Final Gran Fondo on closed public roads to start
Gran Fondo Isle of Man runs over both days of the weekend, with rolling road closures on Sunday to accommodate three of the four challenges in the series.
Organisers have said the event will be transformed into a collection of races on gravel, tracks, and private land in 2026, a decade after it was first run on public roads.
Regularly attracting entrants from places from as far afield as Japan, Australia and South Africa, more than 1,000 competitors have entered the 2025 event.
It was originally run under the banner of CycleFest in 2016 before evolving into the Gran Fondo Isle of Man brand.
All-time Tour de France stage win record holder Mark Cavendish is among the 8,000 past participants in the event, along with many of the island's other top cyclists.
Organisers previously said the event would be brought to a close in 2025 after its scale had become "enormous".
This year's event will see the main classes held over three distances on Sunday – in the Gran Fondo, Medio Fondo and Piccolo Fondo.
But for younger participants, a family friendly Minisculo Fondo takes place within the race village at the Mooragh Park in Ramsey over a 0.6-mile (1km) distance on Saturday.
That event begins at 15:00 BST in the northern park, with the other three classes being run with staggered starts the following day.
Gran Fondo
Start time: 09:30
Distance: 85 miles (137km)
Route: The course starts in Ramsey in a northerly direction along the coast through Dog Mills, Bride, Smeale, The Lhen, Sandygate and Ballaugh.
It then travels through the west of the island via Druidale, Sartfield, Little London, Staarvey, Ballig, St John's and Patrick.
The southern section of the route passes through Glen Maye, Dalby, the Round Table, Ronague, Corlea, South Barrule, and the Rushen Mines through to Lower Foxdale.
Competitors will then head back to St John's, heading to The Hope, Archallagan, Garth, Crosby and Mount Rule before heading towards the Mountain Road via West Baldwin, Injebreck and Brandywell, before turning down Tholt-y-Will at the Bunglalow.
The final part of the course runs through the Sulby Claddaghs, St Jude's and back to Ramsey.
Medio Fondo
Start time: 09:45
Distance: 45 miles (72km)
Route: Diverts from the main route at Ballaugh, heading straight to Brandywell Cottage and bypassing the southern section of the course.
Piccolo Fondo
Start time: 10:00
Distance: 20 miles (32km)
Route: Remains on the largely flat northern plain of the island, returning to Ramsey after reaching St Jude's on the main route.
Organisers said next year's new event, which would be focussed around Castletown in the south of the island and feature a range of bicycle types, would be in a similar vein to the now defunct End2End Mountain Bike Race.
That competition, run on an off-road course between the Point of Ayre and Port Erin, was scrapped in 2021 due to a lack of volunteers to run it following a pause during the coronavirus pandemic.
Explaining the planned transformation of the Gran Fondo event in 2026, event director Paul Phillips said gravel cycling was "experiencing rapid growth" so it had "felt like the ideal time to apply our expertise to a new project".
"We're excited about the plans we have in the works and can't wait to share them with the riders who have supported us over the years – and hopefully attract new faces who prefer off-road cycling," he added.
Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Final Gran Fondo cycling event to be held in 2025
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New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Blood, hope and a broken finger: Two weeks on the road with the Tour de France's relegation rivals
Like European soccer and many other global sports, professional cycling has embraced relegation. For just the second time in WorldTour history, the 2025 season will see two teams demoted. At the end of the last three-year cycle in 2022, Israel-Premier Tech and Lotto-Soudal were relegated to ProTeam status, replaced by Arkea-Samsic and Mathieu van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team. Advertisement Relegation does not spell complete disaster for a team — teams outside the WorldTour can secure wild-card invites to the biggest races, including the Tour de France — with the top two ProTour teams (based on points scored) getting automatic invites to WorldTour races. Even so, sponsorship is harder to secure for teams outside the top flight, with the situation in the lower echelons of the WorldTour already difficult. The other complication for struggling teams is that riders with a WorldTour deal can terminate their contracts and become available for transfer should their team suffer demotion. With the Tour de France supersized in the UCI's points weighting, the three-week race was always going to play a big role in dictating survival — not just for WorldTour status, but for the existence of teams themselves. Picnic-PostNL's pre-race base is a Novotel by Lille airport. This is not any sort of down-at-heel story but typical for the sport — they're sharing the facilities with Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe and Decathlon-AG2R. But what separates them from their roommates, whose budgets exceed their own by at least €10million (£8.7m; $11.6m) per year, is their status for next season. Red Bull and Decathlon are sixth and 10th. Picnic are 18th, just one place above relegation. A burst of form pulled them out of the relegation zone, highlighted by Casper van Uden's surprise stage win at May's Giro d'Italia, but they are still only separated from 19th-place Cofidis by a toenail. Put simply, they need more points. At this year's Tour, they are led by 22-year Scottish climber Oscar Onley and the veteran Breton Warren Barguil. 'We are not scared of relegation,' Barguil tells The Athletic. 'But it will be s**t, and I don't think we'd deserve it, because the entire team is working, and we're doing all the right things for cycling.' 'In Arkea (Barguil's former team, whose relegation is all but certain), we knew it was better to put, like, three guys in the top 10 and only go for the sprint with one guy. Here, you will never see this thing happening. We have one goal: it's to win the race. It's how cycling needs to be.' Advertisement Barguil admits to checking the UCI standings obsessively, at one point speaking to his sporting directors to ask if they would be able to enter an extra race in Brittany to gather more points. 'They told me not to stress,' he laughs. The team's coach, Matt Winston, is one of the men making those calls. Despite the relegation threat, he is insistent that the team will chase wins, rather than conservatively earning points by racking up high finishes. 'Let's say you offer me three stage wins, which would be 630 points, or 15 top 10s,' he argues. 'What are you going to take? I'm going to go for three stage wins every day of the week, because that's what people will remember us for. We have a lot of people doing the best they can to prepare the team — we want to repay that.' In football, relegation comes with the spectre of job losses. Picnic's relegation rivals Astana have said they need to stay in the World Tour to survive. 'That's something you'll have to ask our big boss, but I know whatever happens there will be a team next year,' says Winston. 'Relegation has been in football for years, but it's still new to cycling, and scares a lot of people. But I enjoy the challenge. Would I rather be 11th place, playing at Stoke on a Tuesday night with no chance of a result? I'd rather be in the game and with something to think about.' There is silence at the Intermarche-Wanty bus. Riders glide in, chains whirring, but that is the only noise as they prop their bikes against the bodywork and climb up the steps for a shower. Biniam Girmay, the team's Eritrean sprinter, is second on the bus but sixth on the stage. Intermarche-Wanty should be safe from relegation, sitting in 16th position, but Picnic and Astana's form has been far better than the Belgian squad's. Girmay, their star rider, has not won all season. His last victory came on stage 12 of last year's Tour, where he earned the green jersey. He was involved in a mid-race spat with current green jersey wearer Jonathan Milan during stage two of this year's race. 