Bahrain claims that Jonas and Primo just said "see you" and "catch you at the top." On Dauphiné's Plateau de Solaison, he was the victorious rider of the duo's winning performance.

Riders slumped over handlebars, sat on barriers, and begged soigneurs for water on the Plateau de Solaison, just beyond the finish line of the Critérium du Dauphiné's last stage. Jumbo-Visma had blown them away, and it took a while for them to come around.

When they did, nearly everyone agreed they'd been riding in a different race.

Primo Rogli and Jonas Vingegaard had snubbed all other competitors halfway up the horse-category final hill and crossed the line arm-in-arm to win the stage and the overall.

Whatever they were up to, the Sierra Nevada was paying off for Bahrain Victorious. "Jumbo-recent Visma's altitude camp in the south of Spain," Jack Haig told reporters.

"Steven Kruijswijk set a ferocious pace at the start, and then Jonas and Primo just said see ya,' and said 'see you at the top.'"

Although Haig's comments could be interpreted as cynical, the Australian did not appear to indicate any insinuation and could only congratulate his opponents.

There's not much else to say except that it's pretty impressive, and congratulations to them."

Going into the Dauphiné's rugged final weekend, there were some questions about Jumbo-Visma. Wout van Aert had won two stages and came close to winning three more, while Rogli and Vingegaard were the pre-race favorites in the best position.

They did appear stretched at times, however, with Rogli's situation shrouded in question following his recent knee injury. Doubts were expressed among the peloton, with Tao Geoghegan Hart observing Rogli riding "differently" and falling back through the group.

On Sunday, Haig dispelled those doubts as well.

The first few days were fascinating. I was, like many others, a little underwhelmed with them. But, remarked, they've put any doubts to rest in the last two days, and they've been imposing.

Despite Tadej Pogaar's victories in the previous two races, Haig called the Jumbo-Visma team the "obvious favorite for the Tour de France."

"They have time to go, do more altitude, and then come to the Tour de France, so they're the clear favorites right now. "It will be determined by Pogaar's performance at the Tour of Slovenia. Pagar hasn't been seen in a while. Thus, Primo is the most likely candidate. However, if Pogaar comes out and crushes Slovenia, we'll be in for a real fight.

Haig is aiming for a top-five finish at the Tour.

The Dauphiné was such a big deal that it was easy to overlook Haig's fifth-place finish. Furthermore, Bahrain Victorious demonstrated their depth by placing Damiano Caruso in the fourth position.

Haig stated that he had previously worked for the Italian but had been granted the opportunity to race his race on Sunday, initially leaving his partner behind but eventually meeting him again. in the last kilometer.

Both will compete in the Tour de France next month, where Haig has unfinished business after crashing out on stage 3 last year with a damaged collarbone. He returned to the Tour as a different rider, finishing on the podium of the Vuelta an Espana.

"I'm coming into the Tour; I know I'm not going to be contending for the win, but if I can finish in the top five, I'll be satisfied," he added.

"This year, I adopted a slightly different strategy. Last year, I was in slightly better shape when I arrived at the Dauphiné. This year, I returned to Tenerife for two weeks but trained at a lower level to improve my performance in the Tour. I didn't witness it last year, but maybe I was doing too well coming up to it."