[themaclad]

Out yesterday watched it on catch up, safe to say it was a tough day for the commentators, as all of sod happened

Italy's Jonathan Milan won stage eight of the Tour de France following a bunch sprint.

Lidl Trek's Milan beat Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike on the flat 171.4km stage into Laval's Espace Mayenne.

Milan, 24, waited patiently in the wheels of Mathieu van der Poel and Kaden Groves, both of Alpecin-Deceuninck, in the final 200 metres before using his immense power to launch himself towards the line - with only Van Aert able to cling on behind.

Australian Groves finished third.

It was a quiet stage for the contenders for the overall leader's yellow jersey, which was retained by defending champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who leads Belgium's Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step by 54 seconds.

Slovenian Pogacar's main rival for yellow, alongside Evenepoel, is two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, who currently sits one minute 17 seconds down in fourth in the general classification.

The fight for the green points jersey - usually won by a sprinter - now sees Milan taking over the lead with 192 points.

Pogacar is second on 156, after the 26-year-old's points success in his two stage victories so far.

Last year's green jersey winner Biniam Girmay of Eritrea is third on 124 points.

"I still don't understand what we did," said Milan afterwards. "There were expectations, dreams to bring it home.

"I was confident with the team. It was a bit stressful - I knew I had to wait as long as I could. We really deserve it."

After what was quiet stage, until the sprint, in 30C (86F) heat, save for a few crashes on the way, the three-week race will finally begin to move south with stage nine's flat 174km sprint from Chinon to Chateauroux.

Chateauroux is unofficially known as 'Cavendish City' after Mark Cavendish's three wins there during his record-breaking career in which the sprinter won 35 Tour de France stages - the final one being last year before retiring.


Stage eight results

Jonathan Milan (Ita/Lidl-Trek) 3hrs 50mins 26secs

Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) Same time

Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel-Premier Tech)

Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto)

Tobias Lund Andresen (Den/Picnic-PostNL)

Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis)

Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro-cycling)

Vincenzo Albanese (Ita/EF Education-EasyPost)

Stian Fredheim (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)

General classification after stage eight

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 25hrs 58mins 4secs

Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +54secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1min 11secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 17secs

Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 29secs

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 34secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +2mins 49secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 2secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 6secs

Mattias Skjelmose (Den) +3mins 43secs

[themaclad]

A sprinter's finish won by Tim Merlier however the two heroes were Van Der Poel and his team mate Rickaert who launched a two man break, 170 kms from the finish, at one time they had a five minute lead which would have put Van Der Poel in the yellow jersey.
On and on they went, when it started to dawn on the main bunch that these two could actually win the stage. The lead was whittled down and with five kms to go Rickaert ran out of gas, alone Van Der Poel was gradually reeled in until cruely with 700 metres to go he was caught. Shame deserved glory.
Today is Bastille Day, followed by the first rest day, expect fireworks on France's National Day expect plenty of cake will be eaten and peasants may be executed

[themaclad]

Pogacar could have easily stayed in yellow, but lent the jersey to Healy

Britain's Simon Yates won stage 10 of the Tour de France on Bastille Day as Ben Healy became the first Irish rider to claim the yellow jersey for 38 years.

Yates, who triumphed in his second Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia in June, timed his attack superbly on the final ascent of the 165.3km stage from Ennezat - Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy after being part of a long-range breakaway.

That group of 28 riders was whittled down significantly on a punishing day through the Massif Central that contained eight categorised climbs, with the Visma-Lease a Bike rider pulling clear of Thymen Arensman, Healy, Ben O'Connor, Michael Storer and fellow Briton Joe Blackmore in the closing stages.

"It was a really hard start to be there with a lot of strong guys and that's why I took that advantage just before the final climb because I was looking for a head start," Yates said.

"It's been a long time. I was not really expecting any opportunities here. We came here fully focused on Jonas and the GC.

"The stage played out in a way that I could be there and I took it with both hands. It's not easy. I have been getting better every day since I have been here. I have been growing into the race."

Ineos Grenadiers' Dutch climber Arensman finished second, with Healy, who was born in the West Midlands, coming home in third and jumping to the top of the general classification, 29 seconds ahead of defending champion Tadej Pogacar.

Belgian Remco Evenepoel sits third, one minute further back, after losing six seconds in the closing kilometres when Pogacar accelerated and only Jonas Vingegaard was able to hold his wheel from a group containing several GC favourites.

