Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 16 route and updates today as riders tackle infamous Mont Ventoux
Tadej Pogacar rampaged through the Pyrenees, winning atop Hautacam on stage 12, then demolishing the field in the time trial on stage 13, and those back-to-back wins have gone some way to ensuring the destiny of the Tour de France title is looking fairly well sewn up.
Now with a rest day in his legs Pogacar's stranglehold over this Tour is likely to continue as the race returns to his favourite terrain, with the 'Giant of Provence' - Mont Ventoux - the star of the show today. It's the only climb on the menu on a 171.5km run from Montpellier to the summit, setting up an intriguing day's racing.
Stage 16 preview
Isolated in the landscape, towering over the Rhone valley and on the periphery of the Alps proper, Mont Ventoux is something of an outlier among the Tour's formidable ascents - but that makes it no less beastly.
15.7km long at an average gradient of 8.8%, reaching 1,910m above sea level, it has long been established in the annals of Tour history and plenty of riders will fancy writing their names into the history books with victory on its summit today.
Flo Clifford22 July 2025 10:04
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3 hours ago
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Jonas Vingegaard's stubbornness shows rivalry has taken its toll
What do you imagine was going through Jonas Vingegaard's head as he climbed the final mountain in this year's Tour de France? He may well have been thinking that if it were not for the rider directly in front of him, he would now be on his way to a fifth consecutive Tour victory. But Tadej Pogacar has always been there, this giant who has beaten Vingegaard down time and time again. The wonder is he keeps getting back up. Vingegaard knows the narrative. On a stage reduced by 30 kilometres because of a cattle disease, Pogacar decided he wanted to win the 19th leg. From the moment they left Albertville, Pogacar's UAE foot soldiers went to the front of the peloton and rode at a tempo that ensures breakaways cannot get much of a lead. UAE's attentiveness tells every rider that the boss has decided. He is going to win at La Plagne. He has won only four stages so far, two less than last year, and time is running out. More than four minutes down on general classification (GC), Vingegaard knows this is a deficit he cannot overturn but damn it, he is not feeling any enthusiasm for another slapping down. Why should he? There's been too many. Laval, Saint Lary Soulan, Luz Ardiden in 2021; La Planche des Belles Filles and Peyragudes in 2022; Cauterets and Le Markstein in 2023; Saint Lary Soulan, Plateau de Belle, Isola 2000, Col e la Couillole and Nice in 2024, Mur de Bretagne, Hautacam and Peyragues in this race. Fifteen in all, these are the Tour stages in which Pogacar has been first, Vingegaard second. Only three times has the result been the other way round. This year, the rivalry has not seemed real. At least not as wondrously balanced as previously. Not to us on the roadside, not to Vingegaard and not to Pogacar himself. Inside the UAE team they have observed the shift. Pogacar does not speak as much about Vingegaard and his Visma-Lease a Bike team as he once did, does not worry about what they are doing in this stage or that stage. Vingegaard senses this and though he would never say so, it stings. It is not that he does not admire the efficiency of the UAE team, the business-like way they reeled in Primoz Roglic who had initiated an early breakaway and, well down on GC, might have expected some latitude from his Slovenian compatriot. As Tim Wellens led the UAE boys up to and then past Roglic, he flicked his right hand in a way that made it seem he was apologising or, at least, saying it was nothing personal. It has been an unrelentingly tough race. Everyone is weary, ready for Paris and the weather turning cooler and rainy has not helped. When they got onto the early slopes of La Plagne, Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez increased the tempo and thinned out the lead group. Ben O'Connor, Lenny Martinez, Victor Campenaerts and Adam Yates were dropped. Like