Tour de France stage 16: Mont Ventoux delivers, Paret-Peintre outsprints Healy for victory, Pogacar sets record time

New York Times

19 hours ago

Soudal Quick-Step's Valentin Paret-Peintre gave the home nation its first victory at this year's Tour de France on Tuesday, outsprinting Ben Healy on the iconic finish at Mont Ventoux.
Behind them there was plenty of general classification action too, with Jonas Vingegaard putting in several attacks to try and distance Tadej Pogačar, though the yellow jersey was able to respond each time.
Advertisement
A large break, including Paret-Peintre, was finally established after about 80 kilometers, but a predictable lack of cooperation over the following 20km saw seven riders jump clear. That group included stage 11 winner Jonas Abrahamsen, with the Norwegian first across the line at the intermediate sprint in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
💪 Here we are! The 4 leaders pass the Saint-Estève hairpin and @alafpolak1 accelerates immediately.
💪 On y est ! Les 4 leaders passent l'épingle de Saint-Estève et @alafpolak1 accélère immédiatement.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/qx81gBro5Z
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025
By the time the leaders reached Ventoux's feared wooded section their number had been thinned to just Julian Alaphilippe, stage 14 winner Thymen Arensman and Enric Mas, and it was Spain's Mas who soon pulled clear with 14km to go. Further down the road the yellow jersey group was led into the forest by a sprightly-looking Visma-Lease A Bike. Pogačar, in contrast, was notably short of teammates as they painfully made their way upwards.
The entire race was spread across the mountain by this point, and, with Mas having stretched his nascent lead to a minute, a trio of Healy, Santiago Buitrago and Paret-Peintre set to work closing the Spaniard down. At almost the same moment, Vingegaard attacked Pogačar, who responded, with the pair quickly bridging up to Vingegaard's teammate Tiesj Benoot, who had been tactically placed in the day's breakaway. After using the remainder of Belgian colleague's resources, the Dane then bridged up to another well-positioned Visma rider, Victor Campenaerts, as they reached the bend at Chalet Renard.
Healy, meanwhile, had closed the gap to Mas with impressive ease and the Movistar rider was duly dropped by Healy and Paret-Peintre. The Frenchman attacked the Irishman, before Healy quickly returned the favour. Behind, Vingegaard continued to test Pogačar but the Slovenian showed no real signs of weakness. Both men would go on to beat Iban Mayo's long-held climbing record, set in the 2004 Criterium du Dauphine, by more then a minute.
Healy attacked as the finish line approached, but Paret-Peintre, having been helped by the unexpected appearance of his teammate Ilan Van Wilder, countered and finally shook Healy off on the viciously steep ramp after the final bend to record the biggest win his career.
Pogačar distanced Vingegaard by a couple of seconds on the same bit of road, too, with the Visma rider also suffering the ignominy of being carelessly brought down by a photographer after crossing the finish line.
A stage that was designed to produce drama did exactly that.
👑 𝑳𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒊 𝒅𝒖 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒙 ! 👑#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/D6FemH2o47
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025
Jacob Whitehead and Tim Spiers analyse a memorable day.
Find all of The Athletic's Tour de France coverage here. Or follow Global Sports on The Athletic app via the Discover tab.
There was no better moment for the belated first French stage winner in this year's Tour.
Paret-Peintre timed his surge to the line to perfection, holding off a valiant challenge from former yellow jersey wearer Healy after a titanic battle up the famous slopes of Mont Ventoux.
Three days after team leader Remco Evenepoel chose to abandon the race on the Col du Tourmalet, it was a heartwarming triumph for Soudal–Quick-Step.
And it was, despite Paret-Peintre riding for 14.5km of the gruelling 15km ascent without any teammates, a team effort.
The sight of Paret-Peintre almost falling off his bike at the finish line and hobbling like someone gingerly heading into a motorway service station after six hours on the road, before falling into the arms of team mate Van Wilder, reflected a surprise late contribution from the Belgian.
Much of the final section of the ascent of Ventoux had seen Paret-Peintre jousting with Healy as Buitrago and Mas sporadically tried to grab their heels. But Paret-Peintre and Healy looked far stronger and also very evenly-matched. It looked like a straight fight to the finish, and so it proved.
Advertisement
That was until Van Wilder, a tired remnant from the broken breakaway earlier in the race, returned from the dead like Banquo's ghost at the feast just 600 meters before the line.
He discretely informed his teammate of his presence, then paced Paret-Peintre and Healy for a few hundred meters, allowing the Frenchman crucial time to reset and prepare for his final attack after what had been a couple of kilometers of nervous, paceless jousting with the spectre of Pogačar and Vingegaard ominously looming down the road.
🏆 Le jour de gloire de 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret ! Revivez le dernier kilomètre et cette incroyable bataille avec Ben Healy !
🏆 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret's day of glory! Relive the last kilometer and that incredible battle with Ben Healy!#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/nPP8byXK6Z
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025
Had Soudal-Quick-Step planned it all along? Absolutely not, but whatever they did worked perfectly and helped give the 24-year-old Frenchman a famous victory — and a brilliant 'assist' from Van Wilder.