The Dane is fourth in the overall standings, one minute and 46 seconds adrift of Healy, who had already triumphed on stage six and will become the first Irishman to wear the maillot jaune since Stephen Roche won the race in 1987.

"It was insanely tough. It was a battle against myself and I had to dig in deep and my team-mates put in so much work for me that I really wanted to pay them back," Healy said.

"How often do you get an opportunity to put yourself into yellow? I had to take that with two hands and go for it."

There will be a rest day on Tuesday before racing resumes on Wednesday with a 156.8km route around Toulouse that is expected to end in a bunch sprint.

The first big day in the Pyrenees arrives on Thursday with a trip up to the ski resort at Hautacam.

Stage 10 results
1. Simon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike)

2. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +9secs

3. Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +31secs

4. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Jayco AlUla) +49secs

5. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling) +1min 23secs

6. Joe Blackmore (GB/Israel - Premier Tech) +3mins 57secs

7. Anders Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +4mins 38secs

8. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain-Victorious) +4mins 51secs

9. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) Same time

10. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) "

General classification after stage 10
1. Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) 37hrs 41mins 49secs

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +29secs

3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +1min 29secs

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 46secs

5. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 6secs

6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2mins 26secs

7. Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +3mins 24secs

8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull - Bora-hansgrohe) +3mins 34secs

9. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull - Bora- hansgrohe +3mins 41secs

10. Anders Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +5mins 3secs

[themaclad]

Sportsmanship on show today, could quite have easilt gone on and took advantage of Tad's fall, but since it was someone else's mistake, they didn't take advantage

Tadej Pogacar was allowed to recover from a late crash on stage 11 of the Tour de France as Jonas Abrahamsen held on for his first Tour win.

As Mathieu van der Poel chased down Abrahamsen and Mauro Schmid during the final 5km in Toulouse, Pogacar went down in the peloton, which was three minutes behind.

But the reigning champion swiftly got back on his bike - and his main rivals for the overall victory eased up to let him rejoin the group.

Meanwhile, Abrahamsen edged out Schmid in a two-up sprint to the line, with Van der Poel crossing seven seconds later having left his charge too late.

Ireland's Ben Healy still leads Pogacar by 29 seconds in the general classification (GC) having taken the yellow jersey from the three-time winner after stage 10.

Abrahamsen is competing in his third Tour at 29 and spent the first 10 days of last year's race in the polka dot jersey, worn by the mountain points leader.

But this was a first stage win on the Tour for Abrahamsen and his Uno-X Mobility team, and came just four weeks after the Norwegian rider broke his collarbone in the Tour of Belgium.

"I was crying in the hospital because I thought I wouldn't ride in the Tour de France," he said.

"Every day I did everything I could to come back and now I'm sat here with a Tour de France stage win. It's amazing. It was my dream to win a Tour stage so it's so nice."

Pogacar was unharmed after his crash 4km from the finish of Wednesday's flat 156km stage, which began and ended in Toulouse.

The Slovenian fell after hitting the back wheel of another rider and slid across several metres of road before struggling to put his chain back on.

It looked as though he would lose 30 to 40 seconds but his main GC rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel sportingly waited for him to catch up.

After this year's first rest day, it was a dramatic resumption for the Tour, with Abrahamsen and Schmid attacking from the outset to establish themselves in a long-range breakaway.

The stage began at a rapid pace, averaging 52km over the first hour, and splits repeatedly formed in the peloton while a chase group tried to reel in a five-man breakaway, which included British rider Fred Wright.

Wednesday also featured five categorised climbs, with two in the final 14km, when Van der Poel attacked out of the five chasers to close the gap.

Although the Dutch rider wore the yellow jersey earlier in the race, he is now out of GC contention and ultimately fell just short of claiming his second stage win this year.

As Abrahamsen and Schmid sprinted for the stage win, a protester ran on to the course about 50 metres from the line before being restrained by a security officer.

The protestor wore a T-shirt that read 'Israel out of the Tour'. There are no Israeli riders competing but there is one Israeli team, Israel-Premier Tech.

The race heads into the Pyrenees on Thursday for a 180.6km mountain route from Auch to this year's first summit finish at Hautacam.