'It's not every year that you start the Tour de France and win stages,' says Aike Visbeek, the team's upbeat sporting director. 'We have a second place, we have a sixth place, we were a bit unlucky yesterday, but we are working hard. That's what we've got to do all the way to Paris. Advertisement 'We are sprinting to win stages. We're safe from relegation, and our focus is on the green jersey.' But the mood on the bus was still sombre. This had been an attritional day. Riding at the front to avoid crashes, two riders — Laurenz Rex and Georg Zimmermann — both went down, their absence harming Girmay in the final sprint. The Eritrean was well-beaten by stage winner Tim Merlier, who pipped Milan by a wheel rim but is still just four points behind the latter in the race for a valuable green jersey. Rex's knees and fingers wept blood as he showed his soigneur the damage the day had inflicted on him. Astana have been one of the success stories of this season. They have earned the fourth-most points of any team this season, moving from relegation favourites to two places clear of the drop. But with the UCI ranking table still tight — they are still just 1,500 points ahead of Cofidis — their form cannot afford to drop. Team owner Alexander Vinokourov has ratcheted up the pressure, telling his squad the team would cease to exist if they were relegated from the WorldTour. Publicly, that position has not changed and the results have not been coming at the Tour. Stage seven, however, is an opportunity. They are targeting a good result with Sergio Higuita and Clement Champoussin, but both are outsiders amid the stellar field. This season, Astana have made a habit of winning where they shouldn't. Today would top the lot — almost every team in the peloton is hoping for a good result at Mur de Bretagne. Mark Renshaw made his name as arguably the greatest lead-out man in the sport's history for sprinter Mark Cavendish, but has been at Astana as a directeur sportif since 2023. 'We've been really unlucky,' he explains. 'But on the flip side, we've had three top 10 results. It's not easy to win at the Tour de France, but we'll be happy if we start to get some riders on the podium.' Advertisement But another relegation rival snags third place on the day. Onley's third for Picnic-PostNL is arguably the finest result of his young career. The 22-year-old finishes behind only Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, earning his team 110 points in the process. Post-race, Pogačar complemented the Scotsman: 'He showed in the past already what a super engine he has, with a punchy kick. He's riding super well.' The next morning, Onley was bashful at hearing that praise. 'I told my coach that I wanted to focus on my engine because naturally, I'm quite a punchy rider. We'll find out in the next couple of weeks how it's going.' Relegation? 'Myself and the team are aware of it, and obviously you can't hide the fact that it's happening,' he replies. 'But it doesn't change anything. I'm still trying to get results.' Cofidis hoped for better on Bastille Day. Cofidis hoped for better this season. They are one of the most historic squads in France, once home to Lance Armstrong, Frank Vandenbroucke and David Millar — but they are at risk of disappearing from the WorldTour. Bastille Day is the day that French teams target. Cofidis always knew it was a long shot, but have decided to attack the day with three riders — Alex Aranburu, Ion Izagirre, and Dylan Teuns. Emanuel Buchmann will target the general classification. But here they are at Châtel-Guyon — and all three riders but Teuns have been dropped by the main peloton. Eventually, Buchmann climbs back on. Teuns falls away. 'It's difficult to say why we're at this level,' says Gorka Gerrikagoitia. He grips the steering wheel tightly. 'We're doing all we can to improve, and for sure, it's not an ideal situation if we're not in the WorldTour. The sponsor in Cofidis will continue, but not at the same level, not at the same budget.' By the end of the day, Buchmann has lost seven minutes. The WorldTour is not necessarily the be all and end all in the cycling world. Uno-X were founded in 2016, and serve as a conduit for Scandinavian cycling talent — this year's Tour squad is comprised of eight Norwegians and Danish rider Magnus Cort, who has won stages in all three Grand Tours. Since their foundation, Uno-X have pushed for WorldTour status, but as of now, they are a ProTour squad, 20th in the standings, and almost 2000 points and two places away from achieving automatic promotion. Though they have an outside chance of overtaking Cofidis, that would still only place them 19th. Advertisement Back in 2016, the team's founders announced their squad in alphabetical order. 'Jonas Abrahamsen,' were their first words. 