Latest news with #bunchsprint
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Milan wins Tour stage eight after bunch sprint
Italy's Jonathan Milan won stage eight of the Tour de France following a bunch sprint. Lidl Trek's Milan beat Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike on the flat 171.4km stage into Laval's Espace Mayenne. Advertisement Milan, 24, waited patiently in the wheels of Mathieu van der Poel and Kaden Groves, both of Alpecin-Deceuninck, in the final 200 metres before using his immense power to launch himself towards the line - with only Van Aert able to cling on behind. Australian Groves finished third. It was a quiet stage for the contenders for the overall leader's yellow jersey, which was retained by defending champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who leads Belgium's Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step by 54 seconds. Slovenian Pogacar's main rival for yellow, alongside Evenepoel, is two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, who currently sits one minute 17 seconds down in fourth in the general classification. Advertisement The fight for the green points jersey - usually won by a sprinter - now sees Milan taking over the lead with 192 points. Pogacar is second on 156, after the 26-year-old's points success in his two stage victories so far. Last year's green jersey winner Biniam Girmay of Eritrea is third on 124 points. "I still don't understand what we did," said Milan afterwards. "There were expectations, dreams to bring it home. "I was confident with the team. It was a bit stressful - I knew I had to wait as long as I could. We really deserve it." After what was quiet stage, until the sprint, in 30C (86F) heat, save for a few crashes on the way, the three-week race will finally begin to move south with stage nine's flat 174km sprint from Chinon to Chateauroux. Advertisement Chateauroux is unofficially known as 'Cavendish City' after Mark Cavendish's three wins there during his record-breaking career in which the sprinter won 35 Tour de France stages - the final one being last year before retiring. Stage eight results Jonathan Milan (Ita/Lidl-Trek) 3hrs 50mins 26secs Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) Same time Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel-Premier Tech) Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto) Tobias Lund Andresen (Den/Picnic-PostNL) Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro-cycling) Vincenzo Albanese (Ita/EF Education-EasyPost) Stian Fredheim (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) General classification after stage eight
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Milan wins Tour stage eight after bunch sprint
Italy's Jonathan Milan won stage eight of the Tour de France following a bunch Trek's Milan beat Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike on the flat 171.4km stage into Laval's Espace 24, waited patiently in the wheels of Mathieu van der Poel and Kaden Groves, both of Alpecin-Deceuninck, in the final 200 metres before using his immense power to launch himself towards the line - with only Van Aert able to cling on Groves finished a distant was a quiet stage for the contenders for the overall leader's yellow jersey, which was retained by defending champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who leads Belgium's Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step by 54 seconds. Slovenian Pogacar's main rival for yellow, alongside Evenepoel, is two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, who currently sits one minute 17 seconds down in fourth in the general fight for the green points jersey - usually won by a sprinter - now sees Milan taking over the lead with 192 points. Pogacar is second on 156, after the 26-year-old's points success in his two stage victories so year's green jersey winner Biniam Girmay of Eritrea is third on 124 points."I still don't understand what we did," said Milan afterwards. "There were expectations, dreams to bring it home."I was confident with the team. It was a bit stressful - I knew I had to wait as long as I could. We really deserve it."After what was quiet stage, until the sprint, in 30C (86F) heat, save for a few crashes on the way, the three-week race will finally begin to move south with stage nine's flat 174km sprint from Chinon to Chateauroux. Stage eight resultsJonathan Milan (Ita/Lidl-Trek) 3hrs 50mins 26secsWout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) Same timeKaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel-Premier Tech) Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto)Tobias Lund Andresen (Den/Picnic-PostNL)Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis)Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro-cycling) Vincenzo Albanese (Ita/EF Education-EasyPost) Stian Fredheim (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)General classification after stage eightTadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Emirates-XRG) 25hrs 58mins 4secsRemco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) +54secsKevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1min 11secsJonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 17secsMathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 29secsMatteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 34secsOscar Onley (GB/Picnic PostNL) +2mins 49secsFlorian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 2secsPrimoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe) +3mins 6secsMattias Skjelmose (Den) +3mins 43secs
