Latest news with #Pyrenees
The National
4 minutes ago
- Sport
- The National
Tour de France 2025: Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG dominate second week
After a dramatic second week at the Tour de France, there has remained one constant throughout this year's race so far: the relentless domination of Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG. As the riders took a well-earned breather on Monday after the challenges presented tackling the mighty Pyrenees, Pogacar is sitting pretty at the top of the general classification. The reigning champion currently enjoys a healthy lead of four minutes and 13 seconds over old rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) with Germany's Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) a further 3:40 behind the Dane. It has been a spectacular effort from Pogacar that has seen him follow up his two stage wins in the opening week by repeating the trick in Week 2. Pogacar now stands alone on 21 stage victories – the sixth most of all-time, behind only Andre Darrigade (22), Andre Leducq (25), Bernard Hinault (28), Eddy Merckx (23) and Mark Cavendish (35). The race is heading into its punishing finale where Pogacar faces Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze which have caused problems for him in the past. 'I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me,' he said with a smile on Monday. 'But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs.' The second week had started in potentially catastrophic fashion for Pogacar – who is seeking a fourth Tour crown – when the 26-year-old came crashing down on the roads of Toulouse towards the end of Stage 11. As Pogacar quickly dusted himself down and grappled with his bike chain, the rest of the peloton sportingly held back for the race leader to rejoin and maintain his second place, 29 seconds behind yellow jersey-wearing Ben Healy (Education-EasyPost). 'I'm quite OK,' said Pogacar. 'A bit beaten up but we've been through worse days. Thanks to the peloton who waited … big respect to everyone in front.' Stage honours went to Uno-X Mobility's Jonas Abrahamsen who secured his – and the team's – first Grand Tour stage despite the Norwegian breaking his collarbone weeks before the Tour. Any thoughts that Pogacar's title-bid might have been damaged by the previous day's fall were quickly dismissed on the famous summit of Hautcam as he blasted to a phenomenal stage win. Last season's triple-crown winner powered away with an 11km solo ascent that was set up to perfection by his teammates and ended with him finishing more than two minutes ahead of a deflated Vingegaard. Pogacar's lead over the two-time champion was now three minutes and 31 seconds. 'For sure, you don't know how the body reacts after the crash but it was not too bad,' said Pogacar after Stage 12. 'We did a super job. The team rode really well.' Another day, another victory for the imperious Pogacar who produced another superlative ride to win Friday's Stage 13 time-trial on the slopes of Peyragudes that also saw teammate Adam Yates seal a top-10 finish. Fastest on every split, Pogacar became the youngest rider to reach 21 stage wins on the Tour, extending his lead to more than four minutes. 'I was feeling good all day, from when I got up,' he said after a brutal 10.9km uphill ride. 'I was planning to go all in from start to finish and that's what I did.' Pogacar was denied a third successive stage win by Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) who claimed a memorable solo victory having spent the final 35km alone at the front. But the Slovenian was able to land a further blow on Vingegaard by brushing off his attacks before going on to out-sprint the Dane, extending to his lead yet again. Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel – who started the day in third place – saw his tour come to an end as the Belgian was forced to call it quits for this year. 'I've been feeling off for three days,' Evenepoel said. 'Today, I woke up knowing I was empty, and on the climb, my legs just said no.' It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Tim Wellens's day in the spotlight on Stage 15 with the Belgian finishing 1:28 clear of second place Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a bike) after launching an attack with 44km to go. It was Wellens' first Tour victory meaning he now has a Grand Tour clean-sweep having already won two stages on both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. 'Not many people win at the Tour de France, so it is a very beautiful victory,' said Wellens. 'I am more happy for him than when I win,' added teammate Pogacar who had crossed the line safely in the peloton, maintaining his huge GC lead. 'Beyond happiness. Tim is one of the best teammates I've ever had. He is sacrificing a lot for me' The race resumes on Tuesday with Stage 16 but there is no let up in the challenges facing the peloton, with riders facing a 171.5km run from Montpellier that finishes with a draining climb up Mont Ventoux. And Vingegaard remains convinced all is not lost. 'I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now – it's a big gap,' insists the Dane. 'But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack.' And as for Pogacar? 'We're ready for a fight with everybody,' he said. 'Especially with Jonas.'
