Latest news with #TourDownUnder
New York Times
25-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why Oscar Onley could be the Tour de France's most surprising podium finisher for years
Oscar Onley is slumped with his back against the barriers, his whole upper body tremoring as it seeks air. His breath fogs and mingles with the summit mist. His eyes are wide as if he needs to inhale oxygen through them as well. With three stages of the Tour de France remaining, the 22-year-old Scot is just 22 seconds off third place in the general classification (GC). Advertisement A podium, should he overhaul Florian Lipowitz, would be the most surprising top-three finish since Jean-Christophe Péraud in 2014. It has been an explosive entrance into the sport's consciousness for a rider who only won his first professional race at the Tour Down Under last year. After finishing fourth on the sharp lift into Rouen on stage four, Onley had to log into ProCyclingStats to check where he finished, scrolling through it on his warm-down bike. 'I didn't know if Romain (Gregoire) had got past me,' he said. 'I was pretty cross-eyed.' But the only names above him were of the true elite — Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, and Jonas Vingegaard. 'Some of my team-mates and staff say to me, 'You are one of these guys',' Onley said before that stage. 'I don't really see it like that yet.' There is a visible naivety to Onley after these big results, a sense of confusion over why the attention on him is so fierce, so quickly. At the top of the Col de la Loze, after Thursday's stage, it was as if he had not quite registered how close he was to third. 'Yeah, that's…' he began. 'I don't know. That's not much. So we'll give it everything tomorrow.' We're all signing up to OnleyFans 🏴#TDF2025 — ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 19, 2025 But this flies in the face of the assuredness with which he rides his bike. Lipowitz is two years older, but rides more rashly. While Lipowitz spent virtually all of stage 18 in the wind, Onley paced his efforts, remained protected, and was ultimately the only man who could follow Pogacar and Vingegaard in the final kilometres. He has now erased a two-minute gap to the podium down to the width of a wildflower's stem. His answer to the storm has been to climb faster. At the start of the Tour, Picnic–PostNL's hopes for Onley were cautiously optimistic. Curiosity is probably the most accurate emotion, with his team desperate to see what a rider who fractured his collarbone three times between August 2023 and April 2024 could really do. He rode the Tour last year, finishing 39th. There were small signs of promise, such as finishing fifth on the climb to SuperDévoluy, but nothing of this magnitude. Advertisement Though he had performed well in last month's Tour de Suisse, placing third overall and winning stage five, the field was not as strong as the loaded Critérium du Dauphiné. 'The first 10 days, we're just gonna keep him safe in the race,' Matt Winston, the team's directeur sportif, told The Athletic before the Tour started. 'We'll probably lose some time, need to find the right moment to get in the breakaway — and then when you get caught, you might be able to hang onto GC. So we just want to play it a little bit open, a bit relaxed, and see how far we can come.' Leaving it all out there 🥵 You can be proud of that ride @OscarOnley 🙌🏻#KeepChallenging #TDF2025 — Team Picnic PostNL (@picnicpostnl) July 24, 2025 An undercurrent behind Onley's performance has been his team's predicament. Picnic–PostNL appeared favourites for relegation to the ProTour just a few months ago — but Onley's points have fired them above Cofidis towards safety. But this meant they were targeting stage victories over GC — a top 10 would have been seen as an excellent result. 'I've had lots of top-fives and -10s in one-week races, but that's very different to doing it in a Grand Tour,' he told Cycling Weekly back in March. 'That's another step, and to be honest, I don't know if I am capable of it yet. The focus is on stages.' Top five? One-week races? How about top three over the three weeks of the Tour de France? Onley's superpower has been consistency. There has been no need for him to dive into breakaways — finishing fourth on the ramps of Rouen, third on the Mûr-de-Bretagne, fifth on the Hautacam, sixth to Superbagnères, and fourth up the Col de la Loze. Even his time trialing, seen as a major weakness entering the race, has developed significantly. A common cycling phrase is that a rider has diamonds in their legs — Onley's feel more like granite. The boy from Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, has come a long way. He grew up right next to a steep climb used by his local club, the Kelso Wheelers, but focused instead on cross-country running while growing up. His father, a black cab driver, split his time between Kelso and London, but regularly took Onley out in the hills. His mother was visible at this year's grand départ (start of the Tour), cheering on her son as he stood on the rostrum in Lille's central square. Advertisement He was never a particularly dominant junior, telling Rouleur last year that: 'I'm still quite small now, but as an under-14 and an under-16, I was really tiny, so the track and the criterium courses we did, they didn't suit me very well. I never really got any results.' Nevertheless, he made his way into the junior Scotland team. Winston signed him for Picnic in 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, without seeing him race in person. Instead, he relied on data — an approach that has worked for several elite riders, including Vingegaard — having been flagged by Scottish cycling coaches Gary Coltman and Mark McKay. 