
Arensman climbs to misty Tour de France win as Pogacar extends lead
As the disappointed Belgian Soudal Quick-Step rider left the race Arensman attacked on the third of four mountains on a colossal climb day while Slovenian Pogacar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard for second just over a minute behind the winner.
Crossing the line in the mist at 1840m altitude, Arensman flung himself to the ground exhausted after taking a first win on this Tour for British team Ineos.
"After all that effort it was beautiful to win.
"I was focussed on trying to get in the breakaway and luckily I had good legs today," Arensman said.
The 25-year-old produced a virtuoso climb amidst suffocating packs of near hysterical fans who had waited all day for the peloton to pass.
Behind him Pogacar fought off a string of attacks from his arch rival Vingegaard on a day the Slovenian never looked like attacking for the win.
Winner of the past two stages Pogacar pounced for the line from 50 metres with his trademark kick gaining another six seconds on the Dane.
Pogacar, overall race winner in 2020, 2021 and 2024, now leads Vingegaard by 4min 13sec with Florian Lipowitz moving into third place at 7min 53sec.
Pogacar praised Arensman as "the strongest of the breakaway and strongest of the race".
"That was one hell of a ride from him. You could only see 20m ahead," said the race leader.
"I was quite scared racing down the Tourmalet, I was behind Arensman and he just disappeared into the fog," said Pogacar.
Biathlon to white jersey
Lipovitz rode on Pogacar's wheel until Dane Vingegaard, who won Tour titles in 2022 and 2023, had attacked late on.
The 25-year-old Red Bull rider Lipowitz took the best young rider's white jersey and is a rising force in cycling, which he came to late after switching from the winter sport biathlon, a mixture of shooting and cross-country skiing.
"When I came here I had no pretensions of taking the white jersey, so I'm really happy," said the quietly spoken 6ft 4in (1.93m) German.
"The crowds were so encouraging, it makes you want to ride faster."
Evenepoel's premature exit meanwhile came following Friday's stamina-sapping uphill time trial.
"Today in the morning I could feel I was empty and on the climb the legs just weren't there," said Evenepoel, a fan favourite. "It's a pity, but you need to be 110 percent to win this race."
Evenepoel had won the stage five time trial and but for a blunder on day 1 would likely have at least worn the yellow jersey at some stage of the first week.
"It really sucks for the Tour to lose someone like him," Pogacar said.
Ireland's Ben Healy, who did wear yellow for two days, climbed back up to ninth as the EF rider who arrived in the Pyrenees in the lead but suffered badly on the first climb, rode all day on stage 14 with the Pogacar clique.
Frenchman Lenny Martinez led over the first three mountains and has the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey.
After three days in the Pyrenees the riders next have a hilly stage 15 over 169.3km from Muret to the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne.
© 2025 AFP

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LeMonde
2 hours ago
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Milan wins crash-marred sprint as Tour approaches Alpine end game
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France 24
3 hours ago
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Milan wins crash-marred sprint at Tour de France
Overall leader Tadej Pogacar and his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard (4min 15sec behind) finished safely despite a mass fall 800m from the finish line at Valence at the foot of the Alps. On the rain-slick roads at Valence once one rider had fallen his interminable slide across the tarmac sent riders flying like skittles leaving only 10 to contest the sprint. This was a second stage win for Milan, who won Italy's first stage since 2019 on stage eight. The 24-year-old Lidl Trek rider now has 312 points, and is in a powerful position to win the battle for the green jersey in Paris as Pogacar is second at 240 with only two possible sprints left at 50pts each. As the remaining 164 riders embarked from the sleepy Provence village of Bollene, the collective will of the peloton made for a slow approach of the Alps. Billed as a sprinters stage on an unusually mild (22C) day the riders were also spared the 50kph winds that had been forecast. But the rain deprived the stage a full bunch sprint due to the horrid fall. The three massive climbs culminating with the ascent to the 2304m altitude Col de la Loze on stage 18 will sort the wheat from the chaff on Thursday's Queen stage. While Friday's hellishly designed five mountains of madness on stage 19 sound the final call for any pretender to knock Pogacar off his high perch. Unless that is the three ascents of the cobbled roads to the Sacre Coeur Basilica in old Montmartre descend into chaos on Sunday. © 2025 AFP