Stage 11 results
Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) 3hrs 15mins 56secs

Mauro Schmid (Swi/Jayco AlUla) Same time

Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +7secs

Arnaud De Lie (Bel/Lotto) +53secs

Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) Same time

Axel Laurance (Fra/Ineos Grenadiers)

Fred Wright (GB/Bahrain Victorious)

Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra/TotalEnergies)

Quinn Simmons (US/Lidl-Trek)

Davide Ballerini (Ita/XDS Astana) 1min 11secs

General classification after stage 11
Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) 41hrs 1min 13secs

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +29secs

Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +1min 29secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 46secs

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 6secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2mins 26secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +3mins 24secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull - Bora-hansgrohe) +3mins 34secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull - Bora- hansgrohe +3mins 41secs

Anders Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +5mins 3secs

[themaclad]

Hazard a guess Pogacar has just won the Tour

[themaclad]

Tadej Pogacar regained the overall lead of the Tour de France as he stormed up the Hautacam climb to win stage 12.

Jonas Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike team were expected to attack the reigning champion on the first true mountain stage of this year's Tour, which ended with the first summit finish.

Pogacar was also sporting dressings on his left arm after falling at the end of Wednesday's stage, but the Slovenian showed no ill effects as he attacked on the gruelling final climb.

The three-time Tour winner went clear early on the 13.5km ascent and continued to stretch his lead, winning the stage by two minutes 10 seconds from Vingegaard.

That meant he reclaimed the yellow jersey from Ben Healy and more than doubled his time advantage over Vingegaard, his main rival for the general classification, who is now 3 mins 31 secs behind.

Remco Evenepoel struggled on the final climbs but did enough to prevent Florian Lipowitz moving into third place overall, while British rider Oscar Onley, 22, climbed to sixth after crossing fifth on the day.

It was on this climb that Vingegaard struck the decisive blow on the 2022 Tour, taking a minute out of Pogacar as the Dane won stage 18 en route to clinching his first Tour title.

"I was trying with my head through the wall to get back the yellow jersey [in 2022] but Visma was too strong back then," said Pogacar, 26.

"I almost forgot about that. I was just looking forward to today, then all the people, all the time were, coming to me saying 'oh yeah, this is the revenge time', blah blah blah.

"Then when we approached the bottom of the climb it was the reverse story of a few years ago. One Belgian guy again on the front, Tim [Wellens], and our team. I'm super happy to take time [out of Vingegaard] and win on this climb."

The race moved into the Pyrenees on Thursday, with the Hautacam being the first hors categorie climb of this year's Tour.

Wellens and UAE Emirates-XRG team-mates Jhonatan Narvaez and Adam Yates were all at the front of the peloton to help Pogacar launch the attack that saw him overtake local rider Bruno Armirail, who led going into the final climb, and leave behind his GC rivals.

Pogacar dedicated his third stage win on this year's Tour - and his 20th overall - to Samuele Privitera, the 19-year-old Italian development rider who died after a crash at the Giro della Valle d'Aosta on Wednesday.

Evenepoel recovered from being dropped on the earlier Col du Soulor climb to reduce the damage on the 180.6km stage from Auch.

The Belgian, who finished third behind Pogacar and Vingegaard on his Tour debut last year, is now more than four minutes down but will hope to cut the gap on Friday's time trial having won the first time trial of this year's Tour.

Healy also struggled in the Pyrenees heat, which reached 34C, and the Irish breakaway specialist lost more than 13 minutes to slip back down to 11th in
Stage 12 results
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 4hrs 21mins 19secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 10secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2mins 23secs

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +3mins

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) Same time

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +3mins 33secs

Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +3mins 35secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +4mins 2secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 8secs

Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +7mins 26 secs

General classification after stage 12
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 45hrs 22mins 51secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +3mins 31secs

Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +4mins 45secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +5mins 34secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +5mins 40secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +6mins 5secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +7mins 30secs

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +7mins 44secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +9mins 21secs

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +12mins 12secs

[themaclad]

Tadej Pogacar once again asserted his dominance of the Tour de France as he claimed his fourth stage win of this year's edition on Friday.

The reigning champion, who regained the overall lead by winning stage 12 on Thursday, produced another commanding ride to win the mountain time trail on stage 13.

The Slovenian, 26, completed the 10.9km route from Loudenvielle to the Peyragudes airfield in the Pyrenees in exactly 23 minutes.

That was 36 seconds faster than his main rival Jonas Vingegaard and he has increased his overall lead to four minutes seven seconds.

World and Olympic time-trial champion Remco Evenepoel, who started the day third in the general classification, won the other time trial on this year's Tour.

