logo
Tour de France 2025: stage 11 updates as race resumes around Toulouse

Tour de France 2025: stage 11 updates as race resumes around Toulouse

The Guardian5 days ago
Update:
Date: 2025-07-16T10:36:35.000Z
Title: Stage 11: Toulouse to Toulouse, 156km
Content: Here's a look at today's stage, Wednesday 16 July: Toulouse to Toulouse, 156.8km, with William Fotheringham's preview:
This could go either of three ways: full bunch sprint, reduced bunch sprint, or break. The finale with its series of little hills might burn off a fast man or two, and will certainly make a coordinated chase difficult. This could be the last full bunch sprint of the Tour, so let's plump for Philipsen; if the break goes and the sprinters' teams tire in the finale the wily Dane Magnus Cort is a good bet.
The preview was written before the Tour, so Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won't be in the mix today after having to withdaw from the race on stage three.
Update:
Date: 2025-07-16T10:30:52.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: After a rest day on Tuesday, the Tour riders are back for stage 11: a 156.8km loop, starting and ending in Toulouse. It's classified as a flat stage with 1,750m of elevation gain, but there are a few bumps for the peloton to navigate: four category four climbs and a category three climb at the end.
Sprinters such as, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) will be eyeing up this stage, which could very well end in a bunch sprint. However, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has speed and strength that could come in handy for a flat stage with some lumps. It'll also be interesting to see what Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) does, wearing the yellow jersey that he grabbed off Tadej Pogačar's (UAE Team Emirates XRG) shoulders on stage 10. As always, I'd love to get your thoughts, so please email via the link above.
Before the action starts at 1.15pm CEST (12.15pm BST), here's a reminder of how stage 10 played out:
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘I'm awkward… I don't fit the mould' – James Wade slams darts chiefs and says he's ‘crushed' by Premier League snub
‘I'm awkward… I don't fit the mould' – James Wade slams darts chiefs and says he's ‘crushed' by Premier League snub

The Sun

time23 minutes ago

  • The Sun

‘I'm awkward… I don't fit the mould' – James Wade slams darts chiefs and says he's ‘crushed' by Premier League snub

JAMES WADE says he feels 'like a lemon' being left out of the Premier League, but will keep working hard to be part of it. 'The Machine' recently moved up three places in the Professional Darts Corporation's Order of Merit to No.5, meaning he is one spot away from being automatically included in next year's Premier League with the rest of the top four. 3 3 3 The 2009 Premier League winner hasn't competed in the tournament since the 2022 edition, which saw him finish third. Fellow Englishman Stephen Bunting is currently fourth in the PDC rankings, and after a strong first round showing at the World Matchplay by beating Joe Cullen 10-3 while averaging 104.44, Wade's form suggests he could push to overtake him. However, 'exhausted' Wade has joked the PDC would 'change the qualification gaps' to stop him playing in the Premier League. He said: "I think I've paid enough dues, and I think I've done enough things, and I think I've given enough of my life to the PDC that I'd like to get those rewards. "But I don't think that'd ever happen to me. I think if I was to get back into the top four things would change with the qualification gaps. "I just think it would change. I'm not what they need and I'm not probably what they want, but I want to be there a hundred percent.' After the top four automatically qualify, the rest of the players are selected by Sky Sports and the PDC and assessed on marketability and popularity. And Wade puts him being left out for the last three years on him being 'awkward.' BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Asked for his theory on his exclusion, he said: 'Because I'm awkward. I'm an awkward character. I probably don't say the right things at the right times. "If I was great at saying the right things at the right time, I probably would've been in all the World Series the last 12 months. But I don't quite fit into that mould. "There's other players that do manage to get those things and unfortunately, I don't. I'd love to travel the world. I've been doing it for 25 years. "Do you not think I want to travel the world? Do you not think I want to represent the PDC? Do you not think I want my children and my wife to see me do great things? 'If anything, it crushes me. It crushes me. Why wouldn't it crush me? I'm perhaps not getting what I maybe could have got. So, it's exhausting not to be in that. "But I'll keep trying as hard as I can. I want to be in it all. I want to be part of it all. Of course, I do because when you're not in it, you feel like a lemon.' Wade next faces Wessel Nijman in round two in Blackpool.

FIFA's Infantino offers support to England's Carter over racist abuse
FIFA's Infantino offers support to England's Carter over racist abuse

Reuters

time23 minutes ago

  • Reuters

FIFA's Infantino offers support to England's Carter over racist abuse

ZURICH, July 21 (Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino offered the governing body's support to England defender Jess Carter after she revealed she has been the target of racist abuse during Euro 2025. Carter, who is Black, on Sunday announced she is stepping away from social media for the duration of the tournament. The 27-year-old has started all four of England's games, but struggled in their quarter-final win over Sweden on Thursday as the Lionesses conceded two first-half goals. Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham condemned the abuse, and said the FA has been in contact with UK police, who are in touch with the relevant social media platform, to "ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice". "We stand with Jess. We stand with every player and every individual who has suffered from racist abuse. No player should be discriminated against in any way, they should be free to be at their very best on the pitch," Infantino said in a statement. "In this instance, we will be offering our support with any further action required, as well as sharing data for appropriate action to be taken against any perpetrators." European soccer's governing body UEFA, Carter's club Gotham FC, the National Women's Soccer League, and the Lionesses all also posted statements in support of the player. Carter's teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy said in an Instagram post that she planned to come off social media as well. FIFA and global players' union FIFPRO reported that one in five players at the 2023 Women's World Cup were targets of online abuse. They found 152 players out of the 697 whose accounts were actively monitored through the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) designed by FIFA and FIFPRO received targeted discriminatory, abusive or threatening messages. Players at the women's tournament were 29% more likely to be targeted for online abuse than players at the 2022 men's World Cup. The SMPS tool was launched at the 2022 World Cup to help moderate hate speech on social media and hide harmful content. It was made available to all 211 member associations and their teams last year. England forward Lauren James has been the target for online abuse, and told reporters recently that "the abuse never really stops. I'm used to it now so I kind of just brush it off my shoulder". British tennis player Katie Boulter said last month that she had received death threats to herself and members of her family after matches.

