Ineos staff member leaves Tour amid doping investigation
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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Tadej Pogacar reigns in Paris after winning Tour de France for fourth time
Tadej Pogacar ignited an explosive final stage of the Tour de France in Paris, from Mantes-la-Ville to the Champs Élysées, while sealing his fourth overall victory in the race since 2020. Despite a downpour on the treacherous cobbles of Montmartre, Pogacar put in a daredevil performance, attacking on each of the three climbs to the Sacré Coeur, only to be finally distanced by the stage winner Wout van Aert, of the Visma Lease a Bike team. Pogacar had effectively confirmed his fourth Tour de France win during the final stage, after the cobbled climbs and descents over the Côte de la Butte Montmartre were neutralised because of the wet conditions, ensuring there would be no more changes to the overall standings. With the Tour won, there was no incentive for the Slovene to attack, but a prestigious stage victory was still at stake and on the first climb of Montmartre he and Van Aert led a group in pursuit of Julian Alaphilippe, who had made the first move on the steep cobbles of Rue Lepic. Despite the torrential rain, Pogacar and five others moved clear. Another devastating acceleration on the final climb of Rue Lepic blew the lead group apart, but Van Aert clung on and his explosive power eventually took him past the Slovene and ahead to victory. Pogacar, whose previous wins came in 2020, 2021 and 2024, comfortably beat his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard, by almost four and half minutes, in what both riders acknowledged was the hardest edition of the race they have competed in. Germany's Florian Lipowitz, in his Tour debut, finished third, while Scotland's Oscar Onley, riding only his second, placed fourth overall. Stage wins in Rouen, Mûr-de-Bretagne, Hautacam and Peyragudes, further confirmed Pogacar as the most accomplished rider of his generation. He also won the 2024 Giro d'Italia, the 2024 World Road Race championship, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders and multiple other stage races including Paris-Nice, Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour of Catalunya. In his wake, the hapless Vingegaard has every reason to feel hard done by, although his pledge to risk all in pursuit of the yellow jersey, even if it meant losing second place, never truly materialised, save for on Mont Ventoux. It is the Dane's misfortune that he is racing in the era of Pogacar. He would almost certainly have added to his tally of two Tour wins if the Slovene was not his contemporary. At the same time, his Visma Lease a Bike team never had the measure of the task facing them and internal politics, cited by his wife Trine Vingegaard Hansen even before the race began, have also played their part. 'It can't be good for Jonas if you also focus on stage wins for others,' Hansen said. 'You can only have respect for how Pogacar does it. When he's at the start of a race, there's no doubt about who the leader is.' The uncertainty over Visma Lease a Bike's commitment to the cause became increasingly obvious as the race went on. As a contest, it was definitively over after the stage to Mont Ventoux, when Vingegaard's most determined attacks went unrewarded. After consecutive defeats in the Tour by Pogacar, the Dane's long‑term future with the Visma Lease a Bike team is now the subject of growing speculation. 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 Elsewhere, Ineos Grenadiers continue to look a spent force in terms of contending for the yellow jersey, but other Anglophone talents have come to the fore, with Onley and Ireland's Ben Healy, who placed ninth, both having excellent Tours. Onley's wholly unexpected performance, in a particularly gruelling Tour in which his own team manager, Matt Winston, had expected him to fall away, was one of the highlights of the race. Healy's stage win in Vire and his brief spell in the yellow jersey, allied to his top-10 finish, have reinforced his status as a team leader and fuelled his ambitions for future Grand Tours. But this was Pogacar's Tour, a race in which he never looked threatened and in which he maintained physical and psychological mastery of the peloton throughout. He has now won 21 stages in the Tour since winning the race overall on his debut in 2020. Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour, when asked on Sunday if Pogacar's domination was credible, said: 'Cycling has to live with the doubts, with suspicion, given the history of the sport.' He added: 'Pogacar was third in the Vuelta a España at just 20 years old and, when he won in 2020, he was the youngest winner of the Tour since 1904. He's a champion who wins from February to October, a champion who can win the Classics, challenge Mathieu Van der Poel in Paris‑Roubaix and dominate in the Pyrenean stages of the Tour, against Jonas Vingegaard. 'Yes, we hoped for more of a duel, but it wasn't to be.'