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Tour de France - Milan wins first Tour stage in bunch sprint
Update: Date: 16:53 BST Title: What's on the menu for Sunday? Content: The race will travel 174.1km into Chateauroux on stage nine which should bring back some happy memories for Mark Cavendish fans. 'The Manx Missile' won three of his 35 stages in Chateauroux including his first back in 2008. And with a relatively simple parcours a bunch sprint will almost certainly be on the menu when the peloton embarks from the historic town of Chinon which is known for its wine. Update: Date: 16:47 BST Title: Almeida 'is a warrior' Content: Three-time winner and yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, speaking after stage eight: "It was very useful. I enjoyed it. It was very happy. I was happy Joao [Almeida] was there at the back. I was checking up on him, he was quite alright. "I think he has pain and when he stands up from the saddle he has a lot of pain but he is a warrior. He [Marc Soler] will be cranky at dinner tonight. We will make fun of him but he will be alright." Update: Date: 16:39 BST Title: General classification after stage eight Content: Update: Date: 16:34 BST Title: Milan the first Italian to win Tour stage since Nibali Content: Milan wins stage eight Jonathan Milan is the first Italian to win a stage at the Tour de France since Vincenzo Nibali's success in Val Thorens (stage 20 of the Tour 2019). That was 113 stages ago. Update: Date: 16:32 BST Title: 'I had to wait as long as I could' Content: Milan wins stage eight Stage eight winner Jonathan Milan: "I think I still don't understand what we did. To come with expectations and dreams and to bring them home are two different things. "Today we were really focussed and believing and my guys did an amazing job until the final. I was not expecting it dragging up so much. I knew I had to wait as long as I could. I am really happy for the work we did and we deserve it. The level is so high and everyone is looking. I am really happy with this result. I will try to rest as much as possible tonight and see what we can do tomorrow." Update: Date: 16:29 BST Title: Milan in charge in points classification Content: Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan is now on 192 points in the race for the green jersey. Tadej Pogacar is on 156 points with Binian Girmay a distant third on 124. Update: Date: 16:23 BST Title: Stage eight results Content: 1. Jonathan Milan (Ita/Lidl-Trek) 3hrs 50mins 26secs 2. Wout Van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) Same time 3. Kaden Groves (Aus/Alpecin-Deceuninck) " 4. Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel Premier Tech) " 5. Arnaud De Lie (Fra/Lotto) " 6. Tobias Lund Andresen (Den/Picnic PostNL) " 7. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) " 8. Alberto Dainese (Ita/Tudor Pro Cycling) " 9. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita/EF Education-EasyPost) " 10. Stian Fredheim (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) " Update: Date: 16:17 BST Title: Milan wins stage eight Content: Kaden Groves puts the hammer down but Jonathan Milan times his effort to perfection and outsprints Wout van Aert to win his first ever Tour de France stage. Update: Date: 500m to go Title: Post Content: Wout van Aert, Jonathan Milan and Kaden Groves get ready to launch... Update: Date: 1km to go Title: Post Content: Matteo Trentin hits the front. Update: Date: 1.5km to go Title: Post Content: Jonathan Milan is sat on Mathieu van der Poel's wheel. Kaden Groves is just behind. Update: Date: 2km to go Title: Post Content: Here we van Aert looks like he's fancying a dig at this today. Update: Date: 3km to go Title: Post Content: The peloton is strung out as Alpecin-Deceuninck lift the pace. Update: Date: 5km to go Title: Post Content: Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is dropped. Update: Date: 6km to go Title: Post Content: Kaden Groves is up near the front. The Australian sprinter who is very much stepping in for Jasper Philipsen is looking to complete the set having won stages in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana previously. Update: Date: 7km to go Title: Post Content: Wout van Aert makes his way onto the back of the Alpecin-Deceuninck train. Has the Belgian all-rounder got something special up his sleeve? Update: Date: 8km to go Title: Post Content: Lidl-Trek are up front trying to set this up for Jonathan Milan. Jonas Vingegaard has remained right at the front of the race today being super vigilant. Update: Date: 9km to go Title: Post Content: Mathieu Burgaudeau is caught as Tim Merlier makes it back on. How much has that taken out of his legs? Update: Date: 11km to go Title: Post Content: Michael Woods' bike slides out from under him on a roundabout. He had a puncture there by the looks of it. Now Krists Neilands has a puncture as well. The Israel-Premier Tech team car is being kep busy. Update: Date: 12.5km to go Title: Post Content: Mathieu Burgaudeau goes solo as Tim Merlier, who is Soudal–Quick-Step's main sprinter, has an untimely mechanical.
Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Unknown Brit Joe Blackmore keeping pace with Tour de France leaders
I watched the finish of the third stage on an iPhone about 500 metres from the end on Rue de la Cunette in Dunkirk. It was a bunch sprint, and a good one as it turned out, Tim Merlier just edging out Jonathan Milan. Instead of being there to see it live, I waited by the team buses to see what Joe Blackmore looks like. Admit it, you are thinking, 'Joe who?' Take a look at the general classification after three stages. Blackmore, a 22-year-old in his first Tour, sits in seventh place, 41 seconds behind race leader Mathieu van der Poel. From Sidcup in southeast London, Blackmore learnt to ride on the track at Herne Hill and became a reasonably accomplished mountain biker and gravel racer. He also did a bit of road racing. A decent rider for sure but not seen by anyone, except perhaps himself, as a future star.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: stage-by-stage guide to this year's race
The climbs of Mont Cassel and Le Mont Noir won't be enough to split the peloton, so this is almost guaranteed to be a bunch sprint, unless it gets windy. A strong westerly would make this a nightmare with more than 140km of crosswinds, but if it stays calm it's a first big test for Jasper Philipsen, Tim Merlier and the other fast men. For the favourites, a first day of trying to stay upright. A punchy finale: three steep little hills in the final 30km, and a climb to the finish. There will be a selection here, with a strong chance of crashes as the riders battle for position before the climbs. This stage has Mathieu van der Poel or Wout van Aert written on it and even more stress than day one for Tadej Pogacar and company. The chances are at least one favourite ends their race here. A third very accessible day for UK fans, another ascent of Cassel, but the safe money is on a bunch sprint in Dunkirk, famed among cycling fans for the Quatre Jours de Dunkerque stage race which actually lasts six days. The same proviso as day one: a westerly equals crosswinds on the final exposed 35km and splits in the field. These early days will be packed with crashes and tension, but Philipsen and company will be licking their lips. A welter of little hills in the finale including the Rampe Saint-Hilaire, a 750m 'wall' in the city centre, 5km from the finish; there will be huge stress for all the contenders trying to get in place for these. Evocatively, one of the late hills is the Côte de Bonsecours, where Jean Robic staged a final-day heist to win the 1947 Tour, but in the Pogacar era there's not much chance of a repeat. The first decisive day in the battle for the overall, a relatively long time trial on the rolling bocage north-east of Caen, largely on wide main roads that will suit the most powerful riders in the field. The favourites need to at least limit any losses; the winner should be a pure rouleur – the Italian Filippo Ganna, perhaps. If he's on form, Ineos should be targeting this stage and a possible spell in yellow. The Suisse Normande isn't widely known among cyclists now, but back in the day local amateurs spoke in awe of races over this area's leg-breaking climbs. The fun starts in the final 70km, with three third-category climbs, before a final little brute, the Côte de Vaudry, 4km from the finish. French fans will be hoping Julian Alaphilippe can throw back the years as this would have been made for him in his pomp. Day one in Brittany is more straightforward, passing Bernard Hinault's village of Yffiniac – 40 years since the Badger became the last French Tour winner – before two ascents of Mûr de Bretagne to conclude. The finish up the 'Wall' is harder than anything the race has tackled to date, and you'd expect Pogacar to make an early statement of intent, but it will also suit Van der Poel, winner here in 2021. The start tips its hat to the triple winner Louison Bobet, the baker's boy from Saint Méen, then the route heads east; if the prevailing wind – westerly – does its thing, this will be very fast, but the scenario is well trodden: early doomed break featuring lowly French teams cheered on by the local crowd – think Arkéa, Cofidis, Total Energies – and a sprint finish for Philipsen and company after five days' waiting. British fans remember Chateauroux for the first of Mark Cavendish's 35 stage wins in 2008 and his 32nd in 2021. With not a single rated climb en route, this is bound to be a sprint day, and by this point, the pressure will be mounting on the fast men who are yet to win: if Philipsen and Merlier are on form, the finger will be pointing at Biniam Girmay and Dylan Groenewegen. Just the 10 climbs today in the Massif Central; mainly second category but totalling 4,450m of vertical ascent. This is the first major showdown