France 24
6 minutes ago
- Sport
- France 24
Pogacar 'ready to fight Vingegaard' for Tour de France title
Far from resting on his laurels with a four-minute lead in the standings, defending champion Pogacar insisted his thoughts were on closing out the win in the six days of riding left. On the second rest day in the 21-day, 3,400km slog around France, Pogacar appeared much more mature than the 20-year-old who won the first of his three titles in 2020. "You learn every week, every day on this race that you must stay focused," said the 26-year-old Team UAE rider. "This is my sixth Tour. I miss the white jersey (for the best rider under 26), you know, but yes I've grown up, got more mature," said Pogacar. He said he had also grown into this Tour. "Nobody liked those stages at the start of the Tour, it was quite nerve-wracking, but you need to be focused," he said of the first week when he appeared a little annoyed at times. Pogacar headed into the Pyrenees last week second only to surprise leader Ben Healy of Ireland. But he grabbed the lead by winning two of the tough, mountainous triptych of stages, emerging 4min 13sec ahead of second-placed Vingegaard, with promising German rider Florian Lipowitz third. "I'm actually enjoying the Tour now," he said. 'Ready for a fight' Asked about whether he planned to take part in the Vuelta a Espana, which begins on August 23, or if he prefered to take a break after his exertions on the Tour, Pogacar said the only thing he was sure about was giving it everything in the final week in France. "Some riders are planning holidays. Not me. I'm thinking about the six days left. I haven't decided about racing the Vuelta. I'm not planning anything until after this Tour," he said. As the peloton prepares to soar into the Alps on Tuesday Pogacar said he was prepared for an attack from Vingegaard. "It's going to be tough. We are ready for a fight. With everybody, but especially Jonas, we've seen how strong he is. "There are three mountains where he has previously been faster than me, But it is not about names, that was always because of the race situation," he said, recalling how the Dane had come close to denying him the win in 2021, and took the title in 2022 and 2023 when Pogacar was runner-up. "It's not that i'm looking for revenge, I just want to do better," he said. "I'm confident in myself, but I know Jonas can be too. I need to keep eating and sleeping well, and hope the mood persists. "The group we have this year, at breakfast, on the bus, it's good. With the boys and the atmosphere, I'm happy to be part of this group, and I'd come here just to be with them regardless of the race." © 2025 AFP
France 24
2 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Tour de France breakout talent Lipowitz shooting for the stars
The 24-year-old from the Red Bull Bora team is not only the new face of cycling in his homeland, but also the new face standing alongside the likes of reigning Tour champion Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the big-race podiums. Lipowitz climbed to third in the rankings on Saturday, the day when double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel pulled out during the gruelling Tourmalet stage. Having made the podium at both Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphine this year, he was described by Pogacar, who met him in a lift at a team hotel, as "a nice guy, very cool, and really strong on a bike." The shy rider from southern German had an unusual route into cycling, coming to the sport from biathlon, a sport in which his brother Philipp was junior world champion. After nagging knee injuries he took up cycling, crossing the Pyrenees and Alps with his parents as a teenager. "I realised after a ride from Geneva to Nice that I had no ill effects whatsoever in my body," Lipowitz said this week. The year he gave up biathlon, he took it upon himself to seek out Red Bull team manager Ralph Denk, who was deeply impressed that the plucky youngster had cycled 100km each way to knock on his door. "I asked him if his mum was coming to pick him up, it was freezing. I was impressed when he told me he lived so far away," Denk said. 'Not a single weakness' His team's sports director Rolf Aldag also heaps praise on Lipowitz, describing him as unbreakable. "He's a very calm, down-to-earth person, and very reserved. It comes from his upbringing. He's not a loudmouth, but a hard worker, a true German," Aldag told AFP. "He has a big motor, and is incredibly powerful. The longer it is, the better for him. "I haven't found a single weakness in him yet. He's very agile on a bike which is rare for someone who came to cycling so late." On the Tour so far Lipowitz has placed in the top five in the three Pyrenean stages, and sixth in the major time trial. He also has the highly experienced Primoz Roglic as team leader, which would help given the Slovenian is also shy and softly spoken and started life in winter sports before winning five Grand Tours. "I'm happy, I'm really happy, and I hope that he keeps the level, and that he keeps it up until the finish," Roglic said this week. Roglic has never won the Tour de France, but perhaps his protege, given time, can go on to land cycling's ultimate prize. © 2025 AFP