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Tadej Pogacar wins Tour de France but is denied on final stage
Tadej Pogacar celebrated his fourth Tour de France title in Paris but was denied what would have been a stunning final stage victory as Wout van Aert rode away on the wet cobbles of Montmartre to win on the Champs-Elysees. Pogacar looked keen to take what could prove to be a unique opportunity to win in yellow in Paris as the introduction of three ascents of the climb to Montmartre reshaped the usual final-day procession, but Van Aert broke clear on the last time up to take the glory. Although the general classification times had been neutralised in the soggy conditions, Pogacar still had to finish to secure his title yet was willing to risk it all on the greasy cobbles in pursuit of a fifth stage win of this Tour. The Slovenian attacked each time up the narrow climb to whittle down a leading group to just a handful of riders, but had no response when Van Aert made his move 400 metres from the summit of the final ascent, winning solo by 19 seconds from Davide Ballerini. 'It was a special day out,' said Van Aert, who took his 10th career stage win and first since 2022. 'It is really special to win here on the Champs-Elysees once again and on the first occasion we climbed to Montmartre. 'The rain made it quite sketchy but I managed to stay upright. I had the full support of my team and I really have to thank them, to keep believing in me over and over again... 'Going into the last climb, to leave it all out there was our plan and it worked.' Pogacar draws level with Froome Pogacar sat up to safely bring home the yellow jersey and beat his rival Jonas Vingegaard by a final margin of four minutes and 24 seconds, moving level with Chris Froome on four titles, one shy of the record jointly held by Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Jacques Anquetil. 'I'm just speechless to win a fourth Tour de France, six years in a row on the podium,' the 26-year-old Pogacar said. 'This one feels especially amazing and I'm super proud I can wear this yellow jersey. 'I found myself in the front even though I didn't really have the energy to motivate myself to race today. I was really happy they neutralised the times in the GC, then it was more relaxed to race. I found myself in the front but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong.' German Florian Lipowitz finished third overall, some 11 minutes down on Pogacar and one minute 12 seconds ahead of 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley who has enjoyed a breakout Tour. On the 50th anniversary of the first Champs-Elysees finish, the Tour returned to the French capital after last year's enforced absence due to the Olympics. Race organisers had been inspired by those Games to add the climb to this day and were rewarded with a dramatic finish.
Times
5 hours ago
- Times
Tadej Pogacar is exceptional but I think he is also clean
The rain poured and the roads in the capital were treacherous. So dangerous that Tour de France organisers agreed time differences wouldn't count. All that Tadej Pogacar had to do to clinch his fourth Tour de France was to avoid risk. Find a safe place in the peloton and stay upright. Simple, but he couldn't do it. Like Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Pogacar could only play the man he is. So on this first occasion of a splendid new route for the final stage, he got involved in a fierce battle for the stage victory, taking the same risks as the other five riders in the breakaway. There were three ascents of the 1.1-kilometre Côte de la Butte Montmartre, and each time he attacked. Every ascent was followed by descents in the driving rain. On the last circuit, Pogacar distanced four of the five in the group but Wout van Aert stayed with him and then near the top, the Belgian counterattacked. For the first time in the Tour, Pogacar himself was distanced. Van Aert went on to achieve a famous victory, slowing down better to savour the moment as he crossed the finish line on the Champs-Élysées. For his Visma-Lease a Bike team it was a terrific end to a difficult Tour. It was the team's second stage victory and their leader, Jonas Vingegaard, finished second overall, but that was still less than they had hoped for. 'We came to win the Yellow Jersey but came up against the strongest rider in the race and best rider in the world,' Van Aert said. In dreadful conditions, it was a compelling climax that validated the decision to dispense with what had long been a ceremonial end to the Tour, a race in which little happened and almost always ended with a bunch sprint. Pogacar knew the risks of trying to win the final stage. One bad fall and that could have been him out of the race. And still, he couldn't play safe. 'I found myself in the front,' he said afterwards, 'even though I didn't have the energy to motivate myself to race. I tried but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong. It was a really nice race in the end today. I am speechless to win a fourth Tour. Six years in a row on the podium and this one feels especially amazing. I am super-proud to wear this Yellow Jersey. 'The second week was the decisive week where we took the decisive advantage and we went more comfortably into the final week. Battling against Jonas was again a tough experience but respect to him and big congratulations for his fight. Now it's time to celebrate. I want to celebrate with peace this week and have nice weather, not like now.' The other general classification (GC) contenders stayed well clear of the fight on that hill in Montmartre and were happy just to stay upright. Vingegaard poured every ounce of himself into the three-week battle against Pogacar and though the contest was relatively close, he lost every round. His two bad days, in the Caen time-trial and on Hautacam, were two more than he could afford. Pogacar hasn't had a bad day at the Tour since Col de la Loze in 2023. