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The Independent
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre wins atop Mont Ventoux as Tadej Pogacar keeps yellow jersey
Valentin Paret-Peintre secured the biggest win of his career and a first stage win for the home nation of this year's Tour de France with a thrilling sprint atop Mont Ventoux. The 24-year-old edged out breakaway companion Ben Healy in a dramatic two-up sprint for the line, after a slimmed-down group of four came into the final kilometre with the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar and rival Jonas Vingegaard breathing down their necks. Pogacar dealt with every attack attempted by Vingegaard and even put a couple of seconds into him at the finish to add two seconds to his lead, and now sits 4:15 clear in yellow, but stage 16 went to the breakaway at the summit of this most feared of Tour climbs. Healy, who spent two days in yellow last week, was looking to add to his stage six win as he put in another outstanding attacking ride, but Paret-Peintre would not be denied as he came around the Irishman at the summit of the Giant of Provence. Healy had done the bulk of the work to reel in an attack from Enric Mas and was then the first to launch his move out of a group of four inside the last few hundred metres. But the effort told as Paret-Peintre, who had been able to latch onto team-mate and fellow breakaway rider Ilan Van Wilder in the finale, had the kick to get up the final ramp first. Is is a fourth win of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, who lost leader Remco Evenepoel last week. 'How I won that stage is hard to say, I was thinking 'maybe I can win today, maybe I'm the best climber in this breakaway'," Paret-Peintre said. 'I asked my team-mates to make a good pace at the bottom and I tried so many times to drop Healy but he was very strong and at the end, I was just waiting for the sprint and then I won. 'These last few days we went through a little storm, I guess, and now the sun shines again,' he said, in reference to Evenepoel's withdrawal. 'It's really amazing for me and for the team to win another stage, a fourth stage in this Tour, then tomorrow it's a sprint we hope, so we can maybe win again [with sprinter Tim Merlier].' Healy and Paret-Peintre were the final two survivors of a 35-strong breakaway on the 171.5km stage from Montpellier to Ventoux, the first finish here since the chaotic scenes in 2016 when Chris Froome was left running up the mountain after breaking his bike in a crash. There was not quite that level of drama in the general classification fight this time but it was not for lack of trying on the part of Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike, who had riders up the road in the break and tried to use them to set up the Dane to take time back on Pogacar. Vingegaard launched his first attack after a big pull from Sepp Kuss, catching Tiesj Benoot before trying again, then taking a turn from Victor Campenaerts before a third dig. The tactics were excellent, but Pogacar was equal to them all and then put in his own attack going into the final hairpin. To add to Vingegaard's disappointment, the Dane collided with a photographer after the finish line and hit the deck. 'I went down,' Vingegaard said. 'People in the finish area should use their eyes a bit more. 'I was feeling very good today so I'm happy with the feeling, happy with the attacks. Of course we didn't gain any time today but I take a lot of motivation.' Scottish 22-year-old Oscar Onley finished 14th on the stage but lost 36 seconds to third-placed Florian Lipowitz, leaving the fourth-placed Scot now two minutes off the podium places. Lipowitz's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Primoz Roglic, a five-time Grand Tour winner, continued his resurgence throughout this Tour to move within 38 seconds of Onley in fifth.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France: Alaphilippe celebrates on stage 15 … but discovers Wellens won long before him
French stage wins in the Tour de France are increasingly rare, so when they do happen, there are wild celebrations. Julian Alaphilippe, the former world road race champion, raised his arms in triumph in Carcassonne, thinking he had won, only to be told seconds later that he had in fact finished third behind two Belgians. Ahead of the crestfallen Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar's Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens took a solo win on stage 15 of the Tour, well ahead of compatriot Victor Campanaerts, a teammate to Jonas Vingegaard. 'Julian's radio wasn't working,' Alaphilippe's Tudor Pro team manager, Raphael Meyer, said in an effort to explain his rider's ecstatic but misplaced fist pump. A win from the French rider would have been all the more remarkable, given he had crashed earlier in the stage and popped back a dislocated shoulder, all on his own. For Vingegaard it was another stressful day on which his Visma-Lease a bike team showed questionable strategy. They have one day good, the next bad, while Pogacar and his team remain a model of consistency. If Vingegaard's team increasingly resemble a house on fire, Pogacar's remain an impregnable fortress. In the shadow of Carcassonne's citadel the 34-year-old Wellens, already a stage winner in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, took his first Tour de France stage win. The Dane had been caught up in the same early crash that saw Alaphilippe come down. Inexplicably, as Vingegaard, second overall to Pogacar, chased to rejoin the peloton, some of his teammates, including Campanaerts, were at the front, forcing the pace and distancing their team leader. It took a radio intervention from Pogacar's own team car to return the goodwill shown to the Slovenian in Toulouse, after his own crash on stage 11. Finally with 128km to race, Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz rejoined the main group. Even the defending champion seemed bemused by what was going on around him. 