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Tour de France star explains strange reason he stole fan's sign
Tour de France rider Julian Alaphilippe has apologised to a stunned fan for snatching her cardboard sign and ripping it up during Stage 14 of the 2025 event on Sunday. As temperatures plummeted while the field cycled through the Pyrenees mountains, the 33-year-old cyclist turned heads by grabbing a cardboard placard from a fan supporting his rival. The Frenchman then rode away, ripping the sign into pieces and discarding the bits he didn't need. Alaphilippe could then be seen stuffing a piece of cardboard inside his cycling suit to use as insulation in the brutal conditions. Alaphilippe's former teammate Zdenek Stybar said, 'Julian is really suffering from the cold.' After about 30km more riding, Alaphilippe stopped a camera motorbike and seemed to apologise for the incident before giving back the remains of the sign. The two-time world champ later apologised properly to the fan and even gave her a gift. 'In the end the story ended well, I apologised to the woman whom I took it from,' he said. 'I gave her a bib, and she took a picture with Wout [rider Wout van Aert]. In the end, thanks to this, she had a better time compared to what she would have experienced at the top of the Tourmalet.' Despite the light-hearted moment, Alaphilippe finished in 50th place, with Thymen Arensman claiming the stage win. It wasn't the only unusual incident with a fan of Stage 14, with viewers left stunned when a car knocked down a spectator on a mountain road. The fan had been stood in the road filming cyclists as they went by when the Ineos Grenadiers vehicle hit them, sending them sprawling and their phone flying. It is unknown what condition the fan is in but the car was travelling at a low speed behind the bikers as they climbed the Col de Peyresourde. Organisers told Reuters they were not aware of the accident while Ineos Grenadiers were not immediately available for comment. The Ineos Grenadiers team is owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United's minority owner, and was around 200 metres from the summit of the climb at the time of the accident. It was following Ineos' Thymen Arensman, with team-mate Carlos Rodriguez leading the chasing group behind him. Jerome Coppel, an analyst for RMC Sport, said: 'It's always very complicated on these passes. There are people on both sides of the road which isn't very wide.'
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogacar begins final week of 2025 Tour de France in touching distance of legend
Three-time champion Tadej Pogacar will spend Monday's rest day of the 2025 Tour de France savouring his feats in the Pyrenees of southern France that have helped him establish a four-minute lead over his arch rival and two-time victor Jonas Vingegaard. Pogacar, who is seeking a fourth title that will take him joint fifth on the all-time winner's list, claimed the 12th and 13th stages to open up the gap on Vingegaard. The wins on Thursday and Friday also furnished him with his 20th and 21st stage victories. Friday's 10.9 km time trial for the 13th stage was completed in 23 minutes. 'I really wanted to go all out from start to finish, smashing the pedals as much as possible,' said Pogacar. 'I almost blew out in the end but I saw the time on the finish arch and it gave me an extra push because I saw I was going to win.' Pogacar, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader, cemented his grip on the race during Thursday's first big mountain stage on the slopes of Hautacam, where he destroyed the field to reclaim the yellow jersey after it had adorned the back of the Irish rider Ben Healy for two days 'So far, so good,' said Pogacar. "We're just a bit over halfway now and it's still a long way to Paris but if we keep riding like this and don't do any mistakes, then we can be satisfied with this margin." Vingegaard says he will fight on Vingegaard, who won cycling's most prestigious race in 2022 and 2023, vowed to keep fighting. "The Tour is far from over," insisted the 28-year-old Dane. "We have to keep believing we can do something here in the race." Tim Wellens, Pogacar's teammate took stage 15 on Sunday. The 34-year-old Belgian completed the 169.3km between Muret and Carcassonne in three hours, 34 minutes and nine seconds. Victor Campenaerts was second and Julien Alaphilippe was third. "I had the opportunity, I took it, and I had legs to finish it," said Wellens who ended the course 88 seconds ahead of Campenaerts. 'I knew that I had to enjoy the moment,' Wellens added. 'I kept riding until the finish line because I wanted a big gap to fully enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish. But I was so happy to win that I forgot to do it.' The tour resumes on Tuesday with a 171.5km run between Montpellier and Mont Ventoux and concludes on Sunday along the Champs Elysées in Paris.