'On the last climb, it was difficult all the way, I couldn't let go of Ben Healy,' Paret-Peintre said after the stage.
'At 3km to go, I said to myself, I know this last ramp, after the last bend, which is really, really steep, and I know I can win on this slope.'
Tim Spiers
On an iconic climb, the stage was set for the latest chapter of an iconic sporting rivalry, albeit a somewhat one-sided one so far in 2025.
But on this occasion, Vingegaard delivered a performance worthy of their historic battles, even if it still wasn't enough to put a dent in Pogačar's lead.
That was despite a much-improved showing from Visma-Lease A Bike, with first Sepp Kuss, then Benoot and finally Campenaerts all stepping up to pace Vingegaard up Ventoux while Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates teammates floundered one by one. It was almost a tactically perfect day from the Dutch squad.
Advertisement
Vingegaard was back in full attack mode here, swaying side to side as he has throughout this Tour, buffeted by Pogačar's attacks from every side.
This was good swaying, though; a dancing on the pedals that showed the Dane was experiencing a good day. Attacking on the lower slopes of Ventoux, Vingegaard attempted to do what Pogačar did to him on Hautacam last week — and what Vingegaard had done to the Slovenian back in 2021 on Ventoux, albeit in the final meters.
Pogačar stayed on his wheel, grimacing (a rarity), riding defensively, matching pedal strokes, but Vingegaard went again. And again.
Pogačar then countered with a couple of attacks of his own, but neither he nor the Dane could make a move properly stick.
Ultimately, though, it always felt like Pogačar had more in his locker, and so it proved on the final stretch, with a rueful Vingegaard looking down to the ground as Pogačar crossed the line a few metres ahead. Confirmation that Pogačar had taken nearly a minute off the climb's record ascent only underlined the point.
RECORD BREAKER ⏱️
Tadej Pogačar sets the fastest time up Mont Ventoux — the previous record was 55:51 👏 pic.twitter.com/8EtfWyk3sJ
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 22, 2025
So Pogačar didn't provide us with the iconic image of him winning in yellow on Ventoux, but he did perhaps put another little nail in the coffin of Vingegaard's challenge to dethrone him in Paris on Sunday, not the Dane is giving up.
'I was feeling very good today, happy with the feeling today and the attacks I tried to do and yeah, of course, I didn't gain any time today, but I took a lot of motivation today,' Vingegaard said after the stage.
'The team did amazing today, everybody worked with everything they have, it was real commitment from everyone, and everyone was going super great. Thank you to all my teammates.'
Tim Spiers
He is battling for the podium against a quartet of far-younger riders, but Primož Roglič came in as best of the rest on GC.
Leading in teammate Florian Lipowitz by two seconds, just over a minute behind Pogačar and Vingegaard, he cemented his young teammate's overall placing.
Roglic zieht Lipowitz den Berg hoch 💪#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/kTAv3U6b2Y
— Tour de France – DE (@letour_de) July 22, 2025
Oscar Onley finished a further 36 seconds back — he now trails Lipowitz by two minutes and one second — while Kevin Vauquelin lost two minutes on the German, and now looks out of the running.
With two major tests in the Alps to come, Ventoux is not a decisive moment in the podium race, but it still feels significant.
Advertisement
Lipowitz bettered Onley again — and it increasingly looks as if he'll have to majorly crack in one of the two remaining major mountain stages in the Alps to lose his third place.
Jacob Whitehead
There is a pram at the top of Mont Ventoux, but how it got there is anyone's guess. Its summit is rocky, steep, and miles from the nearest parking spot, but the mountain's acolytes have come in their thousands.
There is a man wearing a Slovenian flag, carrying a Slovenian flag, and with a Slovenian flag painted on his face. There is a giant cut-out of Alaphilippe's face, celebrating two hours before the race comes by. There is Santa Claus. And there is the mountain itself, the Giant of Provence, a climb which saps the strongest of legs as if taking blood.
If cycling is a national obsession in the month of July, then Mont Ventoux is the apex from which it ripples.
Its history is the Tour's history. Wins for Raymond Poulidor, Marco Pantani and Eddy Merckx. Chris Froome, running towards Chalet Reynard amidst seething crowds in 2016. The tragic death of Tom Simpson, who collapsed from heat exhaustion in 1967. Today is only the 11th stage finish at its peak, crowned by the iconic weather station tower.
But coming here is a risk, with the bald mountain particularly vulnerable to high winds and storms. Stages, as in 2016, have been forced to conclude lower down the slopes due to weather conditions. It means that the Tour coming here remains a privilege, a twice-decade trip which may even become ever scarcer.
It is arguably the only time this month that the place transcends the race. In all senses, Ventoux stands alone. Its winners' names are etched into white stone.
Paret-Peintre is now one of them, a French crowd crying out in desperation, having waited 16 stages to see one of their own triumph.
You cannot see the top of the climb from further down the mountain; before the news was confirmed by the announcer, there was a small hush, then an explosion, a banging of boards and howls to the sky.
Last two French winners on the Mont Ventoux 💪#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/7KJvUQUVXM
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 22, 2025
It is the first French win on Ventoux since Richard Virenque in 2002. It's about time.
Jacob Whitehead
A rare chance for the sprinters in the second half of the race. Welcome after their struggles up Ventoux 24 hours earlier.
For more cycling, follow Global Sports on The Athletic app via the Discover tab