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Forbes
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Tour de France 2025: 4 Stories To Watch In The Final Week
LE MONT-DORE PUY DE SANCY, FRANCE - JULY 14: Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - XRG - ... More Yellow leader jersey (R) attacks ahead of Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Team Visma | Lease a Bike (L) during the 112th Tour de France 2025, Stage 10 a 165.3km stage from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy (Super Sancy) 1318m / #UCIWT / on July 14, 2025 in Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy, France. (Photo by Tim) After over 2000 kilometers of the racing, the men's 2025 Tour de France is heading into its final week of action, with just six stages left until this year's winner is crowned Sunday, July 27th on the Champs-Élysées. World champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has dominated this year's race and seems set for a fourth Tour de France title ahead of his main rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). Pogačar has shown little weakness so far this Tour, which may make it feel like the fight for the yellow jersey has all but wrapped up, even though the peloton has not rolled into Paris yet. However, there are still plenty of storylines worth following through the final week of the Tour. 1. Tadej Pogačar Looks To Write A New Chapter In The Alps Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates and Danish Jonas Vingegaard Hansen of Team Visma-Lease ... More a Bike pictured in action during stage 12 of the 2025 Tour de France cycling, from Auch to Hautacam (181 km), on Thursday 17 July 2025 in France. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, France, and will finish in Paris, France on the 27th of July. BELGA PHOTO POOL VINCENT KALUT (Photo by POOL VINCENT KALUT / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by POOL VINCENT KALUT/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images) Barring disaster, Pogačar is on his way to a fourth Tour de France title. But disaster has struck for the Slovenian before, and this year's Tour de France route returns to three climbs where Pogačar has cracked in previous editions: Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, and Col de la Loze. 'This year, the parcours was…I'm almost confident to say that it was designed to give me a bit of scaredness, because we've been to Hautacam and we are going to Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze, where Jonas has dropped me all three times,' Pogačar told reporters during a rest day press conference, per Domestique Cycling. Pogačar has already exorcised his demons on Hautacam, winning the summit finish on stage 12 and taking two minutes and ten seconds on Jonas Vingegaard, who beat Pogačar on the climb three years ago to seal his 2022 Tour de France win. As Pogačar said, Vingegaard has also shaken him off on Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze. But so far, Vingegaard, a two-time Tour de France winner, has been unable to match Pogačar's form this season. Pogačar holds a significant four minute and thirteen second advantage on Vingegaard heading into the final week of the Tour, where the peloton faces Mont Ventoux on Stage 16 and Col de la Loze on Stage 18. In his rest day press conference, Pogačar refused to call his ambitions for the final week a revenge tour. 'I will not say that I'm looking for revenge or something, I just want to have better legs than those two days in the past. That's all, I'm looking forward to it.' Still, these are iconic climbs in the cycling world, beyond the role they have played in Pogačar's career. Even if he is not out for revenge, it is unlikely that Pogačar won't want to continue his dominance this Tour and add winning on these ascents to his resumé. 2. Young Contenders Vie For Third Place In Tour de France ROUEN, FRANCE - JULY 08: (L-R) Florian Lipowitz of Germany and Team Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and ... More Dylan Teuns of Belgium and Team Cofidis compete during the 112th Tour de France, Stage 4 a 174.2km stage from Amiens Metropole to Rouen / #UCIWT / on July 08, 2025 in Rouen, France. (Photo by Tim) Though Vingegaard has been unable to ride Pogačar off his wheel through two weeks of racing, he has consolidated a strong hold on second place. It seems likely that Pogačar and Vingegaard will occupy the top two steps of the podium in Paris once again. But behind them, there is an intense race on for third. That battle ignited during week two when Remco Evenepoel, last year's third-place finisher and white jersey winner (given to the best young rider), was dropped early on the first stage in the Pyrenees. Evenepoel abandoned the race two days later, vacating his third-place in the general classification. Now, it is Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL), and Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) sitting third through fifth. All three are eligible for the white jersey, making this the most thrilling fight for the young riders' classification we have seen in over five years. So far, Lipowitz has proven the strongest of these three. He is a minute and 23 seconds ahead of Onley and two minutes and 28 seconds ahead of Vauquelin. But this is Lipowitz's first Tour and the second for Onley and Vauquelin. They are early in their careers, meaning there is still lots of experience for them to gain and plenty for fans to learn about them. So, as the race heads towards the Alps, there are still outstanding questions about how these three will perform in the final stages of the biggest bike race in the world. These three round out the top five behind Pogačar and Vingegaard, but if inexperience catches up to them, Grand Tour winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) lurks sixth just thirteen seconds behind Vauquelin. Third in the Tour would be the biggest result of all their careers so far and a huge boost for all their teams. So, while Lipowitz holds the advantage, expect Onley and Vauquelin to try and challenge him. They should be some of the main animators of the mountain stages this week. Even if the podium slips away, they will still be fighting to wear the white jersey in Paris--a worthy prize itself. 