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The Australian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Tadej Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time
Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France in a rainy Paris, crushing his rivals to rack up a fourth title. Wout van Aert won the final-day cliffhanger on the cobbled roads of Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge when the weather forced organisers to neutralise times to avoid potential accidents. However Pogacar more than played his part on the final in a six-man breakaway during a thrilling finale before Belgian Van Aert pulled away on the last climb. 'I was really happy they neutralised the times of the GC (general classification),' Pogacar said. 'Then it was more relaxed to race and you just had to have good legs to be in front. I tried but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong. It was a really nice race.' Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France. Picture: AFP Runner-up Jonas Vingegaard was unable to contend with Pogacar, but the winner praised the Dane for having helped him improve over the years. 'I spoke to Jonas today. We've been racing each other for five years now and we have raised each other to a higher level,' Pogacar said. Despite the rain, tens of thousands of spectators packed Montmartre to follow Pogacar's progress up and down the narrow lanes of the popular tourist spot. Tadej Pogacar again proved untouchable in the world's greatest bike race. Picture: Getty Images He played to the delighted crowds by racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb before Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the finish line on the Champs-Elysees avenue. Pogacar was fourth on the day but after wins in 2020, 2021 and 2024, he again proved untouchable in the world's greatest bike race. Vingegaard, the champion in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4min 24sec adrift. 'We came out fighting in the first week and after stage five I felt I had the legs to win. It was clinched in the second week,' Pogacar said. Tadej Pogacar (centre) celebrates on the podium with Jonas Vingegaard (left), and third-placed Florian Lipowitz. Picture: AFP Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third. Defending his title, Pogacar embarked from the start in Lille as clear favourite and won four stages along the way. In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne. He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees in week two with his rivals as good as vanquished. Vingegaard suffered on the stage-five time trial, and again in the second week at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him. In need of a massive turn around in the Alps, Pogacar adopted mature tactics and sat on his rival's wheel. After it was all over, a radiant Pogacar said he could finally relax. 'Everybody has different ideas about how to celebrate. I want some peace and beautiful weather, enjoying some quiet days at home,' he said. A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars. Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall. The pair came first and second in the white jersey battle for the best under-25 rider adding hopes of a new rivalry on the race. Ireland's Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey. Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public. The return of Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team's Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion. Having previously masterminded seven overall Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team's Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps to win two stages. France's sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux when Valentin Paret-Peintre won an enthralling war of attrition with Healy. The 2025 Tour though will be remembered for Pogacar's all-round dominance, where he adopted a more measured
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Sport
- Times of Oman
Pogacar crowned Tour de France champion for fourth time
Paris: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) gatecrashed Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar's party as the Belgian put in a monster ride through Montmartre to deny the Slovenian a fifth stage win in the new-look Paris finale. On Sunday, Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was unable to match the Belgian's massive attack on the third and final ascent of the Butte de Montmartre in a sodden Stage 21 of the Tour in the French capital. World champion Pogacar could still raise his arms to the skies on the Champs-Elysees - not to celebrate his fourth place in the stage, but his fourth Tour triumph. Italy's Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana) pipped Slovenia's Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) for second place in an absorbing final stage, which was livened by torrential rain and three laps on a similar lumpy loop that made the Paris 2024 Olympic Road race so memorable last summer, as per a press release. Van Aert's first stage win on the Tour since 2022 came after his American team-mate Matteo Jorgenson put in a series of accelerations to soften up the six-man leading group ahead of the decisive climb up the 1.1km ascent of the Rue Lepic. With times for the general classification taken after the initial four loops of the traditional Champs-Elysees circuit, Pogacar had no need to push for a fifth win. But the 26-year-old did the yellow jersey proud by going all-out for his 22nd career stage win on the Tour. Pogacar had attacked on the previous two climbs in Montmartre, and the race leader looked to have made the decisive move with another acceleration on the final climb. But as Ballerini slipped back the same way as Jorgenson, Mohoric and Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling), Van Aert not only drew level with Pogacar but then achieved something no one else has managed in the past three weeks: drop the four-time champion on a climb. Van Aert held a five-second advantage over the summit - a lead which grew as he threw caution to the wind on the technical descent back into central Paris, while his pursuer Pogacar decided to sit up and wait for reinforcements. Victory for Van Aert was the tenth time the Belgian had won a stage on the Tour - but the first since 2022, thanks to a series of injuries that have hampered his performances. "It was a special day out - and really special to win here on the Champs-Elysees again, and on the first occasion where we climbed to Montmartre," the 30-year-old Wout said. "The rain made it quite sketchy, but I managed to stay upright, and I had the full support of my teammates. I really have to thank them for continuing to believe in me." "They helped me control this race so that I could leave it all out there on the last climb. It was our plan, and it worked. I came close a few times [earlier in the Tour], but I was quite far off on several occasions. Yesterday, I wasn't good enough to even make the breakaway." "The hardest thing was to keep the belief, but because people around me were able to do it, I could as well," he concluded. A second stage win for his Visma-Lease a Bike team - following Simon Yates's victory in the Massif Central - was just reward for a team which did itself proud despite being unable to deliver Jonas Vingegaard to a third win, according to Wout. "We came here with the ambition to win the yellow jersey, but the strongest rider in the race and the biggest rider in the world, Tadej Pogacar, won it," said Wout. "We tried to give him competition, and I am proud of how we tried to beat him. We had a great group, and we won the team classification, so we should be proud," he added. Pogacar might have missed out on a final-day bonanza in the City of Light, but he nevertheless joins British legend Chris Froome on four Tour titles and moves within one of the outright record of five shared by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. With the final times for the general classification taken 50km from the finish because of the severe weather, there were no changes in the final top 10 in Paris. Pogacar won the 112th edition of the Tour by 4'24" over Denmark's Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), whose two Tour wins in 2022 and 2023 now seem like a distant memory. Germany's Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) joined Pogacar and Vingegaard on the final podium after an impressive debut Tour saw the 24-year-old take third place at 11'00" and the white jersey. Scotland's Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) was fourth and Austria's Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) fifth. "It was a great decision by the organisers to neutralise the stage because no one had to risk anything and it was fair play," Pogacar said. "I gave it a go because I was on the front. But Wout was incredibly strong today, and he did an amazing attack on the top of the climb, and he deserved this big, big win," he added. In a dominating display of his all-round invincibility this July, Pogacar won four stages and secured the polka dot jersey as the race's best climber. He also finished second in the green jersey standings, won by the Italian Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who won two sprint stages in his debut appearance. The world champion moved into the yellow jersey for the first time after finishing behind Belgium's Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in the Stage 5 individual time trial at Caen, one day after he notched his first stage win on the punchy finish at Rouen. Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took back the yellow jersey one day later in Vire Normandie, before Pogacar's victory at Mur-de-Bretagne saw him back in the maillot jaune. Stage 6 winner Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) kept the jersey warm for Pogacar for two stages after the Irishman starred in the day's breakaway on Bastille Day. Pogacar then started the second week of the race with a bang, winning back-to-back stages in the Pyrenees and moving back into yellow at Hautacam in Stage 12. The 26-year-old Slovenian extended his lead in the Peyragudes mountain time trial before riding in a more measured manner in the Alps - eschewing extra stage wins for defensive riding that nevertheless saw his lead over Vingegaard stretch to almost four and a half minutes. "I am super happy that it is over. But I quite enjoyed the whole Tour, and I think I will maybe already miss it next week. It was a pleasure to be here, to wear this yellow jersey, to ride with my team-mates and fight against all my opponents," Pogacar said. It remains to be seen if Pogacar will join his big rival Vingegaard at the start of the Vuelta a Espana next month, with the four-time champion showing clear signs of fatigue in the third week. "Let us take one week off first. I want to enjoy some summer days - I want some hots days, but without the suffering on the bike. So, let's take a week off and we will see afterwards," he said, keeping his options open. A long season has already seen Pogacar win Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the sprint, as well as come second behind Van der Poel in his debut Paris-Roubaix. But it was at the Vuelta in 2019 where Pogacar exploded onto the scene - winning three stages on his way to a third-place finish in his debut Grand Tour - and victory in Spain would see Pogacar complete his clean sweep of Grand Tour victories a week before he turned 27. Should he do so, he would become only the eighth rider in history to achieve the Treble, and the first since Froome in 2018.
