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Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Ben O'Connor conquers Col de la Loze to take stage 18 of Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar stretches advantage in yellow
On the mountain where Pogacar famously cracked in 2023 as Jonas Vingegaard rode away to his second Tour crown, Pogacar was the one gaining time two years later as a late dig at the summit saw him add 11 seconds to an overall lead that now stands at four minutes 26 seconds over Vingegaard. Oscar Onley, the 22-year-old Scot, hung with the two main favourites until the last 500 metres of this brutal 171.5km stage from Vif which took in three hors categorie climbs, gaining 39 seconds on Florian Lipowitz to move to within 22 seconds of the podium with one mountain stage left. Stage honours belonged to O'Connor, who attacked on the valley road between the Col de la Madeleine and the final climb, leaving Einer Rubio behind 16km from the summit of this 26km long climb with double digit gradients and hail awaiting the riders on the narrow bike path to the summit. The Australian came to this Tour targeting the general classification but saw those hopes dashed by injuries sustained in a stage-one crash, and has had to recalibrate his ambitions to realise his second career Tour stage win, and first since 2021. "(The Tour) is a rough race," O'Connor said. "It's the biggest race in the world but for sure it's the cruellest. I've wanted another victory for so many years now, I've had a lot of thirds and fourths, so close. "I couldn't be more proud of myself and the boys that have backed me every single day this whole race, even in the pretty rough times." Ireland's Ben Healy came in 17th on the stage and remains ninth overall. The penultimate mountain stage of this Tour was another opportunity for Vingegaard's Visma-Lease A Bike team to try to isolate Pogacar, and they made their first big moves on the Madeleine. Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG lieutenants fell away but recovered before the climb up through Courcheval. Vingegaard tried a late attack but it was Pogacar who came over the top to edge closer to a fourth career Tour crown. "Today was brutal," Vingegaard said. "Five hours in the saddle. I'm not sure I've ever done such a hard stage in the Tour. I felt good, we had big plans, you could see that. We tried to go early and we did but unfortunately we could not gain any time. "The team were amazing. I want to thank my team-mates. I think we were pretty equal, (Pogacar) took a few seconds in the end but the Tour is not over." Lipowitz, sitting third overall in the best young rider's white jersey, had tried to stretch his advantage with solo moves but he was caught by the main favourites with nine kilometres left, allowing Onley to eat into his advantage and move within touching distance of the podium. "It was hard," Onley said in his usual understated fashion. "Visma set a hard pace and I just did what I could...(Twenty-two seconds), that's not much so we'll give it everything tomorrow."
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Tadej Pogacar stretches advantage in yellow at he Tour de France; Ben Healey stays ninth
Ben Healey remains ninth in general classification at the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar conquered his demons on the Col de la Loze to stretch his advantage in yellow as Ben O'Connor won stage 18. On the mountain where Pogacar famously cracked in 2023 as Jonas Vingegaard rode away to his second Tour crown, Pogacar was the one gaining time two years later as a late dig at the summit saw him add 11 seconds to an overall lead that now stands at four minutes 26 seconds over Vingegaard. Oscar Onley, the 22-year-old Scot, hung with the two main favourites until the last 500 metres of this brutal 171.5km stage from Vif which took in three hors categorie climbs, gaining 39 seconds on Florian Lipowitz to move to within 22 seconds of the podium with one mountain stage left. Stage honours belonged to O'Connor, who attacked on the valley road between the Col de la Madeleine and the final climb, leaving Einer Rubio behind 16km from the summit of this 26km long climb with double digit gradients and hail awaiting the riders on the narrow bike path to the summit. The Australian came to this Tour targeting the general classification but saw those hopes dashed by injuries sustained in a stage-one crash, and has had to recalibrate his ambitions to realise his second career Tour stage win, and first since 2021. Healey (EF Education-EasyPost) lost nearly eight minutes to Pogačar on stage 18, but holds ninth – partially aided by the abandon of Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers). Healey is now 25:41 off the Slovenian in the race lead. The penultimate mountain stage of this Tour was another opportunity for Vingegaard's Visma-Lease A Bike team to try to isolate Pogacar, and they made their first big moves on the Madeleine. Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG lieutenants fell away but recovered before the climb up through Courcheval. Vingegaard tried a late attack but it was Pogacar who came over the top to edge closer to a fourth career Tour crown.
NBC Sports
13-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Visma looking to force UAE mistakes on Stage 10
Brent Bookwalter and Tejay Van Garderen look ahead to a hilly Stage 10 of the 2025 Tour de France, where Visma-Lease A Bike will lean on Matteo Jorgenson and their depth to force mistakes from UAE Team Emirates XRG.
