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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 11 route updates as Ben Healy takes up the yellow jersey in Toulouse
After a wild start to the 2025 Tour de France, which has seen crashes and crosswinds cause havoc in the peloton to go with some sensation racing and memorable wins, the race arrives in Toulouse for a lumpy 157km route which could suit the sprinters or a determined breakaway. Ireland's Ben Healy is the surprise owner of the yellow jersey after escaping up the road in the break on stage 10 and staying far enough ahead of Tadej Pogacar to usurp the reigning Tour de France champion at the top of the general classification. And Healy is likely to keep hold of yellow at least for today on a route unlikely to fire up the GC battle. Stage 11 features five categorised climbs and finishes with a loop around the city featuring a few short, sharp ascents including the Cote de Pech David (800m at 12.4%) with 9km to go. That could scupper some of the sprinters' legs before they reach the finish, and it may provide the perfect setting for a puncheur in the pack to make a decisive attack. Stage 11 start time Bonjour and welcome to stage 11! The riders roll out for the neutralised start at 1.15pm local time, 12.15pm BST, with an expected finish time of 5.05pm local time (4.05pm BST). Flo Clifford16 July 2025 11:06 Tour de France stage 11 preview: Route map, profile and start time as Ben Healy wears yellow in Toulouse The Tour de France rarely disappoints but this year's race has been utterly absorbing from the get-go when crosswinds blew apart the peloton on stage 1, and there's every reason to think stage 11 will serve up another thrilling day. Not many predicted Ireland's breakaway artist Ben Healy would own the famous yellow jersey on the first rest day of this Tour, but that's exactly what has unfolded after some tactical brilliance on Monday's stage 10 helped him gain more than three minutes on Tadej Pogacar to depose the reigning champion at the top of the GC standings, while Simon Yates won the stage itself. Not that Pogacar – who enjoyed coffees and a giant burger on Tuesday's rest day – plans on lending Healy the maillot jaune for long. Ben Healy wears yellow jersey on stage 11 as Tour de France resumes in Toulouse The Tour de France road book has stage 11 down as a flat day for the sprinters, but there are plenty of lumps and bumps along the way to make for an unpredictable outcome Lawrence Ostlere16 July 2025 11:00 Tour de France – stage 11 live Hello and welcome along to live updates from stage 11 of the 2025 Tour de France. Lawrence Ostlere15 July 2025 23:50
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France stage 11 preview: Route map, profile and start time as Ben Healy wears yellow in Toulouse
The Tour de France rarely disappoints but this year's race has been utterly absorbing from the get-go when crosswinds blew apart the peloton on stage 1, and there's every reason to think stage 11 will serve up another thrilling day. Not many predicted Ireland's breakaway artist Ben Healy would own the famous yellow jersey on the first rest day of this Tour, but that's exactly what has unfolded after some tactical brilliance on Monday's stage 10 helped him gain more than three minutes on Tadej Pogacar to depose the reigning champion at the top of the GC standings, while Simon Yates won the stage itself. Not that Pogacar – who enjoyed coffees and a giant burger on Tuesday's rest day – plans on lending Healy the maillot jaune for long. 'We will see if Ben can hold on to the yellow jersey for a couple of stages,' Pogacar said. 'I think that he spent a lot of time in the breakaway already, so I hope he feels tired and we can fight again for the yellow in the next coming stages, maybe not [ stage 11 around Toulouse] but Hautacam and then the time trial [at Peyragudes] and Superbagneres – it's going to be three really nice climbing days.' That's all to come later in the week but Healy has a strong chance to still be wearing yellow by the end of the day, as the Tour resumes in Toulouse with a 154km route to and from the city. The stage is officially categorised as 'flat' by race organisers, but it is hilly enough to scupper some of the sprinters' hopes if the pace is high, which it may well be – stage 9 was the second fastest stage ever recorded, and stage 10 never let up either. Each had their own unique set of circumstances driving the peloton's high pace, but there's every reason to suspect another breakaway will form early here on stage 11, with the sprinters' teams forced to give chase if they want to set up their rider. Tim Merlier (Soudal–Quick-Step), Kaden Groves (Alpecin–Deceuninck), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Wanty) and Arnaud de Lie (Lotto) will all be hoping for a bunch sprint to the line. But that is no foregone conclusion, with five categorised climbs to clear including four in the 50km, and power riders might be put off by the