a fighter being gloved up, Vingegaard removed his rain jacket. He was not doing this so that he can be slapped down again by Pogacar. Here, he had a plan. The speed at which Wellens and Narvaez attacked was suicidal. Soon they both dropped away. So did Vingegaard's team-mate, Simon Yates. There are important battles to be fought on this climb. Florian Lipowitz, the German in the Red Bull- Bora-Hangrohe team, has his eyes fixed on Oscar Onley who is directly in front of them. They have both ridden exceptionally for 18 days but the 22-second advantage is with Lipowitz who knows he could not let the Scot out of his sight. Otherwise he would lose his place on the third step of the podium. Felix Gall is also in this select group, knowing that if he and his Decathlon team-mates Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Callum Scotson ride hard, they can make sure Gall stays sixth overall. All this is irrelevant to Vingegaard, who has figured a way to give himself a chance of beating Pogacar. Seven kilometres from the summit, Pogacar attacked. Vingegaard knew this was coming and was onto it, straightaway. Onley went with this acceleration. Pogacar was not surprised that Vingegaard was there but was not pleased that his rival just wanted to sit on his wheel. So he slowed. They all slowed. Lipowitz soon caught up and before the end of the stage, forged ahead of the excellent Onley to secure his third-place finish in the overall standings. Onley should finish fourth, which is an outstanding effort from a 22-year-old. On La Plagne the rider keenest to attack was the Dutch rider with the Ineos Grenadiers, Thymen Arensman. Pogacar countered, Vingegaard followed. They rejoined Arensman and then they all slowed. Arensman tried again, Pogacar made the effort to close him down. Vingegaard follows. His refusal to contribute to the pace-setting irked Pogacar. Arensman sensed the bad vibe and went again. This time Pogacar sat still. Vingegaard is stubborn. If he pulls at the front, Pogacar will probably beat him again. He can take anything but that. Arensman's lead was 25 seconds. Only three kilometres left. Pogacar rode at the front but there was an insouciance in the way he pedalled: if we catch Arensman, fine; if we don't, that's alright too. Pogacar can be the most stubborn man. Vingegaard, though, may be even more stubborn. So he did not move from Pogacar's back wheel. Arensman was 100m ahead of them, one acceleration from Pogacar was all it would take. Pogacar thought that winning this did not matter that much. After the way Vingegaard rode, he preferred Arensman to win. And Vingegaard kept thinking Pogacar would close down Arensman and they would fight it out. Like they always do. But Vingegaard got it wrong. Arensman held by two seconds as Vingegaard outsprinted his great rival to take second place. This is the worst, most useless second place of his career. After they cross the finish line, Vingegaard congratulated Pogacar on a Tour victory that should be confirmed on Sunday evening in Paris. Someone asked Pogacar if he was tired or a little bored coming to the end of this three-week race. 'Oh I'm obviously tired,' he said. 'Also, it's not been easy — people attacking me from left and right from day one to the end. 'The priority is the Yellow Jersey. So yeah, I was counting down the kilometers because, yeah, I was going with my pace and hoping that nobody will attack from behind and that's it.' In the end, victory went to the right man. Arensman attacked and attacked again. He and Pogacar go back a long way. 'I think the first time I really met Tadej or saw Tadej was Tour de l'Avenir in 2018, where we were first and second on GC,' he said. 'And then I already saw he's a really special bike rider, a really big talent. At that moment, I was the first-year U23 or second-year U23, but I didn't really expect that he would be this good. But it was really nice to, as 18 and 19-year-olds in the Tour de l'Avenir, and now here in the Tour de France.' On the torturous ride to La Plagne, Vingegaard had a chance to get a rare victory over his great rival. He just was not prepared to seize it. That is what five years of competing with this guy does to a man.
