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Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Mind games, sacrifice and 'big cojones' - what it takes to win Tour de France
The Tour de France resumes on Wednesday at stage 11 with still close to a fortnight left of racing to come and the competition finely poised ahead of the big climbs in the mountains Over 3,338 kilometres. 21 stages. 23 days. One yellow jersey. Few events in the sporting calendar - if any - are as gruelling, as brutal, as unforgiving, as the Tour de France. 184 riders lined up at the start of this year's race - the Grand Depart in Lille. But only one can be crowned king of the mountain. And while the fortunes of each and every cyclist will be laid bare out on the road and on our TV screens, there is just as much drama, emotion, pressure and bravado brimming off the tarmac behind the scenes as there is on it - with complex mind games, heart-wrenching sacrifices, and a festering friction between cyclists who are prepared to stare death in the face and risk everything for their ultimate shot at glory. One person who has bore close witness to the carnage - from in front of the camera as one of the faces of cycling broadcasting, to the raw and uncut scenes away from it - is TNT presenter Orla Chennaoui, who even as a keen cyclist herself, admits she'd never do it "in a million years". "It really is survival of the fittest," Chennaoui told Mirror Sport. "It is a test of the absolute best in the world. For anyone who's not used to watching bike racing it's hard to fathom just how dangerous it is, how difficult it is to hold your nerve in the middle of a bike race of 184 riders where everyone is within a whispering distance of each other, one slight touch of the wheel and that is it, game over, race over." Chennaoui has been at the forefront of elite cycling for over a decade - first as a correspondent for Sky Sports, before her switch to Eurosport (now TNT) as lead presenter in 2019. Aside from the small matter of two Olympic Games and one Commonwealth Games, she has covered every gear change from the Tour de France to the Giro d'Italia, multiple times over. Put simply: she has seen it all. So what are her thoughts on the "world cup" of bike racing? "It's funny," she says. "It looks really simple, like a load of cyclists riding from A to B every day but there are so many subplots and that's what makes the sport so fascinating. As soon as you scratch the surface and realise how many different narratives there are. That's why I fell in love with it. "The bit that I find the most interesting is all of the work that is done behind the scenes. All the months of sacrifice, all the work from their teams, all the weeks spent at altitude away from their families, the weighing of food portions coming into Tour de France so they can accurately calculate what start weight they will be. "When a rider wins we get to hear about those sacrifices, the wives and partners left at home, the babies who have been born in their absence. But that's the same for every rider, for them to even get to the start line it takes that sacrifice, never mind to finish or win a stage. Its phenomenal." After 10 stages of this year's Tour thus far, the race is currently led by Ireland's Ben Healy, marginally ahead of favourite and defending champion Tadej Pogacar, while Britain's Simon Yates claimed the last stage win in Puy de Sancy. To keep things cosy, Yates is on the same team as Jonas Vingegaard, the main rival to Pogacar, who is team-mates with Yates's brother Adam. But life on the road is not all happy families. "Professional cycling has become such a polite sport where everyone looks like they're really good friends but as soon as there's any kind of sledging or mind games, we all jump on it and we're trying just trying to work out how much of it is at the tip of the iceberg," Chennaoui explains. "We had a professional rider in at the start of this race, Michael Matthews, and we were saying, 'all the riders are such good friends', and he said, 'don't believe that for a second. They're really not.'" In a sport where every second matters, it's easy to understand why. But Chennoui insists ego is not the overriding characteristic. "It takes an awful lot of confidence and self belief," she says. "Even more than ego necessarily. One stage the first hour of racing was 50km per hour. With no padding, no protective clothing. It's like jumping out of your car in your underwear." Speeds can hit 100km/h down the descents and around 70km/h on a sprint finish when rubbing shoulder to shoulder with rivals to the line. "You're really on a knife