But the Belgian was already struggling when he was distracted by a minor mechanical issue, with Vingegaard passing him on the steep final climb.

Despite going 2mins 39secs slower than Pogacar, Evenepoel held on to third in the GC standings, although he now trails the defending champion by well over seven minutes.

Primoz Roglic was third on the day while British youngster Oscar Onley gained 29 seconds on Kevin Vauquelin to leapfrog the Frenchman into fifth overall.

Pogacar won six stages as he reclaimed the Tour title from two-time winner Vingegaard last year and is now up to 21 in total.

He is now sixth on the all-time list, with Sir Mark Cavendish having set the record of 35 last year, and there are still eight stages remaining on this year's edition.

"I'm super happy," said Pogacar. "This time trial was quite a big question mark already in December for me. I wanted everything to be perfect.

"I was really targeting to go from start to finish all out and tried to smash it as much as possible on the pedals.

"I almost blew up in the end but I saw the timer at the top and it gave me an extra push because I saw that I was going to win."

Australian time-trial champion Luke Plapp set an early benchmark and his time stood for most of the day as riders struggled on the punishing finish.

The 8km climb to the line had an average gradient of 7.8% but the final 300m were 16%.

The riders were sent off at two-minute intervals, and after shipping 2mins 10secs to Pogacar on Thursday, Vingegaard managed to catch Evenepoel 50m from the line.

"Yesterday was probably one of my worst performances but today was one of my best so it's nice to come back like this," said the Dane.

Vingegaard and Evenepoel were among a handful of riders that chose to go with adapted time-trial bikes but Pogacar, who opted for a road bike, was quickest at each of the two time-checks before powering up the final section.

After a gruelling mountain stage on Thursday, the peloton is set for another on Saturday along a 182.6km route from Pau to a summit finish at Luchon-Superbagneres.

Stage 13 results
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 23mins

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +36secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), +1min 20secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 56secs

Luke Plapp (Aus/Jayco AlUla) +1min 58secs

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +2mins 3secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +2mins 6secs

Adam Yates (GB/UAE Emirates-XRG) +2mins 15secs

Lenny Martinez (Fra/Bahrain Victorious) +2mins 21secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +2mins 22secs

General classification after stage 13
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 45hrs 45mins 51secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 7secs

Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +7mins 24secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +7mins 30secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +8mins 11secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +8mins 15secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +8mins 50secs

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +10mins 36secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +11mins 43secs

Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +14mins 15secs

[themaclad]

Remco Evenepoel was forced to abandon this year's Tour de France as Thymen Arensman claimed his maiden stage win.

Tadej Pogacar marginally extended his commanding overall lead over Jonas Vingegaard as the reigning champion finished second on a gruelling mountain stage, with Vingegaard third.

But Evenepoel, who was third in the general classification coming into a third punishing day in the Pyrenees, is now out of the race.

The double Olympic champion faltered on the first of four climbs on the 182.6km stage from Pau and had to withdraw, midway through the ascent of the mighty Col du Tourmalet.

"I didn't have the best preparation coming into the Tour," said the Soudal Quick-Step rider. "But I did everything I could to be in the best possible shape.

"Sadly, I just wasn't at 110%, which is what you need at the Tour de France to fight for the general classification."

German debutant Florian Lipowitz, 24, finished fifth on the day and climbed into the final GC podium place, and although British rider Oscar Onley lost time to Lipowitz, the 22-year-old Scot still moved up one place to fourth overall.

Dutch debutant Arensman reached the summit finish at the ski resort of Luchon-Superbagneres just over a minute before Pogacar for the 25-year-old's first stage win and a first on this year's Tour for British team Ineos Grenadiers.

"I can't really believe it," said Arensman. "Going to my first Tour, I just wanted to experience everything.

"I had to be really patient the first week because it was really bunchy so I had to wait until the mountains, and then the first opportunity I got I was second on Le Mont-Dore [on stage 10].

"It was already an amazing experience on my first Tour but this is unbelievable."

Why was Evenepoel forced to withdraw?
Evenepoel finished third on his Tour debut last year and was again in a podium position, as well as wearing the white jersey for best young rider.

But the 25-year-old had struggled over the past two days, losing more than six minutes to Pogacar on the previous two stages alone, and he was soon in trouble on the day's first climb.

