Pogacar chases quadruple, Thomas bids farewell – 5 Tour de France talking points
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the 112th edition.
Familiar fight for yellow?
Defending champion Tadej Pogacar is the overwhelming favourite to wear yellow in Paris and move level with Chris Froome on four career titles. And why not? The 26-year-old was outstanding last season, completing the Triple Crown of the Giro, Tour and world title, and has continued to pile up the wins this term. But two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard is ready to resume his now familiar rivalry with the Slovenian confident he is much closer to the form that saw him win in 2022 and 2023 than he was last year, when a devastating crash at the Tour of the Basque Country almost ruled him out of the Tour entirely. With Remco Evenepoel continuing to step forward and Primoz Roglic also racing after the early end of his Giro hopes, there are others who cannot be ignored.
An open sprint field
Predicting the sprint stages looks a difficult task this year. Tim Merlier arrives with the most wins, 10, of any of the quick men, but only one Tour victory to his name in his only previous appearance back in 2021. Difficult terrain means there are few pure sprints, something that might seem to favour Jasper Philipsen, who won three stages last year to take his Tour career tally to nine, but his Soudal Quick-Step team have split priorities as Evenepoel eyes yellow. Tour debutant Jonathan Milan could profit from the more difficult finishes, but the parcours also suits Biniam Girmay, winner of three stages last year.
Farewell Geraint
Geraint Thomas will start cycling's biggest race for the 14th and final time before retirement. His overall victory in 2018 was arguably the finest moment of a career that began with Olympic glory on the track, but his relationship with the Tour is a deeper story. Many fans fondly remember how he rode 20 stages of the 2013 race with a broken pelvis, determined to help Froome to victory at great personal cost. After the retirement of Mark Cavendish last year, the fact Froome has likely ridden his last Tour and the impending retirements of both Thomas and Lizzie Deignan, it feels like the end of an era for British cycling.
Paris awaits
After last year's Olympics forced the Tour to swerve the French capital for the first time in race history, the now traditional finish on the Champs-Elysees will return in 2025. Before then a race that takes place entirely within the borders of France will challenge the riders with more than 50,000m of elevation, but also an unusually tricky opening week in the north of the country before the Pyrenees and Alps serve up their usual punishment.
Brits in the race
Eleven Brits are due to start the race, including freshly-minted Giro champion Simon Yates, riding in support in Vingegaard, and twin brother Adam, supporting Pogacar. While Thomas waves goodbye, younger riders like Fred Wright, Oscar Onley and Lewis Askey will seek their breakaway opportunities. Jake Stewart lines up for his second Tour, while Sean Flynn and Joe Blackmore make their debuts. Connor Swift and new British champion Sam Watson, another debutant, join Thomas in the Ineos Grenadiers squad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
21 minutes ago
- BBC News
Beirne backs Farrell to boost Lions after controversial call-up
New South Wales Waratahs v British and Irish Lions Venue: Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Date: Saturday, 5 July Kick-off: 11:00 BSTCoverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app Owen Farrell's arrival on tour will lift the whole British and Irish Lions squad, says flanker Tadhg 33, has been called up to replace the injured Elliot Daly, but lacks form and match fitness after an injury-interrupted season at French side Racing decision by head coach Andy Farrell, Owen's father, to overlook the likes of Scotland's Tom Jordan and Darcy Graham, has attracted Beirne, who will captain the Lions in their match against the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday, says Farrell's leadership and experience of three previous tours will strengthen the tourists ahead of the Test series against Australia."He's only going to bring some serious quality to the squad, so we're looking forward to inviting him in here and getting to hang out with him," said Beirne."Any type of leadership is only going to enhance the squad. Playing with him four years ago, I've seen all the leadership qualities that he brings, the quality of his talent as well. It's going to do nothing but boost the squad, for sure."Daly, along with captain Maro Itoje and prop Tadhg Furlong, was one of three players in the initial squad to have played on two previous tours. He is the second player to leave the tour injured after Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams pulled a hamstring while diving in to score a try in the win over Queensland said that England back Daly had signed off in style."Gutted to see him go," said Beirne."We knew because he came in on Wednesday evening and showed everyone the x-ray and we knew his tour was over at that point."He's been such an invaluable player for the Lions. Elliot actually got to announce the team which was a very cool moment. Something that probably hadn't been done before. "He did it in typical Elliot fashion. He brought a bit of craic to it as well. It was a nice way to see him off."Scotland centre Huw Jones is the only player in the line-up to face the Waratahs to have also started the win over the Reds three days before."That is the ultimate goal for everyone here – to play in those Tests and the only way to do that is to play well in all these games leading up to it," added Beirne."If you are not producing in these games you are not giving yourself a fighting chance. Everyone has to put their best foot forward."The Lions will have only two more tour games – against the Brumbies and an invitational Australian and New Zealand XV on 9 and 12 July respectively – before their first Test against the Wallabies on 19 July.