'Mark came to me and said, 'Look, there's a rider who I believe will be a future Tour winner and I want to take him in a junior team to a race in the Alps',' Coltman told British newspaper The Times last week. 'So we agreed to do it. There was some kind of mountain time-trial and Oscar just blew them all away. Two teams wanted to sign him. There was an offer from the AG2R La Mondiale amateur team and as soon as the possibility of joining a French team arose, this 16-year-old kid from Kelso started learning French. 'He was very level-headed, very committed and very driven. What struck was the way he took control of his career.' Onley is now taking control of this race. He is still only midway through a five-year development plan crafted for him by Picnic. At the end of those five years? Who knows. Oscar Onley has no idea either. That's why he is so exciting.
Associated Press
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Owen Farrell to captain Lions against First Nations and Pasifika XV
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Owen Farrell will lead the British and Irish Lions in their last midweek game of the Australian tour on Tuesday against the First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne. It will be the 20th time Farrell has played for the Lions and his first starting appearance since being drafted into the 2025 squad late as injury cover by his father Andy Farrell, the head coach. The Lions are 6-0 so far on the tour Down Under, including a 27-19 victory over the Wallabies in the first test at Brisbane on Saturday night. Leading into the test series, the Lions beat Super Rugby franchises Western Force,Queensland Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies and an Australia-New Zealand invitational XV. After the First Nations and Pasifika XV game, the Lions will turn their attention back to trying to clinch the test series in Melbourne on Saturday night. The third test is in Sydney on Aug. 2. Owen Farrell will play at inside center in a midfield partnership with Jamie Osborne of Ireland. Scotland scrumhalf Ben White will combine with England flyhalf Fin Smith in the halves. Blair Kinghorn will return from injury to play fullback in an all-Scotland back three with Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe. Jac Morgan, the only Welshman left in the 44-man squad, will start on the blindside flank in the tour game in a backrow that also includes young England No. 8 Henry Pollock. Three days after being involved in the 23-man squad for the first test, backrower Ben Earl and inside backs Alex Mitchell and Marcus Smith will sit on the bench for the tour game. Garry Ringrose is returning from injury to take a spot on the replacements bench. Andy Farrell said the match gave all Lions players 'another opportunity to put their hand up for selection for the final two tests.' 'The coaches' minds are open when it comes to selection, they have to be with so many players performing and pushing for places.' __ AP rugby:
Perth Now
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
More climbs, time trial feature in beefed-up Tour
Multiple hilly circuits and a prologue time trial have been added to the men's Tour Down Under after riders lobbied for a more attacking race. The Tour's iconic Queen stage south of Adelaide will feature three climbs up Willunga Hill for the first time in race history, before its summit finish. Previously, the stage had no more than two Willunga climbs. The last stage in the Adelaide Hills will feature eight laps of the 21km Stirling circuit - again the most times that course has been used on one day. Another famous Tour Down Under climb, Corkscrew, will feature twice in stage two. A twilight prologue time trial was introduced to the Tour in 2023, but wet conditions spoiled the spectacle and it was shelved for the last two editions. The new 3.6km prologue course will start at the Victoria Square race headquarters in the Adelaide CBD and end at the old Victoria Park racecourse. "Feedback from men's teams was they wanted a more attacking race, so we have brought the prologue back which creates an opportunity for riders targeting the (leader's) ochre jersey to take time from the very first day," race director Stuart O'Grady said. "We've also added some new challenges like two climbs up Corkscrew Road that will be a real GC (general classification) shaker, and the final day has moved from a sprint-friendly stage in the city to a really hard circuit around Stirling where anything could happen." The women's Tour will also feature all 15 WorldTour-level teams for the first time. Its third and final stage will feature two Corkscrew Hill climbs, another first for them. The women will race from January 17-19, with the men's Tour from the 20th to the 25th.