He said: "For three days already, I wasn't feeling good and today in the morning I could feel I was empty, and then on the climb the legs just weren't there. It's a pity I had to retire but it's not something that will change my relationship with the race."

Soudal Quick-Step's sports director Tom Steels believes it was the right call for Evenepoel to withdraw from the race.

"He was very disappointed that he had to leave the Tour," said Steels.

"He was world champion on the road (in 2022), world champion in time trial (2023 and 2024).

"I think that's his next goal to aim at. If he continued in the condition he had then maybe the rest of the season is lost."


Thymen Arensman has competed in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana nine times but this is his first Tour de France

On the day's third climb, TV footage showed that an Ineos team car hit and knocked down a spectator as the crowds thronged the road up the Col de Peyresourde.

The team has been approached for comment.

It was early on that penultimate climb that Arensman, his Ineos team-mate Carlos Rodriguez and Tobias Johannessen caught Lenny Martinez, who was first over the opening two climbs.

Arensman stretched his lead over the yellow jersey group to more than three minutes heading into the final 20km and did enough to stay clear on the 12.4km climb to the finish.

"It was also the way I did it," said Arensman. "Carlos was in that [lead] group and was also super strong. He did a really good job for me but yeah, I think I just had amazing legs.

"I had a gap on the GC group and I thought three and a half minutes probably isn't enough, I have to move.

"I can't believe I held them off. I was really fading on the second half of the last climb, but I think all the spectators gave me a few more watts."

There will be a hilly 169.3km stage from Muret to Carcassonne on Sunday, before the second rest day of this year's Tour.


Stage 14 results
Thymen Arensman (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) 4hrs 53mins 35secs

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) +1min 8secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 12secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +1min 19secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 25secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +2mins 9secs

Ben Healy (Ire/EasyPost) +2mins 46secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) +2mins 46secs

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Motibility) +2mins 59secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +3mins 8secs

General classification after stage 14
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 50hrs 40mins 28secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 23secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +7mins 53secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +9mins 18secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +10mins 21secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +10mins 34secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +12mins

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +12mins 33secs

Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +18mins 41secs

Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +22mins 57secs

Related topics

[themaclad]

Belgian champion Tim Wellens claimed his first Tour de France stage victory with a breakaway win on stage 15.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider has worked for race leader Tadej Pogacar in the opening two weeks of the Tour but, freed from his domestique duties for the day, attacked on the final climb of the hilly 169.3km ride from Muret to Carcassonne.

The 34-year-old ultimately won by one minute 28 seconds, with fellow Belgian Victor Campenaerts second and French two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe third.

Pogacar crossed six minutes later in the peloton to maintain his lead of four minutes 13 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard in the general classification.

Wellens' victory was is a fifth stage win for UAE during this year's race, with reigning champion Pogacar claiming the other four.

"It is a very special victory," said Wellens. "Everybody knows the Tour de France but not many people win in the Tour de France, so it was very beautiful."

After three gruelling days in the Pyrenees mountains, the 166 remaining riders faced a transitional stage before the second and final rest day of this year's Tour in Montpellier.

The stage looked set for a breakaway win and Wellens sensed his opportunity on the last of the three categorised climbs, up the Pas du Sant 55km from the line.

Wellens emerged from a lead group of eight on the ascent, along with Michael Storer, Quinn Simmons and Campeanaerts.

The group briefly reformed on the long descent to Carcassone but, moments later, Wellens attacked with 44km to go and the chasers never looked like closing the gap.

"I felt super good," Wellens added. "On the last climb of the day I felt really good. I knew the others felt really good but I knew I had to go solo. At the top of the climb I found my moment and I felt I had the legs to keep it to the end.

"I knew I had to enjoy the moment and kept riding until the finish line because I wanted a big gap to enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish - but I was so happy I forgot to do it."

Three-time Tour winner Pogacar added: "I am more happy for him than when I win. Beyond happiness."

The race resumes on Tuesday with a 171.5km ride from Montpellier and ending with a mammoth climb up Mont Ventoux.

Pogacar said: "This week was one of the hardest second weeks of the Tour that I have ridden because of the terrain, the time trial on the climb [on Friday] and yesterday with 5,000m of elevation [gain].

"The gap is now big but we still have big mountains to come. We need to fight until the end."