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe) and Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL), who finished third and fourth, were the revelations of the race. They will now be contenders in whatever grand tour they care to ride and it will be interesting to watch Ben Healy's development. Could he too become a grand tour contender? Lipowitz, Onley, Healy and plenty of others will wonder about Pogacar, 26, and how long he can continue at his present level. Their futures are connected to his. There is an interesting conversation about this, the most recent demonstration of one rider's brilliance. Many consider this to be a compelling renewal of the greatest bike race. Others shake their heads and bemoan the predictability. Didn't Pogacar, they ask without needing an answer, drive a stake through the heart of his only rival, Vingegaard, on the first day in the high mountains? And wasn't that ten days before the end? Like beauty, riveting sport is in the eye of the beholder. There is no right answer, only opinions. Each one as valid as the next. My view is complicated by more than four decades of following and writing about the Tour. First experience was 1982, the last two days, which are generally the two least interesting. We went because that year our Irish compatriot Sean Kelly won the Green Jersey for the first time. That Sunday's finish on the Champs-Élysées was curious . It was Bernard Hinault's fourth Tour and by then, even the French were growing tired of his success. That year Hinault had taken his advantage in the time-trials and then defended in the mountains. Breathtaking, it wasn't. Towards the end, the lament was that he hadn't been able to take a proper road stage. Reacting to the criticism, Hinault contested the bunch sprint on the Champs-Élysées. It wasn't something he did often but he won it. Through rookie eyes, it seemed an unusual outcome. How could a GC rider suddenly become a bunch sprinter and beat all the specialists? One rider in that Tour said that it was either let Hinault win on the Champs-Élysées or not be invited to post-Tour criteriums in Brittany. I'm still not sure if he was joking. Back then it was common for deals to be struck between riders and between teams. Results were traded; sometimes for the promise of future help, sometimes for cash. The more you thought you knew, the less you actually knew. Two days in 1982 became two weeks in 1983, and in 1984, the entire Tour with the sacred green badge given to an accredited journalist. Though the race had a certain global appeal, no one would have mistaken it for a slick global operation. They were elite-level athletes staying in school dormitories while riding the Tour. Dormitories without air conditioning, on the hottest Tour nights. It was, though, a good race for journalists. Walk into a hotel, or indeed a school dormitory and there was a list on the wall telling the room number of each rider. No one wondered where you were going or worried too much about the demands on riders. And on the Reims to Nancy stage of the 1985 Tour, Ludwig Wynants consummated my relationship with the Tour. For years, I had struggled with a speech disorder. In any kind of pressurised situation, I stuttered. It wasn't much fun. That year I agreed to do daily reports for RTE radio from the Tour, thinking that if I could survive live radio, the speech problem would be overcome. Shock treatment, you could say. I knew from experience that words beginning with L and W were particularly challenging. So Ludwig Wynants was a nightmare. The last two words of the report delivered live on RTE that Saturday afternoon were 'Ludwig Wynants'. The name emerged almost fluently and, from that day, things improved. So I owe the Tour. The Eightiess were good: Laurent Fignon against Hinault in '84; Hinault against Greg LeMond in '85; LeMond against Hinault in '86; Stephen Roche against Pedro Delgado in '87. They were interesting races but if we'd been more honest in those, we would have wondered aloud about the abuse of testosterone, cortisone and other banned drugs. Without ever talking about it, riders informed us that what they took was their business, not ours. For the most part we agreed. There was a price to be paid for our compliance with omertà, the law of silence. In 1990 Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride was published and the ex-professional laid bare the endemic doping culture within cycling, not that many were ready to accept the truth. For this was the beginning of the EPO years and however bad things had been, they weren't getting any better. For so long, it was impossible to believe in the Tour. The Nineties were a continuation of the Eighties, the Noughties were as bad as the Nineties and then along came Team Sky, winning seven out of eight Tours. They talked of winning clean but since 2016 there has been scandal after scandal related to how that team was run. The latest surfaced two weeks ago and now the International Testing Agency has opened an investigation into former Sky, now Ineos Grenadiers', soigneur David Rozman. In 2020, along came Pogacar. The then 21-year-old won his first Tour de France. He's now ridden the race six times; four victories and twice runner-up. He improves a little every year but he is essentially the same rider now as back then, and pretty much every week of every season. There hasn't been any evidence of wrongdoing. I believe he's an exceptional, credible champion. Consequently his victories are never boring and his dominance is a joy, not a reason for suspicion. This era has been the most credible that cycling has known and it should be celebrated.