3. A Strange Battle For The Green Jersey Lidl - Trek team's Italian rider Jonathan Milan celebrates on the podium with the best sprinter's ... More green jersey after the 3rd stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 178.3 km between Valenciennes and Dunkerque (Dunkirk), Northern France, on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images) Typically, the winner of the points classification is a sprinter. But this year could see a different type of rider prevail. Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan, a traditional sprinter, currently wears the jersey, having accumulated 251 points. But his grip on the classification is tenuous, as Pogačar, the race leader, sits only 28 points behind the Italian sprinter. Further, Mathieu van der Poel, the former world champion and arguably the best Classics rider in the current peloton, is 41 points behind Milan after his teammate Jasper Philipsen crashed out of the race on stage three. Riders earn points in the green jersey classification at intermediate sprints—which happen somewhere on the stage's route—and the stage finish. Intermediate sprints always give 20 points to the first rider across the line and award out to 15 riders. Points available at the stage's finish vary based on a coefficient of difficulty: the more challenging the stage, the fewer points available. The green jersey was not Pogačar's primary goal at this Tour, but thanks to four stage wins and high placement on several other stages, it is within his grasp. He is likely not done earning points either, as he is surely eyeing at least one more stage victory. The green jersey was not what wanted Pogačar wanted out of this Tour, but he could take advantage of this strange year to claim the only jersey at the Tour he has yet to win. Similarly, van der Poel was not targeting the green jersey. Even after Philipsen's crash, he let several intermediate sprints go uncontested, but his explosive racing over the second week has kept him in the mix anyway. He has since gotten involved in a couple of intermediate sprints, which has put him on 210 points. Thus, the pressure is on Lidl-Trek to perfect their tactics for the final week. They need to carefully monitor early breakaways to ensure Milan can pick up points in the intermediate sprints of the difficult mountain stages where he will not compete with Pogačar and the climbers for a stage victory. While Pogačar is in full control of the general classification, the green jersey race could come down to the final stage and a reworked route in Paris that echoes the 2024 Olympics road race by heading up Montmartre—a course that favors van der Poel and Pogačar rather than Milan. 4. Dwindling Chances For A Tour De France Stage Win LE MONT-DORE PUY DE SANCY, FRANCE - JULY 14: Simon Yates of Great Britain and Team Visma | Lease a ... More Bike celebrates at finish line as stage winner during the 112th Tour de France 2025, Stage 10 a 165.3km stage from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy (Super Sancy) 1318m / #UCIWT / on July 14, 2025 in Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy, France. (Photo by) Not every team arrives at the Tour de France with general classification dreams. Plenty of teams—particularly smaller-budget teams—spend the Tour hunting for stage win glory. Some teams have already achieved this goal; EF Education-EasyPost's Ben Healy won stage six before spending two days in the yellow jersey, and Jonas Abrahamsen earned Uno-X Mobility's first Tour stage win in team history on stage 11. But there are plenty of teams without a stage win or anything to show for this year, and there are only six more opportunities for these teams to make it happen. With the pressure ramping up, the fight to get in each day's breakaway will further intensify, especially with the green jersey race complicating break formation. Visma-Lease a Bike is also getting involved in stage hunting. The team came to the Tour aiming to win the general classification. It will be a tough ask for Vingegaard to achieve that goal, but he is a comfortable second place and the team still need to protect that placement. But, team tactics from the end of week two show the team is also interested in adding to their stage win tally after Giro d'Italia winner Simon Yates claimed stage ten. Those two goals aren't always compatible, as the team was under pressure on stage 15, as the team's stage hunters remained in a group ahead of Vingegaard, who got caught behind a crash. The super-team has a deep well of talent on this year's Tour roster and are clearly turning to the likes of Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, and Sepp Kuss to find other successes to take away from this race if Vingegaard cannot beat Pogačar.