finale: a loop around the city with a few short, sharp climbs such as the Cote de Pech David (800m at 12.4%) with 9km to go. The final 6km is flat, so will we see the sprinters there for a showdown or will it be a puncheur breaking clear over the hills who steals the stage? Route map and profile Start time Stage 11 starts at 12.45pm BST with an expected finish time of around 4.10pm. Prediction This is a tricky stage to predict, with the sprinters' teams desperate for a calm day followed by a dash to the line, but facing the prospect of having to chase down a determined breakaway looking for the stage win themselves. It could even be a day for a solo artist to escape clear, just as Ben Healy so expertly triumphed on stage 6. I would like to go for something of a romantic option – Julian Alaphilippe is one of the greatest one-day riders of his generation but has not triumphed at the Tour de France since 2021. If he gets into a strong breakaway then he has the racing nous to time a decisive launch to the line. But more realistic is a rider with the legs to crest the hills and a sprint to outgun their rivals down the home straight. Jonathan Milan and Kaden Groves both have the firepower to do just that, but I fancy Wout van Aert to take an opportunistic win, either by getting himself in the breakaway or by taking a messy sprint.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
From Stourbridge school boy to Tour De France race leader
In 2011, a 12-year-old boy was looping around an outdoor velodrome in the Midlands, and now he will wear the yellow jersey that distinguishes him as race leader of The Tour De Ben Healy was a regular at the Halesowen track with his dad, Bryan. "Back then it was never about becoming a professional, it was the simple enjoyment of riding bikes, track, road and mountain," said the beaming there he moved to Solihull Cycling Club to race on roads, and that is when his journey to being the first rider to represent Ireland - due to his connection to his late grandmother - and claim the yellow jersey for 38 years began. Bryan said his son has developed a more soulful connection to his grandmother's home nation."I wish my mum was still here to see it because she'd have been so proud, it's really opened up his sense of his Irishness," he said. In 2022, Healy signed with US-based cycling team EF Education Easy Post, which secured him a place in the World Tour now the 24-year old has been carving out a specialist niche as a breakaway artist ever since. Not possessed with the power of a sprinter or the aerobic capacity of a climber, at 5ft 7in (170cm), he discovered that if he was strategic about his choice of races and stages it could net him stage wins in the sports three biggest Grand Tours. In the 2023, at Giro d'Italia he came from 60km (37 miles) out and on Thursday, in his Tour De France debut he surprised all his rivals with 43km (27 miles) to was not because of when he attacked but where as Healy used a slightly downhill fast approach, unlike the mid-climb attacks he had previously used as a launch recalled how 10 days previously in Boulogne, his son had earmarked the Bastille Day stage for an attack, but as with most things in the fast moving tour, events and plans said: "Everyone knows how Ben rides, he targeted several stages, of which Monday's was one, but after winning last Thursday's stage I didn't think it was likely he'd get away or be allowed to breakaway."Discussing his son's success from a local pub in Wordsley, just outside Stourbridge, Bryan said: "He was still a bit numb, but beaming."Bryan has now started his journey to Toulouse to see his son on the evening of the rest day to savour his success, before a string of days in the Pyrenees followed by the Mount Ventoux stage next Tuesday. Asked if the 'golden fleece' would rest heavy on his young son's shoulders, Bryan said: "He'll get through tomorrow, hopefully, he'll try his best and the Hautacam on Thursday will be tricky."But, how many times has he surprised everyone just in this last week?" he added. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
‘Not every story is a fairytale' – Inside the Cofidis team car on France's national holiday
The wooded slopes of the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert are lined with polka dots and screaming fans. Camper vans are parked nose to tail; a washing line stretches from the roof of one to a nearby tree branch. Three T-shirts are drying in the correct order — one blue, one white, one red. Underneath, a woman in leopard-print trousers has her own French flag draped around her shoulders. Even here, eight kilometers from the closest town, she drinks white wine from a real glass. Advertisement Welcome to Bastille Day in the Massif Central. France's national day always comes midway through the Tour — this year, organizers pushed back the traditional second Monday rest day, to give the masses their racing. Each year, July 14 marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, a flashpoint of the French revolution. This month, French cycling is still waiting for its own spark. No French rider has won a stage of this Tour, nor even come particularly close — the last domestic stage winner was Anthony Turgis on stage nine of 2024's edition. Increasingly, espoir has been turning into désespoir — hope into desperation. But now, as it has always been, Bastille Day is the day that can right all wrongs. French teams are desperate to perform on a national holiday — for a home rider, winning on July 14 can crown a career. David Moncoutie could barely speak after soloing to victory in Digne-les-Bains back in 2005, repeating like a broken toy: 'I'm just too happy, too happy!' There has been just one French Bastille Day victory since. 