The Advertiser
12-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Queen of the Giro mountains: Aussie Gigante wins again
Australian cycling star Sarah Gigante has won a second stage in her dream Giro d'Italia week to move into a podium spot -- and she's not ruled out a dramatic last-day triumph in the great race. Just three days after the recording the biggest win of her flourishing career in the mountainous fourth stage, the 24-year from Melbourne pulled off an even more remarkable win in the penultimate seventh stage in the Umbrian Apennines on Saturday. It shot the euphoric Gigante into third position in the overall standings, just one minute 11 seconds adrift of Italian race leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who took the pink jersey off Swiss Marlen Reusser by 22 seconds. That's left Gigante still dreaming of an unlikely triumph after Sunday's final eighth stage, a 130km route between Forlì and Imola. "I'm still a bit far back in the general classification, but I'll give it a go tomorrow," said the AG Insurance-Soudal rider. "Obviously, will be hard to defend that lead, but we'll try." Gigante was all smiles after an interviewer suggested following her second stunning triumph -- this time in the race's most demanding 'queen stage' -- that she might now like to be called the 'princess of the mountains'. "The princess? Yeah, sure - or the queen!" she responded with a laugh. Gigante left the home fans stunned when she broke away from the pack on the final climb of the 150km route from Fermignano to Monte Nerone to catch their hero, stage leader Longo Borghini, with three kilometres to go. She then powered away to annex the stage win by 45 seconds, recording the fastest time ever by a woman rider on the Monte Nerone ascent. "I had studied the final climb and decided to attack on the steep section. I wanted to show that stage four-win wasn't just a one-off, but that I came to Italy to achieve great results," she said. This exciting talent had surgery last year to fix Iliac artery endofibrosis, a debilitating condition that occurs when high blood flow and repetitive hip flexion cause the artery to narrow. Last year's Tour Down Under winner in Adelaide has snared three senior national road titles, but these four days have represented the highlight of her career. "I knew I felt really good," she said, when she decided to attack Longo Borghini. "I saw on my Garmin, there was a little flat section, and then it went steep again. "And I knew she was pretty tired after being out there a while, and I felt good -- so I went for it, although I was dying a thousand deaths in the last kilometre because it was so steep. "It's really special moving into the GC podium place," added Gigante, who had been sixth overnight and is now also lying second, just a point behind Spain's Usoa Ostolaza, in the Queen of the Mountains standings. "That's really special. It's my first year. I did the Vuelta last year, and I finished 19th, and then I was seventh on the Tour (de France). So if I can come home with third place overall this week, then I'd be very happy." Australian cycling star Sarah Gigante has won a second stage in her dream Giro d'Italia week to move into a podium spot -- and she's not ruled out a dramatic last-day triumph in the great race. Just three days after the recording the biggest win of her flourishing career in the mountainous fourth stage, the 24-year from Melbourne pulled off an even more remarkable win in the penultimate seventh stage in the Umbrian Apennines on Saturday. It shot the euphoric Gigante into third position in the overall standings, just one minute 11 seconds adrift of Italian race leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who took the pink jersey off Swiss Marlen Reusser by 22 seconds. That's left Gigante still dreaming of an unlikely triumph after Sunday's final eighth stage, a 130km route between Forlì and Imola. "I'm still a bit far back in the general classification, but I'll give it a go tomorrow," said the AG Insurance-Soudal rider. "Obviously, will be hard to defend that lead, but we'll try." Gigante was all smiles after an interviewer suggested following her second stunning triumph -- this time in the race's most demanding 'queen stage' -- that she might now like to be called the 'princess of the mountains'. "The princess? Yeah, sure - or the queen!" she responded with a laugh. Gigante left the home fans stunned when she broke away from the pack on the final climb of the 150km route from Fermignano to Monte Nerone to catch their hero, stage leader Longo Borghini, with three kilometres to go. She then powered away to annex the stage win by 45 seconds, recording the fastest time ever by a woman rider on the Monte Nerone ascent. "I had studied the final climb and decided to attack on the steep section. I wanted to show that stage four-win wasn't just a one-off, but that I came to Italy to achieve great results," she said. This exciting talent had surgery last year to fix Iliac artery endofibrosis, a debilitating