CNA
a day ago
- Sport
- CNA
Pogacar out to bury ghosts in final Tour de France week
MONTPELLIER, France :Tadej Pogacar is riding not just for the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, but also to bury the ghosts of the past. As the 2025 Tour de France heads into its final and most punishing mountain stages, the defending champion is about to tackle climbs where he cracked or struggled before. The Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze await again. But this time, things feel different. "I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me," Pogacar said with a smile on Monday. "But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs." This year, he has already won at Hautacam, where his Tour hopes vanished in 2022 when he was beaten by chief rival Jonas Vingegaard, who ended up 2:10 behind the Slovenian. Pogacar is 4:13 ahead of the Dane in the general classification as he marches towards a fourth Tour title. In his sixth campaign, Pogacar speaks with the assurance of a man determined to make peace with painful memories. "Col de la Loze, for me, is one of the hardest climbs I've ever done," he conceded. "I'm not looking for revenge. I just want to have better legs than those days in the past." In 2023, Pogacar experienced what he then called the 'worst day' of his life on a bike when he cracked in the ascent of the Col de la Loze, effectively losing the Tour to Vingegaard. While the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider appears firmly in control, Pogacar knows better than anyone that one bad day can change everything. Although Vingegaard has suffered two rare off days, he insists he is not out of contention. "I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now — it's a big gap," the Dane said. "But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack." Vingegaard, however, has no illusions about the challenge ahead. "The biggest difference is my two off days, where I lost most of the time," he said. "But I don't think the gap is as big as it looks. I know that's not my level — I can do a lot better than that. "I'm also willing to sacrifice second to try to achieve first." Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director Grischa Niermann underlined the urgency of the mission. "It's four minutes — you don't make that up with an attack in the last 500 metres," Niermann said. "For that to happen, we need to see a weakness in Tadej. So far, he hasn't shown one. But the Tour is over only when we reach Paris." Visma-Lease a Bike, however, seem to have lost the collective power that made them a formidable squad in 2022 and 2023, when Vingegaard won his two Tour titles. "They tend to overtrain their riders and after two or three years, they're completely empty," a senior official in another Tour team told Reuters. "They have plans, but don't have the capacities to execute them. They should be more humble." Pogacar is ready for anything that might come at him.
CNA
2 days ago
- Sport
- CNA
Crash and confusion as Alaphilippe celebrates
(In second paragraph corrects Alaphilippe's team) By Julien Pretot CARCASSONNE, France :Julian Alaphilippe endured a chaotic, emotional stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday, crashing early, soldiering on with a dislocated shoulder, and then mistakenly celebrating what he thought was a stage win - before discovering he had been beaten by two riders. The Tudor Pro rider hit the deck in the opening kilometres, suffering pain and a shoulder injury that cast doubt over whether he would even finish the day. 'He had a crash at the beginning of the race,' said team sports director Raphael Meyer. 'He had pain and a dislocated shoulder. He was seen by the doctor and he still has some pain. He's going to do x-rays.' But the Frenchman fought on, eventually crossing the line — arms raised in triumph, believing he had pulled off an emotional comeback victory. He hadn't. Unbeknownst to Alaphilippe, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had already powered away from the breakaway group earlier and claimed a convincing solo win. Victor Campenaerts had also slipped away and crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Alaphilippe. "He thought he was first on the line — but the radio didn't work,' Meyer said. For Wellens, the victory marked a brutal show of strength, and another chapter in the dominance of leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates, as they continue to exert near-total control over the race. For Alaphilippe, it was a bitter-sweet finish - a gritty ride, a brave comeback, and a win that wasn't. It was not the first time such misfortune happened to Alaphilippe. In 2020, he raised his arms in celebration before the finish at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic, only to see Slovenian Primoz Roglic effectively beating him to the line. The Frenchman was then disqualified for deviating from his sprint line.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Crash and confusion as Alaphilippe celebrates
