Tour de France: Onley lays down a marker as Pogacar keeps grip on yellow
Urged on by the band of OnleyFans at the roadside, the 22-year-old from Kelso produced the ride of his young life in the Tour's queen stage, won by Ben O'Connor, to climb to within 22sec of a top-three placing.
'That's not much,' Picnic PostNL's Onley said of the slim margin between him and the third-placed German, Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, on the eve of the Tour's final summit finish at La Plagne. 'We'll give it everything tomorrow.'
After being dropped by Pogacar and Vingegaard towards the top of the Col de la Madeleine, Onley had stayed calm and finally rejoined the main group on the valley roads leading to Courchevel. 'Visma set a hard pace,' Onley said of Vingegaard's team, 'I just did what I could.'
He added: 'I wouldn't say I kept my cool, but I still felt good. I'm just not at the level of those guys when they attack. It showed at the end when they went pretty hard up there.'
While Onley continued to confound expectations, ghosts were laid by Pogacar, whose last visit to La Loze in 2023 when he uttered the infamous words 'I'm gone, I'm dead' ended in a catastrophic defeat by Vingegaard. This time, it was the Slovenian that left the Dane behind, the Emirates XRG rider attacking in the final 500m to distance both Vingegaard and the inexhaustible Onley on the climb's steepest grades.
Vingegaard may still cling to the dream of an unlikely victory, but Pogacar now seems keen for it to end. 'It's not over yet and I will try my best tomorrow, the day after and the day after, to keep my lead,' he said, before adding: 'I cannot wait that it's all over.
'This is the point where I ask myself: 'Why am I still here?' It's so long these three weeks. You just count the kilometres to Paris, but I try to enjoy every day on the bike as much as I can. The fans really help. It's still nice to ride, even in the third week, when you're all tired and annoyed by everybody around you, and you just want to go home.'
O'Connor does not win often but when he does, it is on the biggest of stages. As the Australian, riding for Jayco–AlUla, ground his way towards the mist-shrouded finish line, the 29-year-old, winner of a similarly cold and damp Alpine stage to Tignes in 2021, let out an exultant cry.
It was, as Vingegaard admitted later, a 'brutal' stage. 'Five hours in the saddle,' he said. 'I'm not sure I've ever done such a hard stage in the Tour before.' Even before the stage began, Pogacar and Visma-Lease a bike had been at odds after the defending champion collided with one of his rival's team cars as he rode to the start in Vif. 'We were going to the start line, cruising behind the car,' Pogacar said.
'Maybe he wanted to check my brakes. I was not ready because I didn't see any reason that he wanted to stop urgently, so I crashed into the car. But it's OK.'
Clearly the Slovenian suffered no ill effects. Whatever they throw him, he is just too strong for his rivals. With one more summit finish to come, on Friday at La Plagne, it would take an unprecedented collapse for him now to lose the race.
Guardian
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Wout Van Aert wins in Paris as Tadej Pogacar secures yellow jersey, Ben Healy finishes ninth in Tour de France
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. Ben Healy concluded his breakthrough Grand Tour without drama, securing his ninth place finish in the general classification - just over 28 minutes behind Pogacar but with a 4'40" cushion on 10th place Ben O'Connor as times were neutralised due to the dangerous, wet conditions. The Irish EF Education-EasyPost rider had earlier been given the Super Combativity award for his performances during the tour. 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 into the capital, 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, 26, 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. Pogacar (below) 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. German Florian Lipowitz finished third overall, some 11 minutes down on Pogacar and one minute three 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 race returned to the French capital after last year's enforced absence due to the Olympic Games. Race organisers had been inspired by incredible scenes in Montmartre during those Games to add the climb to this day and totally shake up the complexion of the usual parade into Paris. The route change left potential for time gaps at the finish, but with heavy rain falling organisers announced general classification times would be taken earlier in the stage to remove the peril. After the usual photoshoots on the approach to the capital, the race was on as soon as they hit the Champs-Elysees for the first time before really exploding on the first time up the climb.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Tadej Pogacar wins fourth Tour de France title as Wout van Aert takes last stage
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 into the capital, 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. Pogacar, 26, 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. German Florian Lipowitz finished third overall, some 11 minutes down on Pogacar and one minute three 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 race returned to the French capital after last year's enforced absence due to the Olympic Games. Race organisers had been inspired by incredible scenes in Montmartre during those Games to add the climb to this day and totally shake up the complexion of the usual parade into Paris. The route change left potential for time gaps at the finish, but with heavy rain falling organisers announced general classification times would be taken earlier in the stage to remove the peril. After the usual photoshoots on the approach to the capital, the race was on as soon as they hit the Champs-Elysees for the first time before really exploding on the first time up the climb. Pogacar's attacks splintered the groups but Van Aert had team-mate Matteo Jorgenson to help him and used his relative freshness to power away from Pogacar in the decisive moment.
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Oscar Piastri wins Belgian Grand Prix to extend championship lead
OSCAR PIASTRI HELD held off his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to win the Belgian Grand Prix today. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc came third as Piastri stretched his lead in the drivers' standings over Norris to 16 points. Advertisement Heavy rain delayed the 13th round of the season by 80 minutes, with organisers eventually allowing a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car as the sun finally appeared. Pole sitter Norris was quickly passed by Piastri as Norris complained he had a problem with his car's battery. Piastri then produced a controlled race from the front to lead home McLaren's sixth 1-2 of the season. 'I knew lap one was going to be my best chance of winning the race,' said Piastri. 'Rest of race we managed really well,' the Australian added. 'Oscar did a good job, nothing more to say,' said Norris. Max Verstappen, winner of Saturday's sprint, took fourth in Laurent Mekies' first race weekend as Red Bull team principal after the sacking of Christian Horner a fortnight ago. – © AFP 2025
