Tour de France 2025: Philipsen wins chaotic first stage as Evenepoel and Roglic suffer
Winner of three stages in 2024, the Belgian sprinter was too quick for the Eritrean Biniam Girmay, of Intermarché Wanty, and Norway's Søren Wærenskjold, of Uno-X Mobility, and claimed his first yellow jersey.
Eighteen kilometres from Lille, the gusting crosswinds forced a decisive coup, as a select group, including Philipsen, moved ahead. In the front group were the favourites, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Jonas Vingegaard of Visma Lease-a-bike.
Behind, there were multiple splits in the bunch, with more scrambling required by those who had lost the wheel in front of them. Among those cut adrift were the Olympic road race champion, Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step, and Primoz Roglic of Bora Hansgrohe, five times a Grand Tour winner.
In a chaotic opening stage, raced at breakneck speeds through incessant crosswinds, there were soon crashes, punctures and dropped riders, with many left chasing back frantically through the race convoy. Among the casualties were Filippo Ganna of Ineos Grenadiers, Visma Lease-a-bike's Simon Yates, the Giro d'Italia winner, the former world champion Julian Alaphilippe, now with Tudor Pro Cycling, Bahrain Victorious's French hope Lenny Martinez, and Florian Lipowitz of Bora Hansgrohe.
The sight of first Martinez and then Yates, battling alone to rejoin the peloton, was puzzling, given their supposed protected status. Eventually all of them, apart from the stricken Ganna, who quit the race, rejoined the back of the peloton, but with frayed nerves after a typically stressful start to the Tour.
The stage looped south-west and then headed north, through the Pas de Calais, before turning back towards Lille and skirting the Belgian border as the peloton sped towards the finish.
The early breakaway of five riders survived 70km before the peloton reeled them in shortly before the first intermediate sprint, at La Motte au Bois, won by Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek from Bryan Coquard, riding for Cofidis, and Girmay.
The subsequent lull was filled by the French duo Benjamin Thomas, a gold medallist on the track in last year's Paris Olympics, and Matteo Vercher.
Sign up to The Recap
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action
after newsletter promotion
A momentarily at ease peloton was content to give them their head on the approach to the stage's two short climbs, the Mont Cassel and Mont Noir, as they built a lead nudging a minute.
But in a moment that seemed to epitomise the home nation's malaise, the pair somehow managed to sabotage each other when sprinting for the climbing points at the fourth category climb to Cassel, Thomas's rear wheel sliding across the cobbles and taking a furious Vercher down, as they crested the top of the climb.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘A real shock': Bayern Munich confirm Musiala out for long period with leg fracture
Bayern Munich have said Jamal Musiala faces a 'lengthy' recovery from a leg fracture after his collision with Paris Saint-Germain's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma at the Club World Cup. Bayern said on Sunday that Musiala had flown back from Florida to Munich that morning for surgery on the injury the attacking midfielder picked up in Saturday's loss to PSG in the quarter-finals. Bayern said doctors found Musiala 'sustained a fracture of the fibula [a bone in the lower leg] associated with a broken and dislocated ankle'. The Bayern board member for sport, Max Eberl, said in a statement: 'This serious injury and the lengthy lay-off are a real shock for Jamal and us all.' 'This hits FC Bayern. Everyone knows how immensely important Jamal is for our game and what a central role he has in our team. Furthermore, there's also a huge human impact and we all feel for him. Jamal has just come back from an injury and will now be out for another long period. He'll get everything he needs from us. We'll support him intensively, be by his side and already look forward to when he's back on the pitch.' The Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was fiercely critical of Donnarumma over the incident on Saturday. '[This is] a situation where you don't have to go in like that; that's reckless,' he said. 'He accepts the risk of injuring his opponent … It's a question of respect to go over and wish the guy all the best. He did it afterwards. Fairness is always important. I would have reacted differently.' Vincent Kompany added that he had 'rarely been so angry' over an incident on the pitch. 'Someone like Jamal lives for this [game],' the Bayern head coach said. 'He's here after a setback and something like this happens. And you feel powerless.' After the match, Donnarumma posted on Instagram: 'All my prayers and well wishes are with you Jamal.' The PSG manager, Luis Enrique, said Musiala was ''very unlucky that Gigi fell on him … I wish him the best. There is no bad intent.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Sarina Wiegman must forget loyalty to save England's Euros dream, writes TARA ANSON-WALSH, after Lionesses' opening defeat by France