edge. They have to believe in themselves so much to not question themselves or have doubts because that itself can bring you off your bike. It's terrifying. Cyclists need big cojones." For every cyclist pushing themselves to the limit, there is a team behind the team, while the methods used in pursuit of marginal gains continue to get more creative. "The amount of testing and tech which goes into it now - scientification is 10 times what it was before," Chennaoui said. "There is one team who have access to an old railway tunnel and that's where they do their wind tunnel testing. So they're riding under this old disused tunnel underground and measuring the wind flow, the aerodynamics of the skin suit, of the bike, of the body position. "They'll spend hours doing this, and hours in a lab, as well, working out the exact scientific proportion of everything. If you look at any random stage, certainly a time trial, you will see the most ridiculous helmets that look like they were designed as a joke and they all look different, but that's all because of the aerodynamics and all the money that goes into it." It's not uncommon for leading cyclists to try their best to avoid wearing the Tour-supplied yellow jersey on early stages during the race, purely because it would mean they wouldn't be able to wear their own specially designed skinsuit. "It's a really pure sport because it's just athlete and bike, but actually there's an awful lot of science that goes into it as well when it comes to nutrition, rest and recovery… every element has been thought of." This year's race is perfectly poised as the riders prepare to set off on stage 11 on Wednesday after the first of only two rest days throughout the event. The action will then build towards a "showdown in the mountains" on stages 18 and 19 where the Tour truly separates the best from the rest. "We have 10,000 metres of climbing within two days which is disgusting. That comes at the very back end of the race when most normal humans are on their knees anyway. The riders are racing for four or five hours every single day, they get two days off in the 23 days, they've got 21 stages to race and so by stages 18 and 19, they've travelled thousands of kilometres, they've had umpteen nights of broken sleep and bad recovery, anyone who has crashed at that stage and had an injury or an illness they're on the limit of their immune system because their levels have become so lean and on a knife-edge with their health that any little infection can really send them off course." The hilly stages of the course then come to an end in time for the finale - a flat run of 132.3km from Mantes-La-Ville into Paris and the finish line on the Champs-Elysee. It could well be a sprint to the line for those still in contention, but Chennaoui expects whoever reigns coming over the mountain will likely be the man to beat on July 27. "You can only survive those stages anyway if you are an exceptional athlete but to be able to win in those stages, then we're talking your Tour de France winners." So who does Chennaoui fancy to take the coveted yellow jersey in less than a fortnights' time? "Still the smart money is on Tadej. But everyone is unbeatable until they're not. We don't know when that moment is going to come. "The punchy terrain suits Tadej, but Jonas has been right up there with him apart from the time trial and he usually excels in the higher mountains that come later in the race. They have created the greatest rivalry in the 112-year history of the Tour de France. So it's perfectly poised for a showdown in the mountains - and entire races can just flip on their head in one moment. "A lot of people are rooting for Jonas because they want the tightest possible race until the last moment and even though I say stages 18 and 19 are where this race will be won, we ride into Paris on the last day. If Tadej Pogacar is within a couple of seconds of the lead, I foresee that he'll be racing for general classification all the way to the line in Paris. So this race could literally go right to the wire which hasn't happened very much." And while the rest of us will be gripped to our seats watching the action unfold, Chennaoui and the TNT team have the tricky task of translating what happens out on the road to all the viewers watching on TV. "For us in the studio, we know that the majority of UK fans are coming to the Tour de France as their only bike race all year so it's our job to make it as entertaining and exciting as possible. So much of sport is taken so seriously and it is serious business for those involved. But if it's not fun to watch, then we're all missing a trick."