NBC News
31 minutes ago
- NBC News
23 days, 184 cyclists: Everything you need to know about the 2025 Tour de France
The cycling world is gearing up for another showdown between titans Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard in the 112th edition of the Tour de France, which departs Saturday from Lille. This year, the Tour stays entirely in France and features a grueling but stunning ride through the Pyrenees and the Alps. It ends in Paris on July 27, the 50th anniversary of the first time it ended on the famed Champs-Elysees. Pogačar, of Slovenia, and Vingegaard, of Denmark, have won the last five Tours between them, and Vingegaard — who lost to his rival by more than six minutes last year — is out to settle the score. But beating Pogačar has proven nearly impossible. He has won three Tours, nine one-day races called Monuments, the World Championship Road Race and the 2024 Giro d'Italia, Italy's grand tour. He signed cycling's biggest contract last year with his current team, UAE Team Emirates XRG, for $58 million over six years. While that might seem small by U.S professional sports standards, it's astronomical for the peloton. With so much money on the line, the stakes are higher than ever. Can anyone beat Pogačar? 'Everything the light touches is Tadej's kingdom,' Pogačar's teammate Mikkel Bjerg, of Denmark, astutely points out in season three of the Netflix series 'Unchained,' which goes behind the scenes of the Tour de France. Bjerg made the observation last year from a skyscraper in Abu Dhabi, but the statement remains true. Pogačar has already solidified his place as one of the greatest cyclists of all time. At 26, he is seeking his fourth title at the Tour this year. If he does take home the yellow jersey, he will have won all three Grand Tours of 2025. Meanwhile, Vingegaard is angling for a third victory. His loss last year to Pogačar came on the heels of a horrific crash at the Itzulia Basque Country race in Spain that required nearly two weeks of hospitalization. As he landed near a concrete ditch, he sustained lung damage and rib and collarbone fractures, and he was carried away on a stretcher. Still, Vingegaard rode to second place in the Tour. He has spent most of this season training away from the cameras and racing only a handful of times. At the Critérium du Dauphiné race in the spring, the old Vingegaard seemed to be back. The biggest question now is whether a recovered Vingegaard can take on the reigning champion. Will Primož Roglič finish the race? Time is running out for Roglič, 35, to shake whatever curse has caused him to crash out of three Tours de France. Last month, Roglič was forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia after yet another crash, and the pressure is on for him to perform well after he joined a team whose title sponsor is the energy drink Red Bull. Roglič, a former Olympic ski jumper, has had luck in the past. He won titles in the Giro and the Vuelta a España, the Spanish grand tour, and in the Olympic road race, but the Tour de France has remained out of reach. In 2020, he came in second to Pogačar. The road decides the race This year, the route itself could determine winners or losers. Saturday's opening stage is expected to launch what is referred to as a bunch sprint, when a large group of riders all accelerate toward the finish line at the same time. That could be the case on Day 1, when the peloton will be its largest before crashes or illness force some contenders to abandon. At least one sprinter, Alpecin–Deceuninck's Mathieu van der Poel, recently told reporters he worried that the stage's bunch sprint could pose serious safety risks. His teammate Jasper Phillipsen, already known as an aggressive rider who has drawn criticism for his tactics both inside and outside the peloton, told reporters at a pre-Tour news conference that he expected risks to be taken. The final stage on July 27 is also controversial among the cyclists. Rather than take the usual ceremonial ride into Paris with a paradelike finish that ends with a sprint, riders this year must tackle narrow cobbled streets as they climb Montmartre Hill three times. The area is a maze of narrow streets that was featured last year during the Summer Olympics. An uphill finish adds suspense to a normally low-key last day. Historically, the overall winner of the Tour de France has already been decided before the last stage based on cumulative time standings from the previous three weeks. But a tough climb means more riders can go for the general classification, or winner of the race, if time standings are tight. That could lead to a nail-biting race to victory. According to The Associated Press, the last time a final stage was decisive was in 1989, when American Greg LeMond won his second Tour de France. Young Americans Cycling has had a tough time rebounding in the United States since Lance Armstrong's doping scandal. But Visma–Lease a Bike has two top riders who are quickly putting the United States back on the map. Two years ago, Sepp Kuss, of Durango, Colorado, went from super domestique to Grand Tour winner at the Vuelta a España. Domestiques set the pace for team leaders, chasing and attacking opponents and even shielding their leader from headwinds that can slow him down. A tireless and reliable lieutenant, Kuss stepped up to briefly act as team leader in 2023 and became the first American in a decade to win a Grand Tour. He is expected to be a key worker for Vingegaard in the mountains this year. Joining Kuss and Vingegaard will be Matteo Jorgenson, who was born in Walnut Creek, California, and raised in Boise, Idaho. He has been on the team for only two seasons but has already claimed victories at some of the most elite spring races. He finished eighth overall last year at the Tour de France and has been mentioned as a likely contender for first in years to come.
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Wimbledon 2025: Osaka opens before Alcaraz in action and Sabalenka v Raducanu
Update: Date: 2025-07-04T09:28:34.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Hello and welcome to our coverage of Wimbledon, where there's a mixture of shock and awe early on day five: shock after Jack Draper's chastening exit last night and awe at how Marin Cilic – at the age of 36, with only one good knee and without a win at Wimbledon since 2021 – so comprehensively took out the leader of Britain's pack. Draper's exit means that of the 23 British players who started in the singles, we're left with only three as the third round begins. Emma Raducanu will have to play the match of her life later on Centre Court to oust the world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the only survivor among the women's top five seeds, but the way in which Raducanu relished the challenge against the 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova in the previous round was encouraging. Sonay Kartal and Cameron Norrie are both on No 1 Court: Kartal, Raducanu's childhood rival, has a (dare I say it) very winnable match against the French qualifier Diane Parry, while Norrie, finally playing with a smile on his face again after problems with injury and illness, starts as the favourite against Italy's Mattia Bellucci. Also in action: Carlos Alcaraz, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, Andrey Rublev and Joao Fonseca, along with Jasmine Paolini Kamilla Rakhimova and Alexander Zverev Arthur Rinderknech, while marathon man Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova are the American force in action on the fourth of July. Play begins at: 11am UK time on the outside courts, 1pm on No 1 Court and 1.30pm on Centre Court. Don't be late!
