Tour de France 2025: Arensman holds off Pogacar and Vingegaard for solo stage win

The Guardian

4 days ago

Thymen Arensman rescued what had been an anonymous Tour de France for Ineos Grenadiers with a solo stage victory in the final Pyrenean stage, to Superbagnères in Haute-Garonne.
Earlier, an Ineos Grenadiers team car had knocked down a spectator on the approach to the summit of the Col de Peyresourde. The team car was in the middle of the road, about 200 metres from the top of the ascent, when it struck the spectator, who was cheering the riders on.
The driver, the sports director, Oliver Cookson, was handed a 5,000 Swiss franc (£4,650) fine and a yellow card for 'dangerous behaviour that endangered spectators'. A second yellow card triggers exclusion from the race. Local police have been investigating the accident.
In a statement, Ineos Grenadiers said: 'Our thoughts and sincere apologies go out to the fan who was accidentally and regretfully hit by one of our race cars while supporting the riders during today's stage. Like all teams we take great care to maintain a safe race environment for everyone – including the passionate fans who make our sport so special.'
On a murky day in the Pyrenees, Tadej Pogacar finally allowed others their chance. Already the winner of four stages, the Slovenian controlled some tentative moves by Jonas Vingegaard in the closing kilometres, before outsprinting the Dane in the final 150 metres to increase his overall lead to 4min 13sec.
Pogacar said the wet and misty conditions had affected his enthusiasm for the stage. 'We were riding strongly, but also thinking to be safe. I was quite scared descending in white fog, you don't even see the road,' the Slovenian said. 'When you are riding super-hard for two and a half hours already and you come to top of the Tourmalet and you think: 'Ah, it's a descent, it's easy,' but then [there is] this really thick fog on the top – mist, bit of rain, slippery road – you still need to focus so much on the downhill.
'It's so different to when it's dry and sunny. In this fog today, you could see maybe 20 metres ahead of you. We went really conservatively on the downhill and we managed in the end without any stupid mistakes.'
Meanwhile, Oscar Onley, who finished sixth on the stage, has moved into the top four as the Tour ends its second week. The Scot benefited from the withdrawal of Remco Evenepoel, who started the day third but quit the Tour at the base of the Col du Tourmalet.
Evenepoel, clearly at the end of his rope after Friday's time trial to Peyragudes, was drifting behind well before the peloton arrived at the foot of the Tourmalet, but as the 19km climb began, it became apparent the Belgian's race was run.
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'He didn't feel great,' his Soudal Quick-Step sports director, Tom Steels, said of the Olympic road and time-trial champion. 'He hoped for the best, but things didn't turn. He didn't have the legs to suffer. I think it's wise not to continue. He still has some goals this year, and maybe if he'd continued in the condition he had, maybe the rest of the season would be lost.
'Remco was very disappointed he had to leave the Tour. He is not himself. Already, this was the third day in a row that he didn't feel great. You have to be very careful not to go over the limit and lose months instead of days.'
With almost 5,000m of climbing packed into 125km of racing, it was one of the most brutal stages in recent Tours, but Pogacar was happy to let an earlier breakaway, which included Arensman, move clear, with Lenny Martinez, chasing yet more points in the King of the Mountains classification, also in the move. Crucially, the French rider was first over the mammoth and mist-shrouded Tourmalet and harvested enough points to move into the polka dot jersey lead, as the Tour exited the Pyrenees.
Sunday's stage to Carcassonne offers the sprinters a further opportunity for success, before the second rest day and the final week's assault on the Alps.