'Twenty-one years old.' Nine years later, Abrahamsen is now 20 kilograms (44 pounds) heavier — and a Tour de France stage winner, outsprinting Swiss champions Mauro Schmid on the streets of Toulouse. Their hordes of fans, all in replica jerseys, found propping up the bars of finish towns until the town's beer is finished, have their first moment of real celebration. It is the team's first Grand Tour stage win. Uno-X earns 210 points. The mechanics are crying. Former green jersey Thor Hushovd, now a DS at the team, is crying. Abrahamsen is crying. The Norwegian squad are a team on the up, with big dreams, but at this moment, which of the above means more? Cofidis' Bryan Coquard needs energy to get through the Pyrenees. A sprinter, not a climber, each day in the mountains is a battle to avoid the time-cut and disqualification from the race. With Cofidis' specialist climbers struggling, picking up consistent sprint results may be their best chance of points. The bunch is passing quickly on stage 12 as Coquard grabs the musette holding his lunch. The strap wraps around his fingers. He breaks his fourth finger. That day, he battles to complete the stage in time. On the same day, having already had their bicycles stolen on the second day of the Tour, before they were later rediscovered, the women's squad suffers the same fate. Cofidis are a small team. They cannot afford a loss of at least €100,000, not with the looming threat of relegation. 💪 Despite two fractured fingers at the beginning of the stage, 🇫🇷 @bryancoquard hung in there and finished the stage bravely and on time! 💪 Malgré deux doigts fracturés en début d'étape, 🇫🇷 @bryancoquard s'est accroché et termine l'étape au courage et dans les délais !… — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 17, 2025 'We have a sponsorship deal signed with Cofidis without a WorldTour clause,' says team boss Cédric Vasseur. 'But in reality, it's true that when you lose your place in the first division, you are losing a lot of money from organisers, from sponsors. 'You are weaker than when you are in the first division — and of course when a good rider wants to choose a team, he always chooses the WorldTour. The impact for us of losing a licence is huge.' Further up the road, Onley, too, is in the high mountains and has still not cracked. On the legendary Hautacam, the Picnic-PostNL rider climbs through burning sunshine to finish fifth, ahead of Grand Tour winners Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. How does he feel? 'Tired.' But the 22-year-old Scotsman is flourishing. Sitting fourth after the Pyrenees, he is just one minute and 25 seconds away from the podium — a result that could net Picnic-PostNL a massive 880 points. It would put them almost 2000 points above Cofidis. The French squad appear doomed. The news breaks in the Belgian press the previous evening. Intermarche-Wanty and Lotto have agreed to a merger. It shows an inherent truth of modern cycling — that for low-budget teams, this sport is a battle for scraps. Lotto were demoted to ProTour status ahead of the 2023 season, while Wanty have desperately struggled for results this season. With Girmay out of form, it is difficult to see where consistent wins will come from. Together, they reason, offers them a better chance of survival. But an unintended consequence? Lotto and Intermarche-Wanty are set to receive WorldTour licences next season. Rather than two, they will now receive one combined licence. It means there is one left free, to be given to the 19th-best team in the UCI rankings. The next morning, sources confirm the story is true. Cofidis have hope. If they protect an 800-point lead over Uno-X, the French squad should be safe. Advertisement Vasseur is sitting on a coolbox at 1600m, waiting for his riders to arrive at the team car from the time trial — a steep 13km climb to Peyragudes. He says the sun is too hot, but remains resolutely away from the shade. There is a lightness to his manner. The relief is clear. His words, however, come with caution. 'Of course, it has not been (formally) confirmed yet,' he says. 'But if it's happening, it's a sign that we can be confident about staying in the first division.' He pauses. 'But just staying in the first division for the sake of staying in the first division makes no sense. You have to be in the first division to be competitive. It is already filled with strong teams, very strong teams, and Lotto and Wanty together will be stronger too. 'We have to think about our model — to see if it's still reliable to keep on going like we are today.' At the summit, the glare is bright from a cloudless sky. Vasseur stands and pulls down his sunglasses. He closes the car boot and walks away, towards his finishing riders, back down the hill.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
UCI objects to former Armstrong manager Bruyneel's presence at Tour de France