Auto Blog
6 hours ago
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LISTEN: Genesis fires up its Le Mans Hypercar for the first time
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. View post: The Best Way To Sell Your Exotic Car For The Most Money Crucial Milestone Achieved Genesis Magma Racing on Friday said it had achieved an important milestone in getting its GMR-001 Hypercar onto the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) grid for the 2026 season. On July 9, an engine was installed in the first GMR-001 chassis and successfully fired up, on schedule, and you can listen to it in the video below. Genesis has been running bench tests of the engine, a twin-turbocharged V8 that will be paired with a hybrid system, per WEC Hypercar-class rules, since February. That included running it through its rev range and all seven gears of the transmission, and testing it in combination with the hybrid system. But this is the first time it's run in a car. Strong Partnerships The fire-up took place at chassis builder Oreca's shop in Le Castellet, France, not far from Genesis Magma Racing's home base and the Paul Ricard racetrack. Hypercar rules require teams to base their cars on chassis from one of several constructors, of which Oreca is one. The team also had a soft opening of sorts at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, entering an Oreca 07 in the LMP2 class. That car (which was run by the IDEC Sport team) was driven by three-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer, who has already been confirmed for a Genesis Magma Racing seat, and Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert, who are part of the team's 'Trajectory' program. Genesis claims the V8 engine was designed with lessons learned from parent brand Hyundai's successful World Rally Championship (WRC) program. Cars in the top Rally1 class in which Hyundai competes have 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-fours, so Hyundai's powertrain engineers essentially combined two of those engines to make one V8. Plenty Of Work Ahead Source: Genesis With the engine successfully fired up in a GMR-001 chassis, Genes Magma Racing is now closer to being able to start track testing, which is expected to get underway before the end of the year. 'It's now when we can start physically connecting all the different strands of development work that we've been following for the last year with our powertrain and design teams,' François-Xavier Demaison, the team's technical director, said in a statement. 'The successful GMR-001 fire-up is confirmation of our work so far, but also the start of the next stage of the development that comes with testing.' After debuting it in the 2026 WEC season—including the 24 Hours of Le Mans—Genesis hopes to bring the GMR-001 to North America for the 2027 IMSA sports-car racing series, as IMSA's LMDh ruleset aligns with the WEC's Hypercar rules. All of this racing activity will help promote Genesis' new line of Magma road cars, the first of which will be the GV60 Magma EV. About the Author Stephen Edelstein View Profile
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: Arensman pips Pogacar and Vingegaard to win stage 19 on La Plagne
Update: Date: 2025-07-25T19:04:13.000Z Title: Stage 19 report: Content: Thymen Arensman clinched his second stage win while Tadej Pogacar comfortably defended his GC lead Luke McLaughlin Fri 25 Jul 2025 18.31 CEST First published on Fri 25 Jul 2025 12.30 CEST 6.26pm CEST 18:26 And there you have it. Pogacar keeps his commanding GC lead, Onley looks to have sewn up fourth, which is a remarkable performance over three weeks, and Arensman now has two Tour stage wins to go with his two Vuelta wins from 2022. Jonathan Milan is odds-on to seal the points classification and Florian Lipowitz will be the best young rider. Pogacar tops the KOM classification with 117pts, Vingegaard is second with 104, Martinez third with 97. Arensman, after today's win, went fourth with 85pts. Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon. Updated at 6.31pm CEST 6.25pm CEST 18:25 Pogacar speaks: 'We did a really good job until the last climb. Then some teams, some riders, think they can sprint 19km of the climb. The pace was incredibly high at the start. I was thinking maybe Jonas wanted to win a stage, but then he was just holding on to my wheel. 'Arensman went on a good attack. I decided not to follow, set my rhythm. A defensive rhythm that I feel comfortable with. And yeah, in the end, it was like this. I am just happy it's over, and two more days to Paris. 'I had to pull the whole climb in the end. Of course I came quite tired to the finish line. But also, it was tough, the last three days for me. I'm happy that today is over. We go tomorrow. 