News Lens
2 days ago
- Sport
- News Lens
2025環法自由車賽：Pogacar 6年內奪第4冠，奧運雙金得主Evenepoel退賽稱「感到疲憊是可以的」 - TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網
2025年環法自由車賽於昨（27）日落幕，第21站由沃特・范・阿爾特（Wout van Aert）獲勝擊敗強敵，在主將喬納斯・溫格高（Jonas Vingegaard）身陷苦戰之際為車隊畫下完美句點。而冠軍塔德伊・波加薩爾（Tadej Pogačar）不僅在6年間4度奪下冠軍，本屆更是同時穿上象徵登山點積分王的「紅點衫」。2025環法有哪些值得回顧的亮點，本篇為您整理！ 2025年環法自由車賽（Tour de France）於昨（27）日落幕，總成績排行榜由UAE Emirates-XRG（UAD）車隊的主將塔德伊・波加薩爾（Tadej Pogačar）以4分24秒的差距擊敗TVL的喬納斯・溫格高（Jonas Vingegaard）奪得冠軍，是其自2020年來首次參賽後的第6次冠軍。 為期23天的21站賽事中，波加薩爾在第4站奪下職業生涯的第100個勝利後，同天便穿上代表總成績排行榜（G eneral Classification, GC）第1名的黃衫，雖然途中短暫地遭到超越，他仍在本屆環法推進自身擁有黃衫的紀錄達到54天。 而GC榜上最具競爭力的溫格高，雖曾在2022、23年度擊敗Pogacar獲得環法冠軍，但在2024年初的環巴斯克嚴重摔車後，連兩年在環法屈居亞軍。對於如此強勁且難以擊敗的對手，溫格高受訪表示「我感覺比2024年好上許多，Pogacar是最強的車手，他值得這個勝利。有時，你必須接受」。 出人意料的Alpecin車隊：短暫的黃衫與驚人的表現 以賈斯珀·菲利普森（Jasper Philipsen）極具特色和爭議的衝刺能力和「單日賽王者」馬修·范德普爾（Mathieu van der Poel）著名的歐倍青－迪歐尼克車隊（Alpecin-Deceuninck）車隊，在首站激烈的競爭中，擊敗去年的衝刺綠衫得主比尼亞姆·格爾梅（Biniam Girmay）奪下勝利。 首站的單站冠軍，不僅是比利時車手Philipsen在4屆環法以來的個人第10勝，更是穿上生涯首件黃衫。然而，好景不常，Philipsen在第3站便因嚴重摔車導致鎖骨、肋骨骨折，不得不宣布退出比賽。 不過，其出身於自行車世家的隊友范德普爾在首週展現極具競爭力的表現，不僅在第2站接手穿上黃衫，第6站時以一秒之差二度穿上黃衫，更於第9站因隊友Jonas Rickaert一句「想站上頒獎台」而與其一同突圍長達174公里，在主集團強力的追擊下，以50.013公里的時速成為環法史上第二快的一站。 最終，歐倍青－迪歐尼克車隊在本屆環法奪下3個單站勝利，菲利普森與范德普爾分別短暫的穿上黃衫，即使前者因摔車、後者因感冒導致肺炎而最終皆未完賽，兩人仍成功以精彩的表現，展現自身的實力與企圖心。 奧運雙金得主兩度摔車後疲於恢復，「作為普通人是被允許的」 2024年環法獲得最佳年輕車手肯定的雷姆科・埃文內普爾（Remco Evenepoel）在2024年奧運公路、計時賽奪下雙金後，在本屆環法的第5站個人計時賽終以16秒的差距擊敗波加薩爾奪下單站勝利，並在總成績排行榜中保持絕佳的名次。 然而，在2024年底訓練時發生車禍重摔後，身為快布車隊（Soudal–Quick-Step, SOQ）的主將，埃文內普爾被迫盡快恢復訓練以備戰即將展開的賽季。第13站，極大坡度的個人計時賽中埃文內普爾出乎意料的遭到晚兩分鐘出發的溫格高「倒追」，最終以落後2分36秒差距完賽。 第十四站途中，埃文內普爾宣布退出比賽，放棄當時為居GC第三以及最佳年輕車手的榮譽。經過多天沉澱，他在個人社群發文表示近期兩次的意外導致身體並未達到最佳狀態，在拼盡全力後必須做出如此「艱難但正確的決定」。 「感到疲憊是可以的，成為一位普通人是可以的。有時，退一步反而是你能做的最堅強的事。」埃文內普爾聲明中表示。 「單飛」好手班·希利獲敢鬥賞，綠衫、白衫得主首次參賽獲佳績 擅於發動長距離突擊的英孚教育－易郵車隊（EF Eduacation Easypost, EFE）車手，愛爾蘭國家冠軍班·希利（Ben Healy）在第6站最後40公里進攻，一人對抗領先集團的追擊，奪下生涯首座單站冠軍。第10站，希利同樣展現積極的企圖心，於逃脫集團不斷拉開分差，當天GC排名一舉躍升至10名穿上黃衫，最終更奪下本屆「敢鬥賞」。 在衝刺與最佳年輕車手部分，最終皆由首次參賽的車手拿下。代表衝刺積分居冠的綠衫，由 利多－崔克車隊（Lidl–Trek, LTK） 車隊的義大利籍衝刺好手Jonathan Milan拿下，他不僅在第8、第17站奪得單站冠軍，衝刺積分更是自第3站便登上首位。 象徵25歲以下最佳年輕車手的白衫，則在埃文內普爾宣布退出比賽後有重大變化，紅牛－博拉－漢斯格雅車隊（RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE, RBH）車隊的德國籍車手弗洛里安·利波維茲（Florian Lipowitz）雖未能取得單站勝利，但自13站後便持續穩坐GC榜上第三位，也使得車隊變換戰術，由35歲老將普里莫茲・羅格里奇（Primoz Roglic）擔任其「護衛」。 溫格高信心喊話「比賽尚未結束」，范・阿爾特為車隊畫下美好句點 2021年是溫格高第一次參加環法自由車賽，當時他以總排第二之姿強勢完賽，至此，他與波加薩爾變包辦了近5屆環法的冠亞軍，即使在2024年初摔車傷及肋骨與肺部後，他仍被視為「唯一」能與波加薩爾抗衡的「外星人」。 然而，在第5站33公里的個人計時賽中，溫格高以落後單站冠軍埃文內普爾1分21秒的成績完賽，與波加薩爾的總成績差距更拉開到1分13秒。賽後，溫格高坦言狀況不佳，並表示是艱難的一天，「我的腿使不上力，沒什麼好說的」，但仍對總冠軍抱有希望。 第一個休息日後的連續大山站與登山個人計時賽，雖然溫格高仍展現極高的水準，甚至在第13站「倒追」奧運雙金得主埃文內普爾，但仍不敵波加薩爾的單站冠軍減秒獎勵、計時賽的分差，以及登山站中一點一滴損失的時間，在第二週結束時的差距來到4分13秒。 賽程進入第三週時，兩人表現並未出現明顯差距，但溫格高的攻擊和TVL車隊的戰術始終無法奏效，未能如願在又長又陡的18、19站扳回戰局。