Sarina Wiegman 's faith in her stalwarts has been the backbone of England 's success at tournaments. Honesty with her players over when they will play, and how they can help the team, whether that be from the start or off the bench, is frequently praised. Wiegman's transparency allows players to tailor their preparations without second-guessing late tactical shifts. But on Saturday night that same loyalty looked, for the first time, like a liability as England were outfought and outpaced by a battling France side, whose aggressive press and superior athleticism dismantled the holders and set up a 2-1 win. England are the first defending champions to lose their opening group game of a women's Euros. Lucy Bronze had a punishing evening against her Chelsea team-mate Sandy Baltimore, who was sensational for the Treble winners last season. On the opposite flank, Jess Carter also suffered against the electric Delphine Cascarino, with the England defender admitting as much afterwards. 'We all have days where we're just having a bit of a mare on the ball and unfortunately there was more than one player doing that,' said the Gotham FC left back. Wiegman's decision to start Lauren James, Alex Greenwood, Lauren Hemp and Georgia Stanway was a significant gamble considering how little they have featured recently. Greenwood and Hemp had each played only one full match — last month's Nations League clash with Spain — since returning from injuries sustained at the end of last year. Stanway, recovering from a knee injury she suffered in January, had only completed a full 90 minutes in the friendly against Jamaica last weekend. As for James, this marked her first start since April 4. Those four have long been among Wiegman's most trusted lieutenants, central to England's run to the World Cup final two years ago. Yet starting all of them felt like an unnecessary risk and England suffered because of it. 'I make a lot of considerations before I pick a starting line-up,' Wiegman said. 'I do it with my technical staff. Sometimes things go well and sometimes it doesn't, but I don't have regrets because we try to turn every stone before we pick the line-up.' There is a difference between match fitness and match sharpness, and that contrast was clear. It was highlighted further when Ella Toone, Grace Clinton and Michelle Agyemang were brought on and added some much-needed quality, albeit too late in the day. Toone and Clinton have been Manchester United's best players this season — the former her club's leading light as they qualified for the Champions League, the latter industrious in defence and clinical in front of goal. Introducing them against Netherlands on Wednesday in place of Stanway and James would shore up England defensively, as well as bringing more energy alongside Keira Walsh. Agyemang also deserves more than an 86th-minute introduction. She is powerful and her physicality brings something different to England's attack — she managed to get under the skin of the France backline. On Sunday, the players who did not feature or played limited minutes spent time working on one-v-one drills, an area in which England really struggled. The mood was light and Hemp revealed conversations within the squad had leant towards 'putting an arm around each other' rather than calling each other out. 'We've got to come together rather than push each other further apart,' the 24-year-old winger added. 'That's what this team are good at — getting around each other and supporting each other. We're going to need everyone back up to their best on Wednesday.' Loyalty built this team. But now evolution and not sentimentality must guide Wiegman's next move… before it's too late.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Unimpressed Championship club admit new kit ‘isn't to everyone's taste' as they refuse to post shirt players will wear
A CHAMPIONSHIP football club have admitted their new kit "isn't to everyone's taste" after fans savaged it on social media. Watford revealed their new home kit, manufactured by Kelme for a sixth year running and sponsored by MrQ Casino, to fans last week. The 2025/26 kit is a yellow base accompanied by faded red stripes. However, fans tore into the kit upon seeing a bold blue font for MrQ Casino. One fan on social media remarked: "This is what hell must looks like," while another added: "Can it get any worse." Recognising this, the Hornets took the decision to NOT SHOW the kit their players will wear on the pitch next season in the kit marketing material. Instead, they have shown off the kit in an unbranded state, and made sure every fan is aware they did everything in their power to not have the garish blue colour on it. A statement said: "On-pitch, players' shirts will feature front of shirt sponsorship from MrQ, though, mindful that the new, blue MrQ Casino logo may not reflect the values or preferences of all supporters, the shirt will once again be available to buy unbranded." On social media, the club also commented: "The logo on our new shirt isn't to everyone's taste. "We really liked the previous black logo and we had lots of dialogue over the summer as we wanted to keep it black to complement the new shirt. "But our sponsors were insistent on their rebrand. Some may like it. Some may not. And for those who don't, you can join the Q and get your unbranded shirt." Despite it not being on their marketing material, fans do still have the option to buy the branded shirt in the club's website. I grabbed director of football by the throat and picked him off the floor in front of my team-mates, reveals Troy Deeney The men's adult home shirt is available for £60, the same price as the unbranded version. This is the same for the women's team. MrQ and Watford first partnered together in 2023. The betting brand previously had a black and white logo, which had complemented Watford's bright yellow colours. Reacting on social media, one fan said: "We're supposed to be Hornets... yellow and black." A second said: "The blue logo is just wrong." Another said: "So much better without sponsor." A fourth said: "That blue MrQ branding is also next-level bad." Furthermore, for the first time, the shirt is crafted from recycled polyester, reflecting the club's commitment to sustainability. Last season, Watford finished 14th in the Championship table. The club go into next season with Paulo Pezzolano in charge after being announced as their new manager in May. 3
