At the finish line of the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné, on the Plateau de Solaison, riders leaned on the handlebars, sat on the barriers, and begged Soinier for water. The riders were overwhelmed by Jumbo Visma, and it took them a while to recover.

When they did return, the general consensus was that they were, in effect, riding another race.

Primoš Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard abandoned all their other companions midway up the category-like final climb and crossed the finish line arm in arm to complete a one-two in the stage and overall.

"Whatever they were doing in the Sierra Nevada, it paid off," Jack Hague of Burleen Victorious told reporters.

"They set a vicious pace at the start with Steven Kruijswijk, and Jonas and Primosch said, 'See you again' and 'Let's catch up at the top.'"

While Haig's comments could be interpreted as sarcasm, the Australian did not seem to have any malicious intent and could only congratulate his rivals.

"Very impressive, and all I can say is well done."

There were some doubts surrounding Jumbo Visma heading into the final mountain weekend of the Dauphiné. Wout Van Aert had won two stages and was three stages away from victory.

At times, however, they appeared to be sluggish, and the condition of Roglic, who had recently injured his knee, was a mystery. This suspicion was shared within the peloton, with Tao Geoghegan Hart noting that Roglic was running "differently than usual" and drifting back in the pack.

Hague also shared those doubts, but they blew over on Sunday.

"To be honest, the first couple of days were a lot of fun. Like many people, I was a little "hmmm" about them. But over the last two days, they have put all doubts to rest and really impressed me."

Haig even described the Jumbo-Visma duo as the "favorites" to win the Tour de France, despite the fact that Tadej Pogachar had won the last two times.

"They still have time and will come to the Tour de France with more altitude.

"It all depends on how Pogachar does in the Tour of Slovenia. We haven't seen Pogachar for a while, so Primoš is probably the favorite. But if Pogachar can put up a run that destroys Slovenia, we could have a really good fight."

The Dauphiné was truly a jumbo show, so much so that one loses sight of the fact that Haig finished fifth overall. In addition, Bahrain Victorious showed its depth with Damiano Caruso's fourth-place finish.

Haig explained that he had worked for the Italians in the previous stage, but was given the freedom to race his own race on Sunday.

The two will both head to next month's Tour de France, where Hague crashed on stage 3 last year with a broken collarbone. He will return to the Tour as a different man, having made the podium at the Vuelta a España.

"Going into the Tour, I'm realistic and I'm not going to be a contender for the win.

"I took a slightly different approach this year. Last year I came to the Dauphiné in a bit better condition. This year I went to Tenerife for two weeks again, but I wanted to get in shape for the Tour, so I did some easy training in terms of intensity. Last year I couldn't see it, but I was probably in too good shape for the Tour."