'Sometimes I think it's too much pressure for the French teams that day,' says Sebastien Joly, a coach at fellow French squad Decathlon-AG2R. 'Riders are expected just to do everything and anything. So you have to be focused, you have to ride to a plan.' Back then, Moncoutie was riding for Cofidis, one of France's most historic teams. That was the end of their golden era — over the previous decade, they had boasted riders such as Frank Vandenbroucke, David Millar, and Lance Armstrong. One of Moncoutie's teammates in that race was compatriot Cedric Vasseur, himself a two-time stage winner in 1997 and 2007, who now serves as the team's general manager. But in truth, the team has not experienced a vintage season in 20 years. Victor Lafay's stage victory in 2023 ended a 15-year Tour drought, but failed to rejuvenate the team. They are now at risk of relegation from the top-tier WorldTour, and were the final team in this year's race to record a top-10 finish, having to wait eight days for sprinter Bryan Coquard's seventh place in Laval. Advertisement That is not to say it has not been tumultuous. The team had 13 bicycles worth a total of €143,000 stolen before stage two, eventually recovered with the help of French police, and were only able to compete that day due to the proximity of their headquarters in north eastern France. One day later, Coquard inadvertently crashed into Alpecin-Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen during a sprint, breaking the Belgian's collarbone, and forcing him to abandon the race. Coquard was in tears on the bus afterwards, with the team forced to release a statement pleading for kindness on social media. In their search for results, Cofidis' squad is taking on an increasingly international flavour — there is a heavy Basque influence amidst the team's coaching staff and top riders — but they still have four Frenchmen in their Tour squad. With limited opportunities for wins, Bastille Day is a stage they have to target. They have no choice. 'It's a very important day,' says Vasseur from outside the team bus. He prowls around the bikes, grabbing riders by the shoulder and rubbing their backs. 'It's July 14, the French national day, and it's a very steep and hilly stage. If you have to choose one day to do something, to do something great, it's today. The TV, on the road, there will be a huge audience. Today is a day you cannot miss.' Cofidis are pinning their hopes on the four climbers in their team — Emanuel Buchmann, Ion Izagirre, Dylan Teuns, and Alex Aranburu. 'It's French day, but we know our strongest guys here are not French,' Vasseur adds. The plan is for Buchmann to try to stick with the general classification (GC) favourites, protecting his own hopes of a top-15 finish, while Izagirre, Teuns, and Araburu have been ordered to infiltrate the breakaway. With around a dozen other teams also targeting the stage, this alone is a challenging task. Advertisement 'There's only a 50-50 chance that the GC favorites let the break go,' says Vasseur. 'So to win, you need really strong guys in the break. They'll need a lead of three or four minutes if they're to hold on against (Jonas) Vingegaard and (Tadej) Pogačar.' Izagirre was perhaps the team's best chance of success, but the Basque rider crashed the previous day. His body is tender, skin abraded like a fishing net left in the sun. Making the break appears a pipedream. As one of UAE's team cars passes, two Cofidis mechanics call out to them, asking them to let the breakaway go. 'We're expecting a lot of chaos at the beginning,' says Teuns, a two-time Tour stage winner at other teams, and champion at the prestigious Fleche Wallonne three years ago. 