Tour de France: Kaden Groves wins stage 20 as Tadej Pogačar closes in on fourth title
Tour de France
's penultimate ride, avoiding a crash on slippery roads before powering to a solo triumph on the 184.2km journey from Nantua on Saturday.
Groves's bike-handling skills were on display when he managed to stay up as Spain's Ivan Romeo and France's Romain Gregoire skidded out of control in front of him on a wet descent 21 kilometres from the finish.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider then attacked from a reduced breakaway bunch and never looked back in the remaining 17 kilometres, bursting into tears in a mix of disbelief and exhaustion after the line.
Groves, who gave his team their third victory in this year's Tour after Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel also won, has seven Vuelta and two Giro d'Italia stage wins to his name.
READ MORE
Dutchman Frank van den Broek took second place, 54 seconds behind, with his compatriot Pascal Eenkhoorn third, five seconds further back.
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar spent a quiet day in the main peloton and made another step towards a fourth Tour title as he retained his overall leader's yellow jersey with a 4.24 advantage over Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard.
The final stage is a 132.3km ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where the peloton will cycle up the famous Butte Montmartre three times before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees.
Ireland's
Ben Healy
finished in 28th position, seven minutes and four seconds behind Groves, and he is ninth overall with one race left in this year's competition.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Tour de France final stage neutralised after slippery road conditions
The final stage of the Tour de France saw its competitive element largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions. Following a pre-stage check, officials identified several sections of the course as dangerously slippery. The stage goes up the cobbled roads of the Butte Montmartre three times. 'After a reconnaissance carried out before the stage, and after noting that certain sections had slippery road conditions, it was decided, in agreement with the president of the commissaires' panel, that the times would be frozen at kilometre 82, that is, on the 4th crossing of the finish line,' organisers said in a statement. 'A stage classification will be established, but it will not affect the general classification.' READ MORE The overall standings will therefore remain unchanged, preserving the yellow jersey leader's position. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar will, however, still need to cross the finish line to be declared winner of the race.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Ben Healy wins combativity award at Tour de France
Ben Healy has won the Super Combativity award for his performances during the 2025 Tour de France. Ahead of Sunday's final stage, the Irish rider emerged victorious in the shortlist of eight riders decided by a combination of a public vote and the race jury. Jonas Abrahamsen of the Uno-X Mobility came out on top in the public vote via social media but the expert jury ultimately swung it in Healy's favour. The award comes with a a €20,000 prize and a place on the podium in Paris. Healy is the second Irishman to earn the award after Dan Martin in 2018. 💪 🇮🇪 Ben Healy is the #TDF2025 Super Combative! After adding up the votes of the jury and the public, it is the Irishman who is rewarded for his resolutely offensive Tour! 💪 🇮🇪 Ben Healy est le Super combatif @century21fr du #TDF2025! Après addition des votes du jury et… — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 27, 2025 It has been a memorable three weeks for English-born 24-year-old, Healy, who became just the fourth Irish cyclist to wear the famous Yellow Jersey, following a storming third-place Bastille Day performance, which came in the wake of his victory on stage six - his maiden stage triumph at the Tour de France. He had a second place finish on the legendary Mont Ventoux last Tuesday. This year's Tour is the second of the EF Education-EasyPost rider's career and he is on course for a top ten finish, sitting ninth in the general classification ahead of the race climax.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Mavi Garcia takes Tour de France Femmes stage two as Kim Le Court Pienaar grabs yellow
Veteran Spanish rider Mavi Garcia claimed victory in a demanding second stage of the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday, attacking solo in the closing kilometres to secure a dramatic win in Quimper after a 110.4km ride from Brest. The 41-year-old Liv-AlUla-Jayco rider launched her decisive move with 10km remaining, opening a gap of around 20 seconds on the chasing pack. She held on through the explosive final climb, crossing the line three seconds ahead of her pursuers. Behind Garcia, Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM) sprinted to second place, with Kim Le Court Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) of Mauritius finishing third and taking the overall leader's yellow jersey. Dutch star Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), who wore the leader's jersey after winning Saturday's opening stage, finished fifth and surrendered her overall lead to Le Court Pienaar. READ MORE France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot took eighth after featuring prominently in the finale for the second day in a row. The final climb was lit up by attacks from local favourite Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez), the first to surge on the second ascent of the Cote du chemin de Troheir. Her team-mate Demi Vollering, one of the overall favourites, countered with a strong acceleration 5km from the finish, ultimately placing seventh, just behind defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon/SRAM). Fiona Mangan is the best of the three Irish riders in the field, in 98th position overall. Lara Gillespie and Mia Griffin are also competing. The Tour continues on Monday with stage three, featuring more rolling terrain before the mountain battles later in the week.