直到最後，溫格高受訪時皆表示「雖然無法搶下秒差，但比賽尚未結束」，對於自己與團隊的能力表示信任與肯定。 最終，溫格高以4分24秒的分差奪下亞軍，未能阻止波加薩爾的二度衛冕。對於一個月後的環西班牙提問，他表示目前相較於去年的狀態好上許多，會在短暫休息後持續備戰。 在最後的第21站，比利時籍隊友沃特・范・阿爾特（Wout van Aert）在最後6.5公里處的石板路上坡發動攻擊，成功甩開波加薩爾，不僅在極具意義的巴黎香榭麗舍大道奪下個人環法的第10次單站勝利，更為TVL車隊畫下本屆環法最好的句點。 波加薩爾獨霸環法，高山站無人能敵 本屆環法不同以往慣例，不僅直到第11天才規劃休息日，第一週的賽事更是以平地衝刺站為主，賽前各界預期總成績排行的黃衫之爭將在入山後展開。出乎意料地，奪冠熱門人選溫格高與波加薩爾在開賽之初便展現極高的企圖心。 第四站波加薩爾在最後衝線階段擊敗范德普爾，不僅奪下本屆環法首勝，更是其生涯第100個單站勝利。第7站波加薩爾同樣在終點前的上坡發動進攻，擊敗溫格高拿下單站冠軍並重新穿回黃衫。 休息日後首座大山的第12站，以及第13站計時賽，波加薩爾仍保持強勁的實力，一舉從溫格高身上搶下2分10秒及36秒的決定性差距。 截至本屆環法結束，他共在GC排行榜中位居首位達到54天，在環法男子自行車史上排行第5。環法單站冠軍方面也進帳4座來到20座，更同時穿上代表登山點積分王的紅點衫。 而波加薩爾與溫格高自2020年包辦環法冠亞軍後，奪下總冠軍的比數來到4比2。兩人「統治」自行車界最高層級賽事－環法自由車賽的現象，也引發各界對於車隊資金、資源落差懸殊的討論，在Netflix製作的三季紀錄片中，許多車隊對此表達了看法。 2025最後一場大環賽——環西班牙——將於8月23日至9月14日舉行，奪下環義粉紅衫的TVL車隊是否能再下一城？環法冠軍所在的UAD又會派出哪些精銳選手參賽，又或是劍指9月21日至28日於盧安達首都吉佳利（Kigali）舉行的世錦賽呢？ 另一方面，奪下本屆環法首站冠軍的賈斯珀·菲利普森（Jasper Philipsen），受邀來台參加「環法自行車挑戰賽」（L'Étape du Tour de France），賽事將在10月18日於南投日月潭登場，屆時其恢復狀況如何，備受關注。 資料來源 Official website of Tour de France 2025 延伸閱讀 【加入關鍵評論網會員】每天精彩好文直送你的信箱，每週獨享編輯精選、時事精選、藝文週報等特製電子報。還可留言與作者、記者、編輯討論文章內容。立刻點擊免費加入會員！ 核稿編輯：翁世航
LeMonde
2 days ago
- Climate
- LeMonde
Tadej Pogacar, a Tour de France champion weary of his own dominance
Tadej Pogacar ruled over the 2025 Tour de France unchallenged, to the point of letting boredom creep in. Supremacy, when it faces no opposition, quickly becomes routine. During the final stage of this 112 th edition, between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris on Sunday, July 27, one rival, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), finally managed to crack this undisputed reign. The Slovenian could have ended these three weeks of racing with another victory. He could have become the first yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1982 to raise his arms in triumph on the Champs-Elysées. But the 30-year-old Belgian took a solo win, pulling away on the steepest gradients of Rue Lepic, under pouring rain and on slippery cobblestones. "He was incredibly strong," acknowledged the leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who ultimately finished fourth, 19 seconds behind the day's winner. Sunday made clear that a champion only truly fulfills himself when threatened. All it took was a day with little at stake – in which the general classification times were frozen 50.3 kilometers from the finish due to rain – for something resembling a battle to finally emerge, after a week in which Pogacar seemed to have lost his appetite for victory.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Peerless Pogacar claims fourth Tour title, Van Aert wins brutal final stage
