The long journey of the 2025 Tour de France
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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Onley the 'introverted extrovert' riding high
Team Picnic-Post NL describe Oscar Onley as "an introverted extrovert" who enjoys "lo-fi rap vibes", playing golf and eating risotto. Scottish Cycling reported how he "would be targeting stages, with the general classification being a secondary aim" in his second Tour de France. After finishing fourth overall in the standings, the 22-year-old from Kelso told how his achievement had sparked "a dream". By matching the achievement of compatriot Philippa York (then known as Robert Millar) in 1984, Onley equalled the best-ever finish by a Scottish rider. So who is the new exciting name in British cycling? And where can he go from here? 'Huge moment' as Onley matches Scottish record Tour fourth place Van Aert wins final stage as Pogacar seals Tour title Who is Oscar Onley? Those who follow cycling closely will know of Onley's steady progress since taking to the senior ranks in 2023 with his Dutch team. But his journey started in the Scottish Borders, when local club Kelso Wheelers' time trial route passed right by his front door and he got involved. Onley juggled lots of sports as a kid, particularly cross-country running, before committing to the bike. He described himself as "never the best" as a youngster, but as he grew physically his results picked up. His big breakthrough came at the Tour Down Under in 2024 when he won on the finish up Willunga Hill for his first professional victory. The Scot then managed second at the Tour of Britain. Amid all that he had to deal with two broken collarbones due to crashes. This year he has bounced back, and last month climbed on to the podium at the Tour de Suisse, winning stage five in the process. Forged in the rolling hills of the south of Scotland, Onley is most at home when the road gradient makes the legs strain and is based in the high mountains of Andorra. On the big behemoth mountain ranges, the Alps and Pyrenees, he has announced himself to a wider audience with a memorable Tour de France performance. 'It sparks a dream' - Onley reaction to finishing fourth in Tour Onley told ITV: "We never really had the plan to go for GC [general classification] in the beginning. It was more just see how it goes. "To be honest, I've never even thought about a top five in the Tour before, so to get it in my first try in GC is quite incredible and I'm excited for the future. "It gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races as well as these are the top guys and in top shape in the biggest race. So if I can do it here then why not in other races? "There was no pressure from the team. They've handled that really well because I think as soon as you say you are going for GC, there's a lot more attention on you. I've just taken every day as it's come really and not made any extra stress as the Tour is already stressful enough, just to ride and compete. "I'm really happy with how myself and the team have managed these three weeks. I guess this is a really big moment in my career. I don't really realise it yet, but I think just with talking to other riders, going forward now we have something to build on and an exciting project for the future, and it sparks a bit of a dream I guess." What's next for Onley? Picnic-Post NL are entered in the seven-stage Tour de Pologne in Poland, which starts on 4 August, though a final entry list for riders is not yet confirmed. The Vuelta a Espana from 23 August is the next major event on the circuit.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
The story of the 2025 Tour de France in 21 photographs
The Tour de France is made by its surroundings; a celebration of the nation's scenery as well as a celebration of elite bike-racing. We may one day remember this race as the midpoint of Tadej Pogačar's dominance, for Valentin Paret-Peintre's win on Mont Ventoux, but for many fans, their abiding memory will be the Tour as a slice of a French summer. These fragments and snapshots are powerful things — here, then, is the story of the race's 21 stages in pictures. Reduced bunch? Echelons played havoc on the Tour's first stage. Given the company, Philipsen had to win — he rolled right out to the right side of the road, beating last year's green jersey Biniam Girmay, and landing the considerable prize of the race's first yellow jersey. The start of stage two in Lauwin-Planque was a washout. The Tour is determined to visit smaller towns to keep its traditional rural heritage alive, but amid traffic chaos in the mud, the start had to be delayed. In many ways, the race is now outgrowing itself. There