Express Tribune
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Healy leads the Tour de France
Ben Healy became the first Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1987 to take the overall lead on the Tour de France on Monday with a relentless attack across eight gruelling hills in the Massif Central. The 24-year-old EF rider had already won stage six in Normandy, but here the smiley Healy confirmed his promise with a career-defining ride claiming the fabled yellow jersey. He becomes just the fourth Irishman to wear it following Shay Elliott, back in 1963, Sean Kelly in 1983 and Roche who went on to win an epic race 38 years ago. Healy's performance even overshadowed that of stage winner Simon Yates, who sat on his wheel all afternoon as they crossed the ancient volcanoes that mark the region. Such was the Irishman's effort as the escapees rushed through the grey-black volcanic rock villages that he was also awarded the combativity award for the most attacking rider of the day. "Hats off to him, he's the one that dropped everyone," Yates said of Healy as the escape group was gradually whittled down from 30 to five. The 2025 Giro d'Italia winner Yates attacked on the last of the day's climbs, with Thymen Arensman of Ineos second and Healy coming third at the line 31sec adrift and having never relented on a punishing day. Healy was born in Birmingham but chose to represent Ireland in his youth. He is also in the white jersey for the best young rider. "The stage win I got and the yellow today both mean a lot to me," said Healy, who had a tense wait at the line for Pogacar to cross 4min 51sec adrift and ceding the overall lead, likely for several days. "This yellow is more for the team who worked so hard to put me here but the stage win possibly means more as it came first," he said. French mountain joy Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line together after eight climbs in the Massif Central where they were rarely a wheel's length from each other. Healy leads the Tour itself by 29sec from defending champion Pogacar, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third at 1min 29sec. Denmark's double Tour de France champion Vingegaard is fourth overall at 1min 46sec, and his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson sits fifth. Third placed overnight, promising young French rider Kevin Vauquelin dropped a minute to finish the day in sixth place overall. Recompense for the home nation on the national Bastille Day holiday came in the form of Lenny Martinez as he earned the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey with 27 points garnered on the day's stage. His grandfather Mariano Martinez won the polka dot jersey outright on the 1978 Tour. Successive escape bids ensued from the off Monday as the 164 remaining riders raced out of Ennezat with top guns Pogacar and Evenepoel finally allowing one to get away over the ever-rolling terrain Once they did, a gap over five minutes was established by a motivated group that rode so hard over the cattle dotted hills the sprinters were dropped to over 30 minutes at the finish line. While Tuesday is a rest day, Wednesday's stage 11 is another flat run with a sprinter expected to take the honours in Toulouse.
Observer
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Observer
Healy leads, Yates wins Tour de France 10th stage
PUY DE SANCY, France: Ben Healy became the first Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1987 to take the overall lead on the Tour de France on Monday with a relentless attack across eight gruelling hills in the Massif Central. The 24-year-old EF rider had already won stage six in Normandy, but here the smiley Healy confirmed his promise with a career-defining ride claiming the fabled yellow jersey. He becomes just the fourth Irishman to wear it following Shay Elliott, back in 1963, Sean Kelly in 1983 and Roche who went on to win an epic race 38 years ago. Healy's performance even overshadowed that of stage winner Simon Yates, who sat on his wheel all afternoon as they crossed the ancient volcanoes that mark the region. Such was the Irishman's effort as the escapees rushed through the grey-black volcanic rock villages that he was also awarded the combativity award for the most attacking rider of the day. "Hats off to him, he's the one that dropped everyone," Yates said of Healy as the escape group was gradually whittled down from 30 to five. The 2025 Giro d'Italia winner Yates attacked on the last of the day's climbs, with Thymen Arensman of Ineos second and Healy coming third at the line 31sec adrift and having never relented on a punishing day. Healy was born in Birmingham but chose to represent Ireland in his youth. He is also in the white jersey for the best young rider. "The stage win I got and the yellow today both mean a lot to me," said Healy, who had a tense wait at the line for Pogacar to cross 4min 51sec adrift and ceding the overall lead, likely for several days. "This yellow is more for the team who worked so hard to put me here but the stage win possibly means more as it came first," he said. - French mountain joy - Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line together after eight climbs in the Massif Central where they were rarely a wheel's length from each other. Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 10 - Ennezat to Mont-Dore - Ennezat, France - July 14, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Simon Yates celebrates on the podium after winning stage 10 REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier Healy leads the Tour itself by 29sec from defending champion Pogacar, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third at 1min 29sec. Denmark's double Tour de France champion Vingegaard is fourth overall at 1min 46sec, and his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson sits fifth. Third placed overnight, promising young French rider Kevin Vauquelin dropped a minute to finish the day in sixth place overall. Recompense for the home nation on the national Bastille Day holiday came in the form of Lenny Martinez as he earned the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey with 27 points garnered on the day's stage. His grandfather Mariano Martinez won the polka dot jersey outright on the 1978 Tour. Successive escape bids ensued from the off on Monday as the 164 remaining riders raced out of Ennezat with top guns Pogacar and Evenepoel finally allowing one to get away over the ever-rolling terrain Once they did, a gap over five minutes was established by a motivated group that rode so hard over the cattle dotted hills the sprinters were dropped to over 30 minutes at the finish line. While Tuesday is a rest day, Wednesday's stage 11 is another flat run with a sprinter expected to take the honours in Toulouse. — AFP TOUR DE FRANCE RESULTS AND STANDINGS: Stage 10 1. Simon Yates (GBR/TVL) 4hr 20min 05sec, 2. Thymen Arensman (NED/IGD) at 9sec, 3. Ben Healy (IRL/EFE) 31, 4. Ben O'Connor (AUS/JAY) 49, 5. Michael Storer (AUS/TUD) 1min 23sec, 6. Joe Blackmore (GBR/IPT) 3:57, 7. Anders Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 4:38, 8. Lenny Martinez (FRA/TBV) 4:51, 9. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) 4:51, 10. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TVL) 4:51. Overall standings 1. Ben Healy (IRL/EFE) 37hr 41min 49sec, 2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) at 29sec, 3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/SOQ) 1min 29sec, 4. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TVL) 1:46, 5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/TVL) 2:06, 6. Kevin Vauquelin (FRA/ARK) 2:26. 7. Oscar Onley (GBR/DFP) 3:24, 8. Florian Lipowitz (GER/RBH) 3:34, 9. Primoz Roglic (SLO/RBH) 3:41, 10. Tobias Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 5:03.
Daily Tribune
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
Ireland's Healy takes Tour de France lead as Simon Yates wins stage 10
AFP | Paris Ben Healy climbed top of the overall rankings at the Tour de France yesterday on a mountain stage won by Briton Simon Yates in a breakaway group. Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line together just shy of five minutes behind the escape group after eight climbs in the Massif Central. 2025 Giro d'Italia winner Yates attacked on the last of the day's climbs, with Thymen Arensman of Ineos second and Healy coming third at 31sec. Healy won stage six of the Tour de France in Normandy on Thursday with a long solo break and yesterday he had already sealed the combativity award for his attacks. Healy had done most of the work in the escape all afternoon and now leads the Tour itself by 29sec from defending champion Pogacar, with Remco Evenepoel in third at 1min 29sec. Denmark's double Tour de France champion Vingegaard is fourth overall at 1min 46sec, and his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson sits fifth. Recompense for the home nation on the national Bastille Day holiday came in the form of Lenny Martinez as he earned the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey with 27 points garnered on the day's stage.
Extra.ie
a day ago
- Sport
- Extra.ie
It's Healy's yellow brick road as Irishman makes cycling history in France
Ben Healy became the fourth Irish rider to earn the Tour de France's yellow jersey on Monday with a gritty ride in the fabled race's first mountainous stage. Healy led for much of the tough 165.3km route through the Massif Central – France's south-central highland region – but had to be content with third place after Giro d'Italia winner Simon Yates broke on the final ascent to take the stage victory. But Healy's push – he was nominated the most combative rider of the day on France's national day – was enough to take a 29-second lead over Tadej Pogacar in the general classification and take the yellow jersey from the three-time Tour champion. Ben Healy. Pic: Pete Goding/Shutterstock (15398845ag) 'It's a fairytale, you know,' said Healy, who claimed his first stage victory at the Tour on Thursday. 'If you'd told me before this Tour, I think I wouldn't have believed it. So a stage win and yellow jersey is just incredible and beyond belief, really.' The rider is preceded by fellow Irish riders Shay Elliot, who won a stage in 1963, Seán Kelly, who led for one day in 1983, and Stephen Roche, who won the Tour in 1987. 'It's some pretty crazy footsteps to follow, isn't it, and I'm just proud to represent Ireland and wear the yellow jersey for them, and hopefully I can do it some justice,' said Healy, who was born in England and qualifies for Ireland through his father's parents from Cork and Waterford. Stephen Roche in 1987. Pic: Thomas/Getty Images) Healy was three minutes, 55 seconds behind Pogacar when he started Stage 10, but he found himself in a large breakaway from the favourites in the peloton, and then forced the initiative over seven category two climbs. Remco Evenepoel lost six seconds to Pogacar in the final and now trails the world champion by a full minute in third place.