CARCASSONNE, France, July 20 (Reuters) - Julian Alaphilippe endured a chaotic, emotional stage 15 of the Tour de France on Sunday, crashing early, soldiering on with a dislocated shoulder, and then mistakenly celebrating what he thought was a stage win - before discovering he had been beaten by two riders. The Soudal–Quick-Step rider hit the deck in the opening kilometres, suffering pain and a shoulder injury that cast doubt over whether he would even finish the day. 'He had a crash at the beginning of the race,' said team sports director Raphael Meyer. 'He had pain and a dislocated shoulder. He was seen by the doctor and he still has some pain. He's going to do x-rays.' But the Frenchman fought on, eventually crossing the line — arms raised in triumph, believing he had pulled off an emotional comeback victory. He hadn't. Unbeknownst to Alaphilippe, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had already powered away from the breakaway group earlier and claimed a convincing solo win. Victor Campenaerts had also slipped away and crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Alaphilippe. "He thought he was first on the line — but the radio didn't work,' Meyer said. For Wellens, the victory marked a brutal show of strength, and another chapter in the dominance of leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates, as they continue to exert near-total control over the race. For Alaphilippe, it was a bitter-sweet finish - a gritty ride, a brave comeback, and a win that wasn't. It was not the first time such misfortune happened to Alaphilippe. In 2020, he raised his arms in celebration before the finish at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic, only to see Slovenian Primoz Roglic effectively beating him to the line. The Frenchman was then disqualified for deviating from his sprint line.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Pogacar claims fourth stage win to extend lead as fourth title looms
LOUDENVIELLE, France, July 18 (Reuters) - Tadej Pogacar continued his charge towards an anticipated fourth Tour de France title when he stretched his overall lead to over four minutes by winning the 13th stage, a lung-busting 10.9-km uphill time trial on Friday. The defending champion dominated the eight-kilometre climb at 7.9% to clock 23 minutes and beat Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by a massive 36 seconds, a day after dealing a significant blow to his closest rival in the first major mountain stage in the Pyrenees. Fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic took third place, 1:40 off the pace, while Belgian Remco Evenepoel hung on to third place overall by the skin of his teeth following a disappointing effort that saw him finish 2:39 behind Pogacar. After his fourth stage win in this year's race, UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider Pogacar leads Vingegaard by 4:07 and Evenepoel by 7:24. German Florian Lipowitz showed great form again and trails Evenepoel by six seconds. Pogacar picked a regular road bike for the solo effort against the clock while Evenepoel and Vingegaard opted for a time trial bike - heavier but with better aerodynamics. It was quickly clear that regardless of those calculations, Pogacar was again the strongest rider as he posted the best time on the brief flat portion ahead of the main ascent before further extending his advantage. "I'm super happy. This time trial was a question mark for me back in December. I wanted everything to be perfect, and the team delivered - everything was on point," he told reporters. "I was targeting to go all out from start to finish. I almost blew up at the end, but when I saw I was going to win at the finish, it gave me an extra push." The 26-year-old said it had been a close call between the road and the TT bike, but in the end he chose the most comfortable ride. "The biggest decision was which bike to ride today. Obviously, we ride road bikes all year round, but we did the calculations and the time ended up about the same. So I decided to go with what I felt more confident on." Pogacar went full gas from the start. "My tactic was simple: go all out from the bottom to the top," he said. "At the first time check, I saw I was five seconds ahead - that gave me confidence. The second split was even better," he explained. "Basically, I was trying not to blow up in the first part. I almost did in the end - maybe in the last kilometre. From 3 to 2 km to go, I reset a bit because that last kick is super steep." Pogacar will now go for a hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday, when the 14th stage will take the peloton from Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres with the awe-inspiring climbs of the Col d'Aspin, Col du Tourmalet, Col de Peyresourde before the final ascent, a 12.4-km effort at 7.3%.