was a chicane and a curve in the final 500m of stage three in Dunkirk, with several directeur sportifs calling the finish unsafe. Emilien Jeanniere was vaulted into the crowd after being forced wide — he bravely rode on for another two days before abandoning. Jonas Vingegaard spent his offseason bulking up in a bid to match Pogačar's explosiveness. The ramps leading into Rouen were the first true test of that work — in matching Pogacar, the GC race suddenly felt alive. After taking two Olympic titles last summer, world champion Evenepoel, the 'aero bullet', is not averse to a little gold. Bike frame, computer, helmet — even the wheat fields of northern France complied with his wishes. The Belgian won the individual time trial again. It was the high point of a Tour he abandoned on stage 14. It felt as if Quinn Simmons spent more time in the breakaway than out of it. The American champion is one of the most visible riders in the peloton thanks to his stars and stripes jersey, flowing hair, and horseshoe moustache — he was recognised with the Super Teammate award at the end of the race. Every year is an opportunity for France to dream. This year's hero was Norman rider Kevin Vauquelin, who spent much of the race in the top five of the general classification. The future of his Arkea-B&B squad is under serious threat, but Vauquelin's riding brought attention to their plight. He finished the race in seventh. Going, going… There were limited opportunities for sprinters in this year's race — they were only granted chances on long transitional stages between different parts of France. In winning stage eight, eventual green jersey Milan became the first Italian to win a stage in 113 race days. Two men took on the might of the peloton — and almost succeeded. Jonas Rickaert vomited five times in his support of Van der Poel (thankfully not pictured), but their brave escape ended with capture just 750m from the line. Surprisingly, this flat stage was one of the best days' racing of the Tour. I spent this stage in the Massif Central riding within Cofidis' team car. It is a faintly terrifying experience, being flung around mountain passes far above the speed limit, the driver manoeuvring with one hand, handing gels out the window as he goes. Hitting the Circuit de Charade race track was a moment of calm — the run-off areas were sizable. This is what a first Grand Tour stage win means. Uno-X are not on the WorldTour, but they proved they could mix it with the big boys after Abrahamsen outsprinted Mauro Schmid in Toulouse. Tobias Halland Johannessen completed an impressive Tour for the Norwegian outfit by finishing sixth on GC. One man alone. In what amounted to the decisive stage of the race, Pogačar attacked at the base of the Hautacam, achieving almost instant separation from Vingegaard. Having lost time here in previous Tours, his focus meant he appeared almost unaware of the fevered atmosphere around him. Vingegaard spent the previous day with his face contorted in pain, but there was a forcefulness to his ride on stage 13's mountain time trial in Peyragudes. The Dane showed his true level in finishing second to Pogačar, delivering Evenepoel one of the toughest days of the Belgian's career, overcoming a two-minute deficit in the stage's final metres. Pogačar's attacks brought the sunshine to much of the Tour's first two weeks, but his exhaustion was visible by the end. Arensman stayed away from him twice — on stage 14 and stage 19 — to win a pair of mountain victories. Don't let your eyes deceive you. Julian Alaphilippe may have thought he had won the stage, but both Wellens and Victor Campenaerts were some distance up the road. Wout van Aert looks on in bemusement. The Frenchman had broken his radio and dislocated his shoulder in an earlier crash. France appeared doomed to a rare Tour without a home win — for Paret-Peintre to deliver it on the lunar summit of Mont Ventoux, arguably the most iconic climb in French cycling, provided a rousing coda to the race. The security services have been on high alert throughout the race — when an amateur rider attempted to cross the line himself shortly before the race arrived, he was taken down hard by officials as a potential safety concern. The man was later given an eight-month suspended prison sentence. Stage 18 was one of the biggest days of climbing in the Tour's history, but what goes up must come down. The descent from the Col du Glandon is steep, winding and irregular, with Visma Lease-a-Bike hitting it hard as they desperately tried to unsettle Pogačar. The cow stage. Stage 19 was shortened after a mass cull of a cattle herd affected by nodular dermatitis, and fears that the Tour caravan could spread the illness throughout