'You never know. It's Tour de France. We keep concentrated, and yeah, let's go.' 6.16pm CEST 18:16 1) Milan 352pts 2) Pogacar 272pts 3) Girmay 213pts 4) Vingegaard 182pts 5) Turgis 169pts 6.13pm CEST 18:13 The sprinters have rolled in with five minutes to spare. Hence, Jonathan Milan is looking very good for the points classification. Updated at 6.14pm CEST 6.11pm CEST 18:11 'It's a game,' Gasparotto says of Red Bull-Bora's tactics. 'If you want to win big, you have to risk a little bit, otherwise you don't win big. 'We did a lot of analysis of Lipo's performance [yesterday]. We were quite confident, staying on the wheel of Onley, that Lipo could be superior in the final.' Updated at 6.12pm CEST 6.09pm CEST 18:09 Enrico Gasparotto of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe speaks to Hannah Walker on TNT Sports and is asked about their tactics: 'I would say it was clear yesterday that Primoz really wanted to win a stage. He knew our team goal was to finish on the podium, but for himself, he badly wanted to win a stage. At the end, this is what he did, he tried yesterday … at the end he missed the opportunity. Today was the last opportunity, he wanted to go flat out from the start. For us, for Lipo, it could work also for him. This is what he did. At the end, it's a tactic we agreed on.' Updated at 6.16pm CEST 5.57pm CEST 17:57 Roglic has dropped to eighth in GC, 25min 30sec down on the leader. A spectacular drop after his stage-winning attempts earlier. Updated at 6.02pm CEST 5.50pm CEST 17:50 Arensman, the stage winner, has a chat: 'I'm absolutely destroyed. I can't believe it. To win one stage, from a break … now against the GC group, the strongest riders in the world, it feels like I'm dreaming. I don't know what I just did. 'After the descent to La Plagne, we were talking in the radio … I said to the DS in the radio, today is the last mountain stage, I have no GC to ride for, but I will try to hang on for a few kilometres in the climb, and see how the legs feel. Tobias [Foss], I told him straight away swing off, then tomorrow is your day. 'I started the climb, I thought, I have no GC [aims]: maybe they will look at each other? You know what, I'll just try it. I just don't take no for an answer. 'Everyone knows Tadej and Jonas are the strongest in the world, almost aliens. Then just as a human, I still want to try to beat them. I just can't believe I beat them today. 'I tried to not look behind, just go as fast as I could, and it was enough. It's crazy. I was the first two weeks in the Giro, it was really good for me, the first two weeks, but then I got sick and someone crashed into me, and my knee was hurting a lot. I got to Rome … but to get to the Tour, to get two stage victories. It's just crazy. I don't know!' Updated at 6.18pm CEST 5.44pm CEST 17:44 1) Tadej Pogacar 69hr 41min 46sec 2) Jonas Vingegaard +4min 24sec 3) Florian Lipowitz +11min 09sec 4) Oscar Onley +12min 12sec 5) Felix Gall +17min 12sec 6) Tobias Johannessen +20min 14sec 7) Kevin Vauquelin (+22min 35sec) 8) Primoz Roglic (+25min 30sec) 9) Ben Healy (28 min 02sec) 10) Ben O'Connor (+34min 34sec) So Onley is 1min 03sec behind Lipowitz now. Updated at 5.59pm CEST 5.42pm CEST 17:42 The worst-case scenario for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, after Roglic's kamikaze attack for the stage win, was for Onley to skip away from Lipowitz on the final climb. But ultimately the German was much stronger. Updated at 5.45pm CEST 5.40pm CEST 17:40 1) Thymen Arensman 2hr 46min 06sec 2) Jonas Vingegaard +2sec 3) Tadej Pogacar +2sec 4) Florian Lipowitz +6sec 5) Oscar Onley +47sec 6) Felix Gall +1min 34sec 7) Tobias Johannessen +1min 41sec 8) Ben Healy +2min 19sec 9) Valentin Paret-Peintre +3min 47sec 10) Simon Yates +3min 54sec 5.36pm CEST 17:36 Vingegaard came in second, two seconds behind the winner. 5.35pm CEST 17:35 Now here comes Ben Healy. What a race he's had for EF Education–EasyPost, by the way. Arensman collapses with exhaustion near the finish line. He appears to be weeping with joy. And why not? Updated at 5.35pm CEST 5.34pm CEST 17:34 Pogacar appeared to collide with a member of staff at the line, but it was a minor knock. Onley comes in 45sec behind Arensman. The other three were nothing more than three, four seconds behind the stage winner. 5.33pm CEST 17:33 A second stage win of the race for the Ineos Grenadiers rider. He clings on, but only just. What a brave victory. Updated at 5.45pm CEST 5.32pm CEST 17:32 200m to go: Arensman is going to cling on! 5.31pm CEST 17:31 500m to go: Arensman kicks! He's got six seconds! 5.31pm CEST 17:31 600m to go: Only 8sec for Arensman! 