Arensman wins toughest stage as Pogacar stretches lead
Arensman, who rides for Ineos-Grenadiers, posted the biggest victory of his career. After crossing the finish line in the deep fog enveloping the ski resort of Superbagneres, Arensman lay exhausted on the road with his head in his hands.
He went solo with 37km left from a breakaway, and quickly opened a comfortable lead. He started the final ascent to Superbagneres, which is more than 12km long, on his own and resisted the return of the main contenders.
It was Arensman's second Grand Tour stage win, having previously won a stage at the 2022 Spanish Vuelta.
As Arensman posed no threat to the overall standings, Pogacar and his teammates controlled the race from the back. The yellow jersey holder and his main challenger, Jonas Vingegaard, trailed by around three minutes with 8km remaining.
Vingegaard tried a move with 4km left but Pogacar responded with ease. The two rivals then watched each other closely and Arensman crossed first at the summit, more than one minute ahead of the duo.
Having won the previous two stages in the Pyrenees, Pogacar settled for second place. He accelerated in the final section to gain more time on Vingegaard, who completed the podium.
Overall, Pogacar increased his lead over Vingegaard to 4 minutes, 13 seconds, with Florian Lipowitz in third place, 7:53 off the pace after Remco Evenepoel abandoned his race.
Evenepoel, who was third overall, struggled early on as the peloton faced another day of suffering on climbs that are part of the Tour's lore such as the Col du Tourmalet, the Col d'Aspin, Col de Peyresourde and Superbagneres.
The Olympic champion was dropped on the ascent of the Tourmalet. Evenepoel won the opening time trial but suffered in the Pyrenees.
After struggling during Friday's uphill race against the clock to Peyragudes, he managed to keep his third place in the general classification.
Ben O'Connor was the highest finishing Australian rider, in 16th place, with Callum Scotson 19th. O'Connor is in 12th position overall.
Riders will leave the high mountains on Sunday's stage during a 169km ride from Muret to the medieval city of Carcassonne.
The race finishes next weekend in Paris.
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SBS Australia
5 hours ago
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ABC News
5 hours ago
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ABC News
6 hours ago
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Tour de France Femmes 2025 hopes to recapture spell-binding 2024 edition, and continue to grow women's cycling from 'ugly' past
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Her stiffest opposition to victory may well come from the subtly-renamed SD Worx-Protime, with runner-up in 2023 and reigning world champion Lotte Kopecky set to challenge as leader of her former team — whatever leadership means in a team so jam-packed full of stars. Kopecky is far more suited to one-day races, but is far from a lump in the mountains, and has dropped her weight a fraction to better handle the mountain climbs. But then there's Anna van der Breggen, two-time former world champion and the team's ex-director sportif, who is back out of retirement and will be an option as well, with the team also hunting stage wins with Dutch national champion Lorena Wiebes and Blanka Vas. Speaking of the greats, arguably the greatest all-round cyclist in history, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will be carrying the host nation's hopes. The 33-year-old is, to put it politely, a complete freak. Ferrand-Prévot has won world titles in cyclo-cross, gravel and on the road, as well as winning 12 world championships in various mountain bike disciplines, capped by winning Olympic gold in Paris last year. Now she's back on the road, winning Paris-Roubaix and finishing on the podium at the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Strade Bianche on her return, with a focus on winning the yellow jersey. Can any Aussies challenge? Neve Bradbury, Brodie Chapman, Amanda Spratt, Sarah Gigante, Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Lucie Fityus and Emily Watts are set to start the race, but one name stands out above all others. Gigante of AG Insurance -Soudal had a brilliant Giro d'Italia Donne, finishing in third place, just 1 minute 11 seconds behind overall winner, Elisa Longo Borghini. By winning both mountain stages, Gigante won the mountains jersey in a breakout performance from the 24-year-old. Incredibly, it could have been even better. Had Gigante not lost 1 minute and 42 seconds in crosswinds on the sixth stage, she could conceivably have won the title and catapulted herself into the conversation as one of the favourites for multiple grand tours to come. This all after an interrupted summer where she needed major surgery after being struck down by iliac artery endofibrosis. Is this young Victorian a smoky for a podium at the Femmes? You can't rule her out.