Stage 15 results
Tim Willens (Bel/UAE Emirates XRG) 3hrs 34mins 9secs

Victor Campenaerts (Bel/Visma-Lease a bike) +1min 28secs

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Tudor) +1min 36secs

Wout Van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a bike) Same time

Axel Laurance (Fra/Ineos Grenadiers)

Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

Jasper Stuyven (Bel/Lidl-Trek)

Jordan Jegat (Fra/TotalEnergies)

Michael Valgren (Den/EF Education-EasyPost)

Valentin Madouas (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)

General classification after stage 15
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 54hrs 20mins 44secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 13secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +7mins 53secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +9mins 18secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +10mins 21secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +10mins 34secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +12mins

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +12mins 33secs

Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +18mins 26secs

Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +18mins 41secs

[themaclad]

Valentin Paret-Peintre produced a late sprint to get past Ben Healy and claim a stunning win on stage 16 of the Tour de France.

After a thrilling battle up the Mont Ventoux, Healy looked set to claim his second win of this year's Tour as he led going round the final bend.

But Paret-Peintre, 24, fought back on the summit finish to deny the Irishman a famous victory on what is one of the Tour's most iconic climbs.

Jonas Vingegaard repeatedly attacked Tadej Pogacar on the climb but finished sixth fractionally after the Slovenian, meaning the reigning champion increased his overall lead - which is more than four minutes - by two seconds.

Healy's late effort was enough for the 24-year-old EF Education-EasyPost rider, who claimed his first Tour win on stage six and spent two days in the yellow jersey, to leapfrog Carlos Rodriguez to ninth overall.

British rider Oscar Onley, 22, fell away from the yellow jersey group on the climb and lost some time to Florian Lipowitz and Primoz Roglic, who are now either side of the fourth-placed Scot in the general classification standings.

It was a first Tour win for Paret-Peintre, who is the first Frenchman to claim a stage on this year's Tour and the third Soudal Quick-Step rider to win, after Tim Merlier (two) and Remco Evenepoel.

He said: "How I won that stage is hard to say. I was thinking 'maybe I can win today, maybe I'm the best climber in this breakaway'.

"I asked my team-mates to make a good pace at the bottom and I tried so many times to drop Healy but he was very strong and at the end, I was just waiting for the sprint."

Evenepoel was forced to abandon the race during stage 14 and there was another high-profile withdrawal before Tuesday's stage, with former yellow jersey holder Mathieu van der Poel unable to start after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

After Monday's rest day, the race resumed with a 171.5km stage from Montpellier that was flat until reaching the foot of Mont Ventoux.

Ben Healy and Valentin Paret-Peintre sprint to the finish of stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,
This was the 11th time a stage has finished on Mont Ventoux

There was a six-man breakaway as the riders began climbing, with the peloton more than six minutes adrift, and Enric Mas went clear of Julian Alaphilippe and Thymen Arensman.

Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike team-mates took turns to push the pace in the peloton and, with Pogacar getting isolated from his team-mates early in the climb, Vingegaard launched three attacks, but each time the three-time Tour winner stayed on the Dane's wheel.

Up the road, Healy and Paret-Peintre managed to catch Mas about 3.5km from the line and the trio got engaged in a tactical stalemate, allowing Santiago Buitrago to join them and set up a gripping final 2km.

After Mas faded, Ilan van Wilder suddenly charged into the lead inside the final kilometre and signalled for team-mate Paret-Peintre to follow.

And although Healy kicked first in the final 250m, Paret-Peintre had enough left in the tank to snatch victory.

Pogacar mounted one late attack and, although Vingegaard stuck to his wheel, the Slovenian then managed to sprint to the line to gain two seconds on the two-time Tour winner.

Merlier could go for a third stage win on Wednesday, as the race continues with a 160.4km flat stage from Bollene to Valence.

Stage 16 as it happened - Paret-Peintre denies Healy on Mont Ventoux
Tour de France 2025 - stage guide and results
Published
20 hours ago
Stage 16 results
Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra/Soudal Quick-Step) 4hrs 3mins 19secs

Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) Same time

Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain Victorious) +4secs

Ilan van Wilder (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +14secs

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG), +43secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +45secs

Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +53secs

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Tudor) +1min 17secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 51secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 53secs

General classification after stage 16
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 58hrs 24mins 46secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +4mins 15secs

Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +9mins 3secs

Oscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +11mins 4secs

Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +11mins 42secs

Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) +13mins 20secs

Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +14mins 50secs

Tobias Johannessen (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +17mins 1sec

Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +17mins 52secs

Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +20mins 45secs