Bilbao won a Tour de France stage in 2023.

The day featured over 2,800 metres of climbing, making it a taxing effort for the pure sprinters. Despite the undulating profile and relentless pace, Wright held firm throughout, positioning himself perfectly for the finale.

After trying to ignite a move with 37km to go on Stage 1, Wright showed smart positioning and strong legs today, locking onto the wheel of former teammate Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in the final run-in. Robert Stannard played a vital role in the closing kilometres, expertly delivering Fred onto Milan’s wheel, allowing the Brit to launch his sprint and secure a well-earned second place behind one of the WorldTour’s most dominant sprinters.

Criterium du Dauphine 2025 – 77th Edition – 2nd stage Premilhat – Issoire 204,6 km – 09/06/2025 – Jonathan Milan (ITA – Lidl – Trek) – Fred Wright (GBR – Bahrain – Victorious) – Mathieu Van Der Poel (NED – Alpecin – Deceuninck) – photo Ivan Benedetto/SprintCyclingAgency©2025

“I knew there was one wheel to pick on that kind of bunch sprint. Having been teammates with Jonny, I know he’s got something quite special in terms of sprinting. Rob put me perfectly on his wheel, but unfortunately not much more I could have done to be honest, but yeah, second — I am really happy with it. We rode really well today, I think. We kept the GC boys in front and then, yeah, to get a result in a sprint like that, I’ll take it – I’m happy with that.

It was hot and pretty lumpy all day, that’s where I knew I had a bit of motivation going into a sprint like that, because the real fast boys can lose a bit of their kick and I tend to keep mine when it’s still quite hard.

I said to Rob, there is going to be a pause into the last km because it sort of drags over the bridge — stick me on Jonny’s wheel.”

Criterium du Dauphine 2025 – 77th Edition – 2nd stage Premilhat – Issoire 204,6 km – 09/06/2025 – Robert Stannard (AUS – Bahrain – Victorious) – photo Ivan Benedetto/SprintCyclingAgency©2025

Discussing another opportunity tomorrow, Fred added:

“To be honest I think looking at the start tomorrow, it might be quite a big fight for the breakaway. You saw today people getting quite excited, trying little moves here and there. Lidl-Trek will try and control, but the start is solid, so we could have a breakaway day — so maybe I’ll mix in with that as well.”

_Newsletter

GET LATEST UPDATES FROM
TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS

Receive the Team Bahrain Victorious newsletter with the most popular content and updates.

Team Bahrain Victorious Kit

GEAR UP FOR GLORY

Team Bahrain Victorious Off-Bike Clothing

WEAR WHAT PROS WEAR