'There were three Visma guys, all trying to go in the break again and they had Jonas chasing at the back,' Pogacar said. 'It was just a weird situation.' While Pogacar was eventually able to repay the sportsmanship shown to him four days ago, Wellens was not in the mood to hang around and made his decisive solo move with 43km to race, on the Col de Fontbruno. The Belgian champion never looked back and pushed on into the final kilometres on the rolling roads of the Languedoc, to win by almost a minute and a half from Campanaerts. As the Tour began, Vingegaard's wife and personal manager had criticised the Visma-Lease a bike team for failing to commit wholeheartedly to her husband's cause. On the road to Carcassonne, her fears seemed well-founded, with both Campanaerts and Wout van Aert apparently racing for the stage win. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I hope he gets the full support of the team, rather than there being all sorts of different goals,' Trine Vingegaard Hansen said this month. 'If you're also aiming for stage wins with other riders, then those resources can't be used for Jonas. You can only respect how Tadej Pogacar's team handles it. When he starts a race, there's no doubt about who the leader is. Everyone knows their role. I think that's super-important.' Pogacar, meanwhile, despite saying after the stage he had a slight summer cold because of the fluctuating temperatures and too much time spent in air-conditioning, never looked in trouble. As Vingegaard was pondering his teammate's motivations, Pogacar was becoming Wellens's cheerleader-in-chief. 'How is he looking?' he radioed his team car as Wellens progressed. 'How does Tim look? You should reply: 'He looks fabulous!'' Monday is a rest day, while the 16th stage on Tuesday takes the peloton from Montpelier to the daunting Mont Ventoux, where Pogacar will almost certainly seek to increase his lead with a prestigious stage win.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
UAE Team Emirates dominate Tour de France as Wellens wins stage, Pogacar maintains lead
Tim Wellens of Team UAE Emirates won a baking and hilly stage 15 of the Tour de France at Carcassonne on Sunday after a 45km solo rampage towards the walled citadel. Wellens' teammate Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with a 4min 13sec advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall. Wellens had been part of an early break which only really got away once the fall sent a shockwave though the race. It was a large and mixed group that was whittled down to five before the Belgian champion suddenly accelerated and caught the others napping. This was a fifth win for Team UAE with Pogacar previously having won four stages on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team. Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line he had time to high five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of Belgium's national holiday. "This makes me happier than winning a stage myself," said Pogacar. "He helps me keep this thing every day," he said pointing to the jersey. Having previously won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana this triumph completes the set of stage wins on the three big tours for Wellens. "Everybody wants to win a stage at the Tour de France, this is the special one," said Wellens. "I knew I was going to complete the trilogy and was enjoying the home straight with the fans. I'd been planning to lift the bike in the air, but I was so happy I forgot to do it" Alaphilippe red faced The remaining 167 of 184 riders embarked towards Carcassonne on yet another nervy stage. After a mass fall early on with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a pack of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up. There was embarrassment for Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who celebrated at the line thinking he had won when in fact he was third. Sprinting for third place long after Wellens and Victor Campenaerts took the top two spots, Alaphilippe pipped Wout van Aert at the line. Poor Alaphilippe hung his head when his horrified compatriots told him. He had been part of the early fall, losing his race radio, and had no idea the stage had already been won, he explained. Pogacar 'coughing' Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday trailing in second behind surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four-minute advantage at the top of the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title. The defending champion said he had been ill. "Half the peloton is coughing," said Pogacar. "I've got this red nose. It's because of all the ice packs and air conditioning I think, but I'm better now." Monday is the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 percent gradient to its 1901m high summit. "Mont Ventoux is for after the day off, so I don't want to talk about it now," Pogacar said after the podium ceremony at Carcassonne. "All I know is that Jonas will be attacking, I just don't want to think about it."