5.30pm CEST 17:30 800m to go: Lipowitz is setting the pace for the chasers. Onley battles on back down the road but he will not get back in touch. 5.30pm CEST 17:30 1km to go: Flamme rouge for Arensman! But he has only 15sec! I think they might just catch him … 5.29pm CEST 17:29 1.3km to go: Lipowitz leads Pogacar. Vingegaard is there, but has again been helpless to make any inroads into Pogacar's lead. 5.28pm CEST 17:28 1.5km to go: Onley is now distanced slightly and Lipowitz, sensing weakness, ups the pace. Onley's chance of the podium looks to be gone unless he can make up time tomorrow or on Sunday. Updated at 8.50pm CEST 5.28pm CEST 17:28 2km to go: Onley is suffering. He drops off the back of Lipowitz's wheel for a few seconds. Pogacar looks happy simply to mark Vingegaard and let Arensman have the stage. 5.27pm CEST 17:27 2.5km to go: It's now or never for Pogacar? And indeed now or never for Onley to try and make up that 22sec. 5.26pm CEST 17:26 3km to go: The crowds are huge and noisy now. Arensman makes his way through a large, screaming group of fans. The group of four, the top four in GC at the Tour de France, follow 19sec later. Is Pogacar happy to let Arensman have the stage win? Updated at 8.51pm CEST 5.24pm CEST 17:24 3.5km to go: Vauquelin is in a group of six, five minutes down on the leaders now. A tough day for the Frenchman who will be overhauled in the GC and certainly be knocked down to eighth, at least. Updated at 8.51pm CEST 5.23pm CEST 17:23 4km to go: Onley sits third wheel. Lipowitz remains glued (not literally) to the 22-year-old Scot's back wheel. 5.22pm CEST 17:22 4.5km to go: It's a 25sec lead for Arensman. Pogacar has clearly upped things a bit behind, but it looks like Arensman has responded. Gall and Johannessen are now alone, third group on the road, having dropped the former yellow jersey-wearer Ben Healy. Updated at 8.51pm CEST 5.20pm CEST 17:20 5km to go: Arensman stands up and dances on his pedals, maintaining a strong rhythm. He still has 24sec. La Plagne's ski chalets dot the sides of the road. Updated at 8.52pm CEST 5.19pm CEST 17:19 5.5km to go: Pogacar continues to control the pace in this group of four. The gap shrinks to 25sec, between them and Arensman. Neither Onley nor Lipowitz look to have the legs to attack at this stage. But of course they are riding their own head-to-head race, like Pogacar and Vingegaard, above them in GC. Updated at 8.52pm CEST 5.17pm CEST 17:17 6km to go: Arensman looks a tiny bit ragged but is still putting plenty of power into the pedals. He knows a second stage win of the race is in reach … But he also knows there is a big threat in yellow back down the road. 5.16pm CEST 17:16 6.5km to go: Pogacar, Vingegaard, Onley, Lipowitz, in that order, in this second group on the road. Arensman, grinding it out up front, has 31sec. 5.15pm CEST 17:15 6.5km to go: Pogacar attacks! Vingegaard follows, and Onley too, and momentarily a gap opens up to Lipowitz! But the German manages to get back on. 5.14pm CEST 17:14 7km to go: Arensman has 35sec. Is Pogacar waiting for the steepest slopes? Is Lipowitz going to try and attack? 5.12pm CEST 17:12 7.5km to go: Vauquelin is over 4min down now and has slipped to eighth in virtual GC. Pogacar rides on at the front of the group, apparently playing at being a domestique. Maybe his own domestique? Updated at 5.13pm CEST 5.11pm CEST 17:11 8km to go: Arensman has 36sec now. He and his team will be starting to dream … Updated at 5.12pm CEST 5.10pm CEST 17:10 8.5km to go: Pogacar sits first wheel in that group of seven now. He looks in total control, barely out of breath. He stands up on the pedals and ups the pace a bit, but it's not a concerted attack. He glances back at his rivals, gauging if they are in pain, calculating if and when to launch the attack that might win him the stage. Updated at 8.53pm CEST 5.08pm CEST 17:08 9km to go: Arensman powers on alone. The pain is etched on his face. But he knows, from recent experience, what it feels like to win a Tour de France stage. And he wants some more of it. Pain is merely temporary, after all. Updated at 5.09pm CEST 5.07pm CEST 17:07 9.5km to go: It's wet on the road. There are lots of fans, although not yet the kind of crowds we've seen on other mountains. Slovenian flags are out in force. 5.06pm CEST 17:06 10km to go: A group of seven now, second on the road, half a minute behind Arensman: Pogacar, Vingegaard, Healy, Lipowitz, Gall, Onley, Johannessen. Roglic has indeed collapsed and is 4min 19sec behind the leaders. Ouch. Updated at 5.06pm CEST 5.04pm CEST 17:04 10.5km to go: Arensman, out front on his own, has 28sec. He won last Saturday so is in flying form: Updated at 5.05pm CEST 5.03pm CEST 17:03 11km to go: Gall, Onley, Lipowitz and co have rejoined 'Pogi' and Vingegaard.