France. It meant the final mountain stage was just 95km long, producing a strangely muted finale as the GC favourites watched each other and almost gave away the victory to Arensman. A sunlit ride towards Paris? Not a bit of it. The final days of the Tour brought storms, and only Groves survived them cleanly, avoiding a crash in the breakaway before separating himself from a group of far superior climbers on the road towards Pontarlier. A tactically perfect race from the Australian. The inclusion of Montmartre on the ceremonial 21st stage proved controversial, but after rain led to the GC battle being neutralised, Pogačar had the freedom to attack on the rainy cobbles himself. Van Aert won the day in a classic, but Montmartre may be here to stay.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
France's long wait for Tour winner goes on but Thevenet sees hope
After a superb Tour de France raced entirely on French soil, there is plenty for the host nation to cheer about but the absence of a French winner remains a national sore point. It is 40 years since Bernard Hinault won the last of his five Tours de France. Since then the host nation has waited -- not always patiently -- for a successor. But this year has produced some cheer for the home fans as they look ahead. It's true that none of the five French teams on the roster landed either a stage win or a place on the final podium but Valentin Paret-Peintre produced some heroics to grab a memorable stage win on Mont Ventoux. On top of that, Kevin Vauquelin and Jordan Jegat both finished in the top 10, while Vauquelin and Lenny Martinez, just 22, wore the white and polka dot jerseys -- for best under-26 rider and best climber respectively -- for spells. It doesn't hide the lack of a winner but it was enough to make former French champion Bernard Thevenet guardedly positive about future home ambitions. Thevenet, who won the world's greatest bike race in 1975 and 1977, told AFP during this year's contest -- won superbly by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar for the fourth time -- that the emerging riders were about to join the top table. "We have good riders in France, obviously not as superb as Tadej Pogacar but this happens," Thevenet said. "We really thought Lenny Martinez might get the king of the mountains jersey, he gave us a bit of hope. But he couldn't take it all the way," the 77-year-old said, a day after Pogacar took it off the French youngster. He also spoke of his joy at Paret-Peintre winning on Mont Ventoux. "It was great to see him emerge like that, how he pulled that win off. He did well," said Thevenet. Paret-Peintre himself said he had learned a winning mentality by joining a Belgian team. "Belgium is more about classics than Grand Tours, so I learned this do-or-die attitude and it made the difference," he said. - Young hope - Thevenet cautioned however that the young French riders on the Tour this year will not be the ones who deliver France from its 40-year wait for a winner. "The new generation are not on the same level as Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot," he said of two recently retired climbers who had the misfortune to be riding at the same time as four-time winner Chris Froome. "And It will be a while before we get a win or someone on the podium," he said. Thevenet, however, has seen two riders who he believes may be the ones to end the French famine. "Paul Seixas is 18, he isn't here on the Tour but he will be. And within five years he'll be on the podium," he said. "There's also a great up-and-coming sprinter, Paul Magnier, and you can see him winning stages when he rides the Tour." While Hinault's victory in 1985 was the last time France had a Tour winner, La Vie Claire were the last French team to win when American rider Greg LeMond secured his first title in 1986 -- with his teammate Hinault in second. After 112 editions of the world's greatest bike race, France has garnered 36 overall wins from 21 cyclists, and remain top of the heap in that respect. Thevenet said French teams have a problem with financing, taxes and other reasons and cannot compete directly with Pogacar's state-funded Team UAE. But French outfit Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale have attracted a new partnership with a shipping company, which will give them a far bigger budget. "This should level the playing field a bit," said Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme. Thevenet's great French hope Seixas is on Decathlon's books and they are priming themselves for a tilt at the top. "Our goal is to enter the top five and then the top three worldwide and to win the Tour de France by 2030," said team boss Dominique Serieys. dmc/nr/bsp/gj