condition that occurs when high blood flow and repetitive hip flexion cause the artery to narrow. Last year's Tour Down Under winner in Adelaide has snared three senior national road titles, but these four days have represented the highlight of her career. "I knew I felt really good," she said, when she decided to attack Longo Borghini. "I saw on my Garmin, there was a little flat section, and then it went steep again. "And I knew she was pretty tired after being out there a while, and I felt good -- so I went for it, although I was dying a thousand deaths in the last kilometre because it was so steep. "It's really special moving into the GC podium place," added Gigante, who had been sixth overnight and is now also lying second, just a point behind Spain's Usoa Ostolaza, in the Queen of the Mountains standings. "That's really special. It's my first year. I did the Vuelta last year, and I finished 19th, and then I was seventh on the Tour (de France). So if I can come home with third place overall this week, then I'd be very happy." Australian cycling star Sarah Gigante has won a second stage in her dream Giro d'Italia week to move into a podium spot -- and she's not ruled out a dramatic last-day triumph in the great race. Just three days after the recording the biggest win of her flourishing career in the mountainous fourth stage, the 24-year from Melbourne pulled off an even more remarkable win in the penultimate seventh stage in the Umbrian Apennines on Saturday. It shot the euphoric Gigante into third position in the overall standings, just one minute 11 seconds adrift of Italian race leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who took the pink jersey off Swiss Marlen Reusser by 22 seconds. That's left Gigante still dreaming of an unlikely triumph after Sunday's final eighth stage, a 130km route between Forlì and Imola. "I'm still a bit far back in the general classification, but I'll give it a go tomorrow," said the AG Insurance-Soudal rider. "Obviously, will be hard to defend that lead, but we'll try." Gigante was all smiles after an interviewer suggested following her second stunning triumph -- this time in the race's most demanding 'queen stage' -- that she might now like to be called the 'princess of the mountains'. "The princess? Yeah, sure - or the queen!" she responded with a laugh. Gigante left the home fans stunned when she broke away from the pack on the final climb of the 150km route from Fermignano to Monte Nerone to catch their hero, stage leader Longo Borghini, with three kilometres to go. She then powered away to annex the stage win by 45 seconds, recording the fastest time ever by a woman rider on the Monte Nerone ascent. "I had studied the final climb and decided to attack on the steep section. I wanted to show that stage four-win wasn't just a one-off, but that I came to Italy to achieve great results," she said. This exciting talent had surgery last year to fix Iliac artery endofibrosis, a debilitating condition that occurs when high blood flow and repetitive hip flexion cause the artery to narrow. Last year's Tour Down Under winner in Adelaide has snared three senior national road titles, but these four days have represented the highlight of her career. "I knew I felt really good," she said, when she decided to attack Longo Borghini. "I saw on my Garmin, there was a little flat section, and then it went steep again. "And I knew she was pretty tired after being out there a while, and I felt good -- so I went for it, although I was dying a thousand deaths in the last kilometre because it was so steep. "It's really special moving into the GC podium place," added Gigante, who had been sixth overnight and is now also lying second, just a point behind Spain's Usoa Ostolaza, in the Queen of the Mountains standings. "That's really special. It's my first year. I did the Vuelta last year, and I finished 19th, and then I was seventh on the Tour (de France). So if I can come home with third place overall this week, then I'd be very happy." Australian cycling star Sarah Gigante has won a second stage in her dream Giro d'Italia week to move into a podium spot -- and she's not ruled out a dramatic last-day triumph in the great race. Just three days after the recording the biggest win of her flourishing career in the mountainous fourth stage, the 24-year from Melbourne pulled off an even more remarkable win in the penultimate seventh stage in the Umbrian Apennines on Saturday. It shot the euphoric Gigante into third position in the overall standings, just one minute 11 seconds adrift of Italian race leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who took the pink jersey off Swiss Marlen Reusser by 22 seconds. That's left Gigante still dreaming of an unlikely triumph after Sunday's final eighth stage, a 130km route between Forlì and Imola. "I'm still a bit far back in the general classification, but I'll give it a go tomorrow," said the AG Insurance-Soudal rider. "Obviously, will be hard to defend that lead, but we'll try." Gigante