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The Independent
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France stage 12 preview: Route map, profile and start time on blockbuster day of climbing as race enters Pyrenees
The 2025 Tour de France has more than delivered on drama in its opening week, from unexpected victors to Ben Healy staging an audacious raid to steal the yellow jersey off defending champion Tadej Pogacar 's shoulders. Wednesday's stage 11 featured a feelgood story as Jonas Abrahamsen, only four weeks on from breaking his collarbone at the Baloise Belgium Tour, jumped into the breakaway from kilometre zero and stayed away until the finish, winning a tight two-up sprint against breakaway companion and Tour debutant Mauro Schmid. It was a maiden grand tour win for the intrepid breakaway specialist - best known for his long stint in the king of the mountains jersey last year - a first Tour de France win for Norway since Alexander Kristoff won stage 1 of the 2020 edition, and a first for his team Uno X-Mobility, who were overcome with emotion as they celebrated. Abrahamsen and Schmid were part of a five-man group including British rider Fred Wright, who ultimately finished seventh, and who worked well together to hold off another quintet of chasers including Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. Van der Poel attacked on the final climb of the punchy 157km stage and dropped his companions, but despite his best efforts could not bridge across to the pair of survivors out front, who finished seven seconds ahead of the Dutchman. 'I broke my collarbone four weeks ago in [the Baloise] Belgium Tour, I was crying because I thought I wasn't riding the Tour de France,' Abrahamsen said at the finish, recalling how he got onto his turbo trainer at home the day after in a desperate bid to get back to fitness in time to make the squad. 'Every day I did everything I could to come back. To win a stage at the Tour de France is amazing. It was so difficult to pass [Schmid] but I was thinking, 'I have to win the stage'.' Stage 11 was also notable for a late crash by defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who overlapped wheels with Tobias Halland Johannessen and hit the deck with 4km to go. The Slovene was up and running quickly again as a neutral service mechanic helped fix his chain, but faced a race to get back onto the yellow jersey group until they sportingly knocked off the pace to allow him to get back on. 'I'm quite okay. I'm a bit beaten up, but we've been through worse days,' Pogacar said afterwards. 'Really big respect to everybody in front. Obviously the race was more or less over back there, but still, they could take time – maybe not take too much time – but I would need to go really deep to come back like this.' But after this opening week and a bit of skirmishing between the big guns, with Monday's stage 10 a test run for Visma-Lease a Bike's strategy of trying to isolate Pogacar as much as possible, the real racing kicks off today. That's because we finally reach the mountains: the riders are into the Pyrenees, with today's route spanning 180km from Auch to Hautacam, with 3,850m of elevation gain along the way. Four categorised climbs are on the menu: the cat-four Cote de Labatmale is a bit of a gentle warm-up, before back-to-back ascents of the cat-one Col du Soulor (11.8km at an average of 7.3%) and the cat-two Col des Borderes (3.1km at an average 7.7%), with just a short descent breaking the two up. There's then a long, broken-up descent off the Borderes before the gradient rises again up to Hautacam: 13.5km at an average of 7.8%, a far cry from the short, sharp climbs in Normandy and Brittany that littered the first week's action. The formidable Hautacam is the first hors-categorie climb of the race and it's a summit finish to boot, with plenty of points on offer in the King of the Mountains competition but more importantly, it may as well be bait for the marauding Pogacar to stamp his authority on the race, wrestle back the yellow jersey, and add to his already impressive haul of 19 Tour stage wins and counting. That's assuming he won't be feeling the aftereffects of his stage 11 crash, and if Jonas Vingegaard doesn't get the better of him on the Pyrenean slopes, as he has done before. Hautacam was where his team, then known as Jumbo-Visma, turned the screw on his Slovenian rival in 2022, with the Dane taking the stage victory at the top en route to winning the first of his two titles. With that rich recent history in mind, and plenty of needle between the two teams so far this race, today's stage should be an absolute cracker. Route map and profile Start time Stage 12 begins with the neutralised start at 1.10pm local time (12.10pm BST), with an expected finish time at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST). Prediction This is the first mountain battle of this year's Tour and it feels impossible that the general classification contenders will allow a breakaway to take the honours. Everything we've seen in this Tour so far points towards Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar being in a league of their own whenever the gradient kicks uphill. Visma-Lease a Bike will no doubt pile the pressure on Pogacar and his depleted team (key mountain lieutenant Joao Almeida abandoned the race on stage 10 after suffering a broken rib in a crash earlier in the week), especially after the Slovenian himself crashed late on stage 11 and may be feeling a little battered and bruised. But even with that said, it's hard to look beyond the best rider in the world, Tadej Pogacar, for the victory today: exorcising his ghosts from 2022 and wrestling the psychological momentum back from his rival's team.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Watch: ‘Israel out' protester runs on to Tour de France final straight
A protester wearing an 'Israel out of the Tour' T-shirt ran on to the final straight of stage 11 of the Tour de France. The demonstrator stormed on to the course around 50 metres from the finish line as Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen and Switzerland's Mauro Schmid were sprinting for victory. The protester was tackled into the crash barriers before he could reach the riders and was later photographed being detained by French police. Israel is being represented at the Tour through the Israel-Premier Tech team, although no riders from the country are competing in the race. The protest was the latest to erupt during a major sporting event following Israel's response to the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on the country. A day Abrahamsen and Uno-X Mobility will never forget 😍 Hear from Christian Andersen, Sports Director of Uno-X Mobility, after taking their first ever Tour de France stage win, and from Mauro Gianetti, CEO of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, following Pogačar's crash on Stage 11. — Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 16, 2025 A demonstration was staged outside Wimbledon on the first day of the Championships last month targeting