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Tour de France: Alaphilippe celebrates on stage 15 … but discovers Wellens won long before him
French stage wins in the Tour de France are increasingly rare, so when they do happen, there are wild celebrations. Julian Alaphilippe, the former world road race champion, raised his arms in triumph in Carcassonne, thinking he had won, only to be told seconds later that he had in fact finished third behind two Belgians. Ahead of the crestfallen Alaphilippe, Tadej Pogacar's teammate Tim Wellens took a solo win on stage 15 of the Tour, well ahead of compatriot Victor Campanaerts, a teammate to Jonas Vingegaard. 'Julian's radio wasn't working,' Alaphilippe's team manager, Raphael Meyer, said in an effort to explain his rider's ecstatic but misplaced fist pump. A win from the French rider would have been all the more remarkable, given that he had crashed earlier in the stage and popped back a dislocated shoulder, all on his own. For Vingegaard it was another stressful day on which his Visma Lease-a-bike team showed questionable strategy. He and his team have one day good, the next bad, while Pogacar and his UAE Emirates XRG team remain a model of consistency. If Vingegaard's team increasingly resemble a house on fire, Pogacar's remain an impregnable fortress. In the shadow of Carcassonne's citadel the 34-year-old Wellens, already a stage winner in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, took the first Tour de France stage win of his career. The Dane had been caught up in the same early crash that saw Alaphilippe come down. Inexplicably, as Vingegaard, second overall to Pogacar, chased to rejoin the peloton, some of his teammates, including Campanaerts, were at the front, forcing the pace and distancing their team leader. It took a radio intervention from Pogacar's own team car to return the goodwill shown to the Slovenian in Toulouse, after his own crash on stage 11. Finally with 128 kilometres to race, Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz rejoined the main group. Even the defending champion seemed bemused by what was going on around him. 'There were three Visma guys, all trying to go in the break again and they had Jonas chasing at the back,' Pogacar said. 'It was just a weird situation.' While Pogacar was eventually able to repay the sportsmanship shown to him four days ago, Wellens was not in the mood to hang around and made his decisive solo move with 43km to race, on the Col de Fontbruno. The Belgian champion never looked back and pushed on into the final kilometres on the rolling roads of the Languedoc, to win by almost a minute and a half from Campanaerts. As the Tour began, Vingegaard's wife and personal manager had criticised the Visma Lease-a-bike team for failing to commit wholeheartedly to her husband's cause. On the road to Carcassonne, her fears seemed well-founded, with both Campanaerts and Wout Van Aert apparently racing for the stage win. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'I hope he gets the full support of the team, rather than there being all sorts of different goals,' Trine Vingegaard Hansen said this month. 'If you're also aiming for stage wins with other riders, then those resources can't be used for Jonas,' she said. 'You can only respect how Tadej Pogacar's team handles it. When he starts a race, there's no doubt about who the leader is. Everyone knows their role. I think that's super important.' Pogacar, meanwhile, despite admitting after the stage to having a slight summer cold because of the fluctuating temperatures and too much time spent in air-conditioning, never looked in trouble. As Vingegaard was pondering his team mate's motivations, Pogacar was becoming Wellens's cheerleader in chief. 'How is he looking?' he radioed his team car as Wellens progressed. 'How does Tim look? You should reply, he looks fabulous!' Monday is a rest day, while the 16th stage on Tuesday takes the peloton from Montpelier to the daunting Mont Ventoux, where Pogacar will almost certainly seek to increase his lead with a prestigious stage win.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wellens wins stage as Pogacar maintains Tour de France stranglehold
Tim Wellens of Team UAE won a baking and hilly stage 15 of the Tour de France at Carcassonne on Sunday after a 45km solo rampage towards the walled citadel. Overall leader Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with a 4min 13sec advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall. Wellens had been part of an early break which only really got away once the fall sent a shockwave though the race. It was a large and mixed group that was whittled down to five before the Belgian champion suddenly accelerated and caught the others napping. This was a fifth win for Team UAE with Pogacar previously having won four stages on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team. Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line he had time to high five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of Belgium's national holiday. "This makes me happier than winning a stage myself," said Pogacar. "He helps me keep this thing every day," he said pointing to the jersey. Having previously won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana this triumph completes the set of stage wins on the three big tours for Wellens. - Alaphilippe red faced - The remaining 167 of 184 riders embarked towards Carcassonne on yet another nervy stage. After a mass fall early on with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a pack of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up. There was embarrassment for Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who celebrated at the line thinking he had won when in fact he was third. Sprinting for third place long after Wellens and Victor Campenaerts took the top two spots, Alaphilippe pipped Wout van Aert at the line. Poor Alaphilippe hung his head when his horrified compatriots told him. He had been part of the early fall, losing his race radio, and had no idea the stage had already been won, he explained. - 'I don't want to think about it' - Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday trailing in second behind surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four-minute advantage at the top of the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title. The defending champion said he had been ill. "Half the peloton is coughing. I've got this red nose. It's because of all the ice packs and air conditioning I think, but I'm better now," said Pogacar. Monday is a the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 percent gradient to its 1901m high summit. "Mont Ventoux is for after the day off, so I don't want to talk about it now," Pogacar said after the podium ceremony at Carcassonne. "All I know is that Jonas will be attacking, I just don't want to think about it." dmc/mw