among the favourites, and at least a couple could see their hopes of winning end here. With climbing from the get-go it will be full on from the start; for the win look to a puncheur like Ireland's Ben Healy. It's Bastille Day so the French will bust a gut and leave empty-handed. Rest day, Tuesday July 15 This could go either of three ways: full bunch sprint, reduced bunch sprint, or break. The finale with its series of little hills might burn off a fast man or two, and will certainly make a coordinated chase difficult. This could be the last full bunch sprint of the Tour, so let's plump for Philipsen; if the break goes and the sprinters' teams tire in the finale the wily Dane Magnus Cort is a good bet. First proper mountain stage up the grim ascent above Lourdes where Miguel Indurain destroyed the field in 1994. There's a long preamble to the Col du Soulor, the first first-category pass of the race, so expect a massive break targeting the stage win. If the favourites give the break leeway, the winner will be someone who can climb but won't win overall, so why not the Frenchman Guillaume Martin? Three kilometres of flat, eight straight uphill against the watch, culminating in a final kilometre at 16%. This is a day for the GC men, with absolutely no hiding or bluffing. Whoever wins here will have a very good chance of winning overall in Paris, so it's a day for Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to show exactly what they've got in the tank. For everyone else, it's damage limitation. A mountain classic: Cols de Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde, plus the pull up to the ski station, where winners include Federico Bahamontes, Greg LeMond, Hinault and Robert Millar. Four big passes make this a decisive day in the mountains prize with a ton of points on offer; the stage winner will probably be a climber who's not figuring overall. Enric Mas of Spain might fit that bill, or the Austrian Felix Gall. In the past, the organisers would have left this as a flattish transition stage with a bunch sprint at the end. In the made-for-TV 21st-century Tour, this gets a detour into Le Parc Naturel Régional du Haut-Languedoc with a couple of meaty climbs midway through to liven things up. It's a day for the breakaway artists, who will know that their opportunities are running out: why not the demon descender Matej Mohoric? Rest day, Monday July 21 Moonscape, Tom Simpson, Giant of Provence, wheel out those evergreen lines for the nastiest climb of the Tour so far. The stage is pretty flat as far as Bédoin at the foot of the Bald Mountain, but then it's uphill for 22 baking or windswept kilometres. A potentially decisive day for the overall contenders. Pogacar and Vingegaard will make the race here, and UAE v Visma could be a battle worthy of the backdrop. Potentially a bunch sprint, the last of the Tour, but teams with a sprinter who can climb – think Intermarché with Girmay for example – will try and burn off the slightly heavier brethren such as Merlier on the drag to the Col de Pertuis after 66km, particularly if the green jersey is in play; here's a chance to gain valuable points. It will all hang on wind direction, morale and the peloton's dwindling reserves of strength. The first of two monstrous Alpine stages, including three super-category passes: the Glandon, Madeleine and the 27km haul up the Col de la Loze to the finish. The script in recent Tours has been for the overall contenders to fight so hard in the biggest mountain stages that the breaks get scooped up before the finish. No reason to expect today to be the exception, so Pogacar or Vingegaard are safe bets for the win. Short and brutal, but with only two super-category climbs and they aren't quite as horrific as the day before's. The race could well have been decided the day before, in which case the favourites will give a break a lot of headroom, and watch each other to the finish to consolidate what they have. That makes this the final chance for climbers such as Australian Ben O'Connor and Ireland's Ed Dunbar. The puncheurs and breakaway specialists will have been waiting for five days with this one on their minds. The battle for the early break will be intense and the fight for the stage could be epic. As well as our old friends Cort and Healy, this will appeal to about half the peloton, wily one-day specialists such as the Dane Mattias Skjelmose. Paradoxically, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Tour finish on the Champs, it's all change: three laps of the Champs circuit, then three times up the Butte Montmartre. If the overall standings are tight this could be a cliffhanger. It's 46 years since a Tour winner won a road-race stage into Paris but don't rule out Pogacar for a final flourish; if not the Slovene, a Classics specialist such as Van der Poel.