How Ekitike shows Slot shift towards Klopp tactics
How Ekitike shows Slot shift towards Klopp tactics

BBC News

time23 minutes ago

  • BBC News

How Ekitike shows Slot shift towards Klopp tactics

Arne Slot's summer reshuffle was already the most significant by a reigning Premier League champion in the competition's Wirtz's arrival points to a reconstruction of the Liverpool midfield. Deals for Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez mark the end of the celebrated full-back pairing of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. But the expected arrival of Hugo Ekitike is the final flourish that makes it practically a full-scale is not Jurgen Klopp's team any yet, as the Bundesliga stars file in, it curiously looks as though Slot is taking Liverpool on a journey back towards his predecessor's ideas. Before we consider how and why Ekitike will have an impact on Slot's tactics, it's worth looking at the headline numbers to show why Liverpool are prepared to spend £69m, with £10m in add-ons, on the scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in 31 Bundesliga games last season, totalling the fifth-most goal involvements in the division. He was also involved in the fifth-most 'attacking sequences' in the Bundesliga. That can be interpreted as showing the quality of Ekitike's all-round game, whether holding up the ball, running into channels, or bursting in that respect – in most respects, in fact – he is very similar to Alexander Isak, albeit with considerably more flair to his game and a penchant for taking players on in the is particularly adept at setting up team-mates, too, creating more chances form open play (44) in 2024-25 than any other Bundesliga only slight concern is that Ekitike is a little raw in front of goal. He took 117 shots in the Bundesliga last season, more than anyone else, but converted a disappointing 12.8%, leading to an xG under-performance of 6.6 goals – a bigger gap than any other player in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues. But that just means Ekitike needs a little tuning worth nothing that when Isak was the same age, playing for Real Sociedad in 2021-22, he scored just six goals in 32 league games, under-performed his xG by 3.8, and converted just 8.2% of his shots. In an era when utilising attacking transitions are of increasing importance, Ekitike's smart assists, his give-and-go moves, and his line-breaking carries into the final third are all hallmarks of the elite modern number a case in point, he topped the 2024-25 Bundesliga charts for shot-ending carries (44) and ranked fifth for attempted dribbles (126), while also scoring more goals from fast breaks (4) than anyone else in the why Ekitike's expected arrival represents such an interesting shift for his debut year, Slot tamed the wilder aspects of Klopp's football to create a slower, calmer Liverpool, living up to widely held expectations of a manager who once described Pep Guardiola teams as the "ultimate joy in football".But Ekitike represents a shift back the other way, perhaps reflecting a similar realisation to the one that recently struck Guardiola."Modern football is not positional," Guardiola told TNT Sports a few month ago, not long after signing a direct and transition-centric forward in Omar Marmoush, Ekitike's striker partner at the time. "You have to ride the rhythm."Slot, too, appears to be making concessions to the way modern Premier League football is changing. It's telling that Ekitike will arrive in the same summer as another Bundesliga star, Germany international Wirtz, forming a new-look attack built on piercing forward movement and an inclination to weave through the thirds as quickly as two should combine superbly. Both are sharp one-touch passers between the lines, both love to crash the box, and both were sculpted in fast-transitioning Bundesliga is a clear step change for Slot and, to an extent, a surprising turn back towards the 'heavy metal' days of Klopp. Is Slot making major revisions to Liverpool's formation? Along with Wirtz and the two new full-backs, Ekitike points to a different Liverpool 2024-25, some 47 of Liverpool's 86 goals (55%) were scored or assisted by Mohamed Salah, who ran the right wing almost on his own as Alexander-Arnold drifted contrast, Frimpong is a very attacking, very wide right-back. That should take some of the pressure off Salah, but it might also see the Egyptian move infield to support the new creator-in-chief Wirtz, Liverpool's first proper number 10 in weight to that theory is Ekitike's history of playing in a strike partnership. He was arguably at his best in a 3-5-2 alongside Marmoush at Frankfurt, with whom he regularly swapped positions in a fluid forward was also more often than not playing in a two at Reims, where he made his name. Could Slot be planning something similar with Ekitike and Salah?In a 4-2-3-1, Frimpong's aggressive wing play on the right could free Salah to drift inside and operate as something like a split striker alongside Ekitike, with Wirtz and a number eight sitting just would certainly be direct, dynamic and straight-lined, and would certainly be ready for a turn towards fast-transitioning football next it's just one of the options available to Slot now he has such a versatile number nine leading the can drop like Roberto Firmino or get in behind, can play alone or in a two, and can play transitional football or in a possession-centric is the real deal: the centre-forward of the calibre and tactical dexterity pretty much every 'Big Six' club has been looking Slot continues with Guardiola-like patience or swings back towards Klopp-like verticality, Liverpool's chances of retaining the Premier League title just improved.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store