Qatar Tribune
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Evenepoel wins stage five time trial
PA Media/DPA London Remco Evenepoel won the stage five time trial at the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar seized yellow and saw his rival Jonas Vingegaard lose more than a minute on the roads around Caen. Evenepoel, the world and Olympic time trial champion, had talked up his chances of victory on this stage and delivered, if not by the margin needed to make good on his suggestion he could take yellow himself. The Belgian completed the largely flat 33 kilometre course in 36 minutes and 42 seconds, an average speed of 54kmh, to win by 16 seconds from Pogacar. With Mathieu van der Poel, who started the day on the same overall time as Pogacar, only 18th on the day, Pogacar pulled on the yellow jersey with Evenepoel his closest challenger, 42 seconds down. The Slovenian, chasing a fourth Tour title, leads the general classification as well as the king of the mountains race and the points classification. 'It's a very good day and I'm happy,' he said. 'The most important one is yellow but the most important thing is to have it on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, now is not that important.' The big surprise was Vingegaard, who never looked comfortable and clocked only the 13th best time, 38 minutes and three seconds, to drop to fourth overall, a minute and 13 seconds off Pogacar and behind third-placed Kevin Vauquelin. The Dane had been racing aggressively in the opening stages, the only man who could live with Pogacar's first big attack late on Tuesday, but this raised major questions over the two-time Tour winner's ability to challenge over the next two and a half weeks. Instead the focus may shift to Evenepoel, third overall last year, who claimed a second career Tour stage win after his victory on the stage seven time trial to Gevrey-Chambertin last summer. The Belgian has long had this day - one of only two time trials in this year's Tour with the second a mountainous test in the Pyrenees - circled on his calendar and grabbed his opportunity. Although he was behind some of the early runners on the first two intermediate splits, that was perhaps explained by an increase in the wind speeds, and when the headwind became a tailwind Evenepoel's advantage quickly built. 'I think I paced it perfectly, everything was on point so I'm super happy,' Evenepoel said. 'Today is a first step to put in a good (general classification) result in Paris but it's not where the Tour ends of course, everybody knows what is to come next week and the week after, so there is still a long way to go but it's already very nice to have a stage win.' Visma-Lease A Bike's head of racing Grischa Niermann was the one to take the questions on Vingegaard's bad day, but offered few solid answers. 'Absolutely we didn't expect a loss of that much but it happened and we have to go from here,' he said. 'We will fight again tomorrow. We knew that Remco was the favourite and he won, rightfully so, but Jonas and Matteo (Jorgenson), we hoped for a better time.' Van der Poel dropped to sixth, but the Dutchman will have his eyes on the next two days, not least Friday's stage to the Mur-de-Bretagne, where he won on the Tour's last visit in 2021.
Gulf Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Pogacar reaches 100th-career win mark with victory in fourth stage of Tour de France
Reigning champion Tadej Pogacar overtook race leader Mathieu van der Poel just before the line to win stage four of the Tour de France on Tuesday, and is now level at the top of the general classification after earning his 100th career victory. The 174.2km ride from Amiens to Rouen came down to a sprint finish between the top three in the overall standings, with the Slovenian world champion getting the better of the Dutchman, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) coming in third. Pogacar, the world champion, tried to go it alone, and while Van der Poel retains the yellow jersey, the three-times Tour de France champion hit his milestone win, along with joining the Dutchman at the top of the leaderboard. 'To win at the Tour is incredible, in this jersey even more, and to have 100 victories is amazing,' Pogacar said. A breakaway group of four riders -- Lenny Martinez, Jonas Abrahamsen, Thomas Gachignard and Kasper Asgreen -- got away early but the peloton, led by Van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team, kept them well within reach. The action was always going to come in the closing 50km, with five categorised climbs packed into the finale, and Martinez was the last to be caught with 20km remaining, shortly after a crash had brought down several riders in the bunch. Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates took control at the front coming to the penultimate climb, before Visma-Lease a Bike took over, pushing hard on the descent, as anticipation grew for a late attack. When it came on the final climb, it was the expected break from Pogacar, but he was unable to shake off two-times champion Vingegaard, and the pair were joined by five other riders, including Van der Poel, to set up a high-stakes finish. Van der Poel went first, looking for his second stage win in three days, but Pogacar had the legs to overtake before the line, and made up the four seconds which separated the pair overall thanks to the stage win bonus. 'With so many good riders in the final, you're always a bit on the edge and nervous about what's going to happen,' Pogacar said. 'You never until the final, like today. You get this adrenaline. It's pure racing and I enjoy it.' Vingegaard and Pogacar have won the last five Tours between them, and the Dane remains third overall, eight seconds behind the leading pair. Meanwhile, Dutch cyclist Lorena Wiebes won the third stage of the women's Giro d'Italia on Tuesday, while Great Britain's Anna Henderson kept ahold of the overall leader's pink jersey. Wiebes of SD Worx sealed the 106th win of her career, completing the 122km run from Vezza d'Oglio to Trento in 2hrs 59mins 07secs. Briton Josie Nelson followed the 26-year-old in, with Belgian SD Worx rider Lotte Kopecky completing the podium. The stage, which began with an ascent up the Passo del Tonale, was marked by a massive crash due to the wet road surface less than 3km from the line, which cut the number of contenders for the sprint finish to just eight. 'Winning at the Giro d'Italia Women is always special, and this victory confirms how well the season is going,' said Wiebes. 'Lotte Kopecky and I were very lucky not to get caught in the crash, and then (team-mate) Barbara Guarischi did an exceptional job bringing us back to the front.' Stage two victor Henderson stayed top of the general classification by 13sec, although Switzerland's Marlen Reusser shaved 2sec off the Olympic time-trial silver medallist's advantage. Agencies