was all smiles after an interviewer suggested following her second stunning triumph -- this time in the race's most demanding 'queen stage' -- that she might now like to be called the 'princess of the mountains'. "The princess? Yeah, sure - or the queen!" she responded with a laugh. Gigante left the home fans stunned when she broke away from the pack on the final climb of the 150km route from Fermignano to Monte Nerone to catch their hero, stage leader Longo Borghini, with three kilometres to go. She then powered away to annex the stage win by 45 seconds, recording the fastest time ever by a woman rider on the Monte Nerone ascent. "I had studied the final climb and decided to attack on the steep section. I wanted to show that stage four-win wasn't just a one-off, but that I came to Italy to achieve great results," she said. This exciting talent had surgery last year to fix Iliac artery endofibrosis, a debilitating condition that occurs when high blood flow and repetitive hip flexion cause the artery to narrow. Last year's Tour Down Under winner in Adelaide has snared three senior national road titles, but these four days have represented the highlight of her career. "I knew I felt really good," she said, when she decided to attack Longo Borghini. "I saw on my Garmin, there was a little flat section, and then it went steep again. "And I knew she was pretty tired after being out there a while, and I felt good -- so I went for it, although I was dying a thousand deaths in the last kilometre because it was so steep. "It's really special moving into the GC podium place," added Gigante, who had been sixth overnight and is now also lying second, just a point behind Spain's Usoa Ostolaza, in the Queen of the Mountains standings. "That's really special. It's my first year. I did the Vuelta last year, and I finished 19th, and then I was seventh on the Tour (de France). So if I can come home with third place overall this week, then I'd be very happy."
Perth Now
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Queen of the Giro mountains: Aussie Gigante wins again
Australian cycling star Sarah Gigante has won a second stage in her dream Giro d'Italia week to move into a podium spot -- and she's not ruled out a dramatic last-day triumph in the great race. Just three days after the recording the biggest win of her flourishing career in the mountainous fourth stage, the 24-year from Melbourne pulled off an even more remarkable win in the penultimate seventh stage in the Umbrian Apennines on Saturday. It shot the euphoric Gigante into third position in the overall standings, just one minute 11 seconds adrift of Italian race leader Elisa Longo Borghini, who took the pink jersey off Swiss Marlen Reusser by 22 seconds. That's left Gigante still dreaming of an unlikely triumph after Sunday's final eighth stage, a 130km route between Forlì and Imola. "I'm still a bit far back in the general classification, but I'll give it a go tomorrow," said the AG Insurance-Soudal rider. "Obviously, will be hard to defend that lead, but we'll try." Gigante was all smiles after an interviewer suggested following her second stunning triumph -- this time in the race's most demanding 'queen stage' -- that she might now like to be called the 'princess of the mountains'. "The princess? Yeah, sure - or the queen!" she responded with a laugh. Gigante left the home fans stunned when she broke away from the pack on the final climb of the 150km route from Fermignano to Monte Nerone to catch their hero, stage leader Longo Borghini, with three kilometres to go. She then powered away to annex the stage win by 45 seconds, recording the fastest time ever by a woman rider on the Monte Nerone ascent. "I had studied the final climb and decided to attack on the steep section. I wanted to show that stage four-win wasn't just a one-off, but that I came to Italy to achieve great results," she said. This exciting talent had surgery last year to fix Iliac artery endofibrosis, a debilitating condition that occurs when high blood flow and repetitive hip flexion cause the artery to narrow. Last year's Tour Down Under winner in Adelaide has snared three senior national road titles, but these four days have represented the highlight of her career. "I knew I felt really good," she said, when she decided to attack Longo Borghini. "I saw on my Garmin, there was a little flat section, and then it went steep again. "And I knew she was pretty tired after being out there a while, and I felt good -- so I went for it, although I was dying a thousand deaths in the last kilometre because it was so steep. "It's really special moving into the GC podium place," added Gigante, who had been sixth overnight and is now also lying second, just a point behind Spain's Usoa Ostolaza, in the Queen of the Mountains standings. "That's really special. It's my first year. I did the Vuelta last year, and I finished 19th, and then I was seventh on the Tour (de France). So if I can come home with third place overall this week, then I'd be very happy."