'We'll try to get in a lot of moves, but you also have to be conservative with the bullets you have. Don't shoot them all in the first 30 kilometers. It could take a long time today to go in the break.' Outside the roped-off warm-up area of Cofidis' bus, the Bastille Day atmosphere is rising. If you were asked to label France on a map, Ennezat would be the point of the pin, a small commune deep in its rolling heart. Julian Alaphilippe rides by, today's stage is just an hour from his home town. The crowd is so febrile that a Tudor Cycling staff member has to clear his way on a scooter, ringing her bell like a breaker cleaving ice. The temperature, however, is stifling. As the Tour's caravan rolls through, several tricolores daubed on cheeks run with sweat in the midday sun. Thirty minutes later, it is Gorka Gerrikagoitia piloting his way through the throng. He is driving one of Cofidis' three support cars, in second position on the road. One of the team's directeur sportifs, responsible for setting strategy throughout the door, he was a professional rider himself in the early 2000s. Still boasting the lithe body of a climber, he completed the Vuelta a Espana on three occasions. The 165 km stage to Mont-Dore is the toughest day of the race so far. With 4,450 meters of climbing, plus a mini-summit finish, Gerrikagoitia believes that 'the Tour de France, for the GC riders, begins today'. With the favorites boasting fresh legs after two easier sprint days, the pace was expected to be punishingly high — even if the previous day's stage was the second-fastest in Tour history. Advertisement Gerrikagoitia's first job is to get out of Ennezat before the race, waiting ahead of the riders with bidons to refresh them in the 86F (30C) heat. Châtel-Guyon is the first new town of the race, and as the Cofidis DS weaves through the closed streets, its inhabitants are three-deep on the roadside. Every table in a 20 km radium seems to be out, dusted and polished — restaurant, plastic garden, kitchen dining sets. Most jerseys on the roadside belong to FDJ, a de facto French national team, but there is representation too for second division TotalEnergies, as well as Breton squad Arkea-B&B Hotels, whose star rider, third-placed Kevin Vauquelin, is the highest-positioned Frenchman on GC. A shirtless teenage boy runs alongside the car for 100 meters. 'Has the race started yet, mister?' And then, on the final bend out of town, a couple sit with Cofidis shirts and under a Cofidis flag, appearing to have been encamped so long that weeds have grown from the legs of their camping chairs. Gerrikagoitia sounds the horn for them, a musical siren sound. The race begins for real at 1.25pm, not that Gerrikagoitia can see. The majority of teams in the peloton use Starlink to stream race footage directly to their cars, but Cofidis do not have the budget. 'You can't do your job the same,' he says. 'Communication is so important. So we have to rely on good radio and teamwork.' He attaches his phone to the dashboard using some hair bands, but on these mountain roads, the signal is intermittent. Instead, the team cars use radio and roadside soigneurs to update each other on which riders are in which group. Alaphilippe attacks almost immediately, racing down the descent towards Châtel-Guyon. A family in matching Zinedine Zidane jerseys watch him zoom past, but he is left to hang off the front by the rest of the peloton. The real breakaway begins on the first slope out the town, a strong one, including Bahrain Victorious' French rider Lenny Martinez, stage six winner Ben Healy, American champion Quinn Simmons, and Ben O'Connor, second in last year's Vuelta. Twenty rivals have escaped the peloton, but not one Cofidis rider has managed to infiltrate them. What's more just one team member — Teuns — is even in the main peloton. Their GC hopeful Buchmann has been dropped. Gerrikagoitia pushes air through his teeth, sharply. Izagirre and Aranburu have lost contact too. Fewer than 10 km have passed. It is a brutal start. Advertisement 'Keep riding,' implores Bingen Fernandez, another DS, riding in Cofidis' first car. 'The peloton is going to start to slow. Start to enter the peloton.' Minutes later, another message to Buchmann. 'It's getting easier, keep fighting, keep fighting, eh? Allez, allez, allez. After the curve it is easier.' Buchmann responds, hauling himself back into the peloton on the descent into the city of Clermont-Ferrand. He will battle to remain there all day. 'I think he maybe needed to warm-up a little more beforehand,' says Gerrikagoitia. 'At the end, he'll be faster than the beginning.' The crowds remain. 'Where is Bardet?' asks one roadside banner, asking after the local hero, who retired after the Criterium du Dauphine last month. Well, Romain Bardet is handing out bidons midway through the route, standing on the verge in a Picnic-PostNL jersey. Coquard, one of the team's French riders, drops back to the team car from the last group on the road. It is a hot day, but the sprinter is sick of jels. He asks Gerrikagoitia if he has any proper food to eat. The answer, a sandwich, is not what Coquard wants to hear. He rises from his saddle and returns to the bunch. By now, the race situation is becoming clear. The breakaway is too far up the road, with UAE Team Emirates and Visma Lease-a-Bike seemingly happy to let them fight it out for the stage win. There will be no Cofidis victory today. Buchmann is the only rider left in the main peloton, while several other riders are in the grupetto — non-climbers who are fighting to remain inside the time limit. Under Tour rules, all riders must finish within a certain percentage of the winners' time to remain in the race, with further adjustments made for the wind. On Monday, the limit was 17 percent — meaning all riders had to finish within 44 minutes of the first rider crossing the line. With the grupetto already 25 minutes behind the breakaway with 40 hard kilometers of the stage remaining, the time limit was a concern. Advertisement 'It could be (Ben) Healy, it could be (Pablo) Castrillo,' says Gerrikagoitia, analysing the possible winners from the breakaway. 