PARIS, July 27 (Reuters) - Tadej Pogacar claimed his fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, cementing his status as the most dominant rider of his generation and moving alongside Britain's Chris Froome on the all-time winners' list. The 26-year-old Slovenian, who triumphed in 2020, 2021 and 2024, delivered a near-flawless performance, even coming close to prevailing on a spectacular final stage on the Champs Elysees after an epic duel with Belgian Wout van Aert. "Just speechless to win a fourth Tour de France. Six years in a row on the podium and this one feels especially amazing, and I'm super proud that I can wear this yellow jersey," Pogacar, who was second in 2022 and 2023, said. Pogacar attacked relentlessly in the ascents of the Butte Montmartre but eventually suffered a brutal counterpunch from Van Aert, who went solo to win the last stage. The competitive element was largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions in driving rain. It did not prevent Pogacar from going for it, however, but Van Aert proved to be the best on the day, beating Italian Davide Ballerini and third-placed Matej Mohoric with Pogacar taking fourth place. The world champion effectively sealed his victory in the Pyrenees, with a brutal attack on the climb to Hautacam and a commanding victory in the uphill individual time trial, leaving chief rival Jonas Vingegaard more than four minutes behind. Twice champion Vingegaard of Denmark ended up 4:24 off the pace in Paris. German Florian Lipowitz finished third, 11:00 behind Pogacar, on his Tour debut and won the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider. "This was one of the hardest Tours I've ever been in," Pogacar said. The celebrations turned tense on Sunday when the final stage featured three climbs up Montmartre. Times had been neutralised some 50km from the finish due to slippery roads, but a fierce fight for the stage win still unfolded. Pogacar equalled Froome (2013, 2015–17) and now only trails cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, who share the record with five titles. Pogacar also secured the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification, underlining his all-round dominance, while Italy's Jonathan Milan clinched the green jersey for the points competition. For Ineos Grenadiers, the once all-conquering team that ruled the 2010s with victories by Bradley Wiggins, Froome and Geraint Thomas, there was little to celebrate beyond two stage wins by Thymen Arensman. Thomas, a former champion, rode his last Tour in virtual anonymity, as the British team continues to face questions amid doping allegations reported in recent weeks. As tradition dictates, riders entered Paris in celebratory mood, but the finale proved anything but routine with the Montmartre climbs spicing up the closing laps.