tournament sponsor Barclays. It featured a damaged car with marks that appeared to represent bullet holes, which was surrounded by people waving Palestinian flags and placards reading: 'BARCLAYS SERVES ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE.' Days earlier, an Irish singer-songwriter shouted 'Free Palestine' during a performance before the British and Irish Lions' pre-tour warm-up match against Argentina in Dublin. Cian Ducrot began his set at the Aviva Stadium with his hit I'll be Waiting and finished his second song as players from both sides were returning to the changing rooms. Just as they left the pitch, the 27-year-old called out 'Free Palestine' in place of a lyric. In March, a Palestine flag was flown over Allianz Stadium by a drone during the Six Nations game between England and Italy. The group responsible, Palestine Action, said it targeted the match because Allianz insured Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest weapons manufacturers. Palestine Action had also targeted Turnberry, Donald Trump's Scottish golf course, digging up greens, spray-painting the clubhouse and daubing 'Gaza is not for sale' on the course in 10ft-high graffiti. The group has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation after its activists breached security at an air base to damage two RAF planes. In football, Paris St-Germain fans held up a 'Free Palestine' banner in November, while a female spectator threw leaflets with the same message on to the court at January's Australian Open match between Alex Zverev and Cameron Norrie. Peloton allows Pogacar to rejoin pack after crash By Reuters Defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar suffered a crash on stage 11. The Slovenian went down about five kilometres from the line after touching wheels with another rider but quickly remounted and the peloton eased off to allow the overall race favourite to rejoin. Pogacar thanked the group after crossing the finish line in Toulouse apparently unhurt and without losing time. 💥 THE WORLD CHAMPION GOES DOWN 💥 Tadej Pogacar is caught up in a crash... but his GC rivals wait for him to catch up in a great show of sportsmanship 🤝👏 — Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 16, 2025 'I'm quite okay, a bit beaten up, but we've been through worse days, so it's been a hectic day actually from start to finish,' the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader told reporters. 'In the end, I had a little bit of a crash, and thanks to the peloton in front, they actually waited, obviously the race was more or less over back there, but still, they could have taken time. 'Really big respect to everybody in front. Thanks for your support, guys.' Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) claimed his first Tour stage victory with Ireland's Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) retaining the yellow jersey.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tadej Pogačar crashes at Stage 11 of 2025 Tour de France
Jonas Abrahamsen of UCI ProTeam Uno-X Mobility came away with his first career Tour de France stage win on Wednesday. He was able to edge out Mauro Schmid of Jayco AlUla at the finish line. The two were ahead of Mathieu Van Der Poel, who didn't have enough to catch the two leaders (Abrahamsen and Schmid), finishing about seven seconds behind. For a moment, the story of the day wasn't Abrahamsen's first career stage win; it was a shocking crash that took place with just a few kilometers to go. Tadej Pogačar crashes at Tour de France Stage 11 With around 4km left in the stage, Tadej Pogačar was clipped by a passing rider, creating a single rider crash. Luckily, Pogačar avoided hitting his head and was able to get back on his feet fairly quickly. This could have been a more serious situation if the crash had played out differently. Pogačar could have lost time on competitors Jonas Vingegaard and current yellow jersey holder Ben Healey (general classification leader), but great sportsmanship was shown, as they waited for Pogačar to catch up with the group. Ireland's Ben Healy holds a 29-second lead over Pogačar heading into stage 12 tomorrow. MORE: How to watch Tour de France 2025: Full schedule, stages, times, TV channels, live streams, winners for cycling race
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Pogačar crashes and Abrahamsen wins stage in Tour de France
Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen attacked from the start and won the 11th stage of the Tour de France while race favorite Tadej Pogačar crashed near the finish on Wednesday. Pogačar, the three-time champion, crashed with 3.9 kilometers remaining. His rivals for the general classification slowed down so he could get back on his bike and rejoin them. Fortunately, he was able to reattach his chain and his bike was otherwise undamaged. Abrahamsen beat Swiss rider Mauro Schmid in a photo finish in a final sprint after Belgian-born Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel made a late push to catch them. It was the Norwegian rider's first stage win at the Tour and the first in this race for his team Uno-X Mobility. Van der Poel was 7 seconds behind in third while the GC group including Pogačar and yellow jersey-holder Ben Healy finished 3:28 back. Healy, only the fourth Irish rider ever to hold the yellow jersey, still leads by 29 seconds from Pogačar. After the first rest day on Tuesday, Wednesday's stage was a 156.8-kilometer loop from Toulouse back to the southern Pink City with views of the Pyrenees. It was expected to suit the sprinters, though there was a sting in the tail with a 20 percent incline on the Côte de Pech David before the finish. Abrahamsen attacked with 155 kilometers to go and was joined by Schmid and Davide Ballerini, prompting persistent attacks from the likes of Van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Victor Campenaerts. Ultimately, all their efforts were in vain. 'It's a crazy stage guys,' the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team riders were told over their radios, 'A crazy stage. Stay focused.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogačar crashes and Abrahamsen wins stage in Tour de France
TOULOUSE, France (AP) — Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen attacked from the start and won 11th stage of the Tour de France while race favorite Tadej Pogačar crashed near the finish on Wednesday. Pogačar, the three-time champion, crashed with 6 kilometers remaining. His rivals for the general classification slowed down so he could get back on his bike and rejoin them. Abrahamsen finished just ahead of Swiss rider Mauro Schmid by a photo finish in a final sprint between the two after Belgian rider Mathieu van der Poel made a late push to catch them. It's the Norwegian rider's first stage win at the Tour and the first in this race for his team, Uno-X Mobility. Van der Poel was 7 seconds behind in third, while the GC group including Pogačar and yellow jersey-holder Ben Healy finished 3:28 back. Healy still leads by 29 seconds from Pogačar. ___ AP sports: The Associated Press