'The breakaway has four minutes over the peloton. They were too fast for us. When you are close to relegation, it is not easy.' And relegation is a real concern. Only the top 18 ranked teams over the past three years will stay on the WorldTour next season, to be guaranteed entry to the sport's most prestigious races. Cofidis are currently 19th, one place and almost 900 points short of safety. Gerrikagoitia was part of the team's staff when Lafay and Izagirre won Tour stages two years ago, and is visibly upset about their predicament. 'It's difficult to understand why we're at this level,' he says. 'We're doing all we can to improve, and for sure, it's not an ideal situation if we're not in the WorldTour. The sponsor in Cofidis will continue, but not at the same level, not with the same budget. 'And this is also the point — if you want to stay in the WorldTour, you need a certain level of rider. But right now, it's difficult to sign them.' In the closing kilometers of the stage, the race radio begins to call out the name of the leaders. All 5G signal for Gerrikagoitia's phone coverage of the race has disappeared by now. In the lead group, there will be no French victory — Simon Yates is fighting with Thymen Arensman for victory, while Healy is riding himself into yellow, the first Irishman to wear the maillot jaune in 38 years. But the name that Gerrikagoitia is listening out for comes later on, as those remaining in the GC group are slowly listed. Pogačar, Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel… At that moment, Matteo Jorgenson attacks for Visma Lease-a-Bike, attempting to tire Pogačar, his teammate's rival. 'It will be a different race now,' says Gerrikagoitia. 'Now they're all attacking, the bunch will be broken.' The news filters through from the radio. Buchmann has been dropped again. 'Aiii,' Gerrikagoitia sighs, as the bunch reduces to 20 riders. The final minutes are tough for Buchmann, and equally tough for the DS, stuck behind the grupetto, who cannot see how his rider is doing. Eventually the news filters through. Buchmann finishes 43rd on the stage, losing almost seven minutes to the GC favorites. He now sits 20th in the race, over eight minutes behind the top 15. The grupetto makes it to the line in time, while the highest-finishing Frenchman is Martinez in eighth, who crosses the line ahead of Pogačar and Vingegaard, his nose bleeding with the exertion. Advertisement 'I was hoping for a better race in the mountains today,' says Buchmann post-race. 'Today I had super bad legs, and was suffering all day. I lost a lot of time. So now we'll need to switch towards stage hunting, or to go for the breakaways. But this is how it is. We have to keep fighting.' It is a four-hour drive to Toulouse, and a desperately-needed rest day. As soon as the final climbers trickle back to the buses from the climb, Cofidis set off towards their next opportunity to save themselves. 'Not every story is a fairytale,' one staff member says that evening. 'But for most teams, this is the real experience of the Tour de France.' (Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Photos via Cofidis)
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bradford man to cycle coast-to-coast for World Vision charity
A Bradford man is set to cycle from coast to coast, from the west to the east of the country, to raise funds for charity. Bob Marshall will ride from the mouth of the river Esk at Ravenglass (in Cumbria) to the mouth of the Esk at Whitby, in aid of international development charity World Vision. Mr Marshall will arrive in Ravenglass this Saturday (July 19), where he will stay at Eskdale Youth Hostel, before tackling the Hardknott and Wrynose passes the following day. He is using a Swytch electric motor, but expects to push his bike at the top of both hills, and plans to stop in Elterwater to recharge the battery. Mr Marshall will spend a night at Kirkby Stephen hostel and then continue through Swaledale to Richmond and Osmotherley on the Monday. After a night at Cote Ghyll Youth Hostel, he will cycle along Eskdale to Whitby. Mr Marshall has sponsored a child in Zambia through World Vision for five years, and, in August, will visit Zambia to see two community development projects and to meet his sponsored child. He is covering his own travel expenses for the Zambia trip, with all money raised to go to World Vision. To sponsor Mr Marshall, visit