FILE - U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong, left, and Astana team director Johan Bruyneel. right, attend a cycling news conference in Los Cristianos, on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain, Dec. 4, 2008. (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez, File) MONT VENTOUX, France (AP) — The International Cycling Union has objected to the presence of Johan Bruyneel, Lance Armstrong's former team manager, in staff areas of the Tour de France. The UCI said Tuesday it had asked race organizers whether they had given Bruyneel accreditation to appear at the Tour's start village before Stage 12 in Auch last week when he took part in a TV program for the Flemish-language Belgian channel VRT1. Advertisement 'Bruyneel is banned for life from taking part in any activity related to cycling,' the UCI said in a statement, noting the Belgian national's sanction by the Court of Arbitration for Sport 'for anti-doping rules violations when he worked with the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team and the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.' Bruyneel was initially banned for 10 years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in 2014 for his role in doping programs that helped Armstrong to seven Tour de France titles between 1999-05 and provided other riders with illegal performance boosts, but that sanction was extended to a lifetime ban by CAS in 2018 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. 'While he is free to attend a cycling event registered on the UCI International Calendar — such as the Tour de France — as a regular spectator, he is strictly prohibited from participating in the event in any role or capacity, or from accessing areas that are closed to the public,' the UCI said after Stage 16. 'This includes, in particular, areas of the Tour de France that require accreditation.' The governing body said it had contacted Amaury Sport Organisation, the Tour de France organizer, to ask whether Bruyneel 'was granted an official accreditation, to understand how this could have happened, and to ensure that no further accreditation will be issued to him.' Advertisement It said it 'will take all appropriate measures.' In 2014, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Bruyneel, a former rider and team manager, 'was at the apex of a conspiracy to commit widespread doping on the (U.S. Postal Service) and Discovery Channel teams spanning many years and many riders.' Bruyneel claimed he, Armstrong and others were made scapegoats for an era when doping was 'a fact of life' in cycling. 'I do not dispute that there are certain elements of my career that I wish had been different,' Bruyneel said at the time. 'However, a very small minority of us has been used as scapegoats for an entire generation.' ___ More Tour de France coverage:
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Tour de France stage 16: Mont Ventoux delivers, Paret-Peintre outsprints Healy for victory, Pogacar sets record time
Soudal Quick-Step's Valentin Paret-Peintre gave the home nation its first victory at this year's Tour de France on Tuesday, outsprinting Ben Healy on the iconic finish at Mont Ventoux. Behind them there was plenty of general classification action too, with Jonas Vingegaard putting in several attacks to try and distance Tadej Pogačar, though the yellow jersey was able to respond each time. Advertisement A large break, including Paret-Peintre, was finally established after about 80 kilometers, but a predictable lack of cooperation over the following 20km saw seven riders jump clear. That group included stage 11 winner Jonas Abrahamsen, with the Norwegian first across the line at the intermediate sprint in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 💪 Here we are! The 4 leaders pass the Saint-Estève hairpin and @alafpolak1 accelerates immediately. 💪 On y est ! Les 4 leaders passent l'épingle de Saint-Estève et @alafpolak1 accélère immédiatement.#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025 By the time the leaders reached Ventoux's feared wooded section their number had been thinned to just Julian Alaphilippe, stage 14 winner Thymen Arensman and Enric Mas, and it was Spain's Mas who soon pulled clear with 14km to go. Further down the road the yellow jersey group was led into the forest by a sprightly-looking Visma-Lease A Bike. Pogačar, in contrast, was notably short of teammates as they painfully made their way upwards. The entire race was spread across the mountain by this point, and, with Mas having stretched his nascent lead to a minute, a trio of Healy, Santiago Buitrago and Paret-Peintre set to work closing the Spaniard down. At almost the same moment, Vingegaard attacked Pogačar, who responded, with the pair quickly bridging up to Vingegaard's teammate Tiesj Benoot, who had been tactically placed in the day's breakaway. After using the remainder of Belgian colleague's resources, the Dane then bridged up to another well-positioned Visma rider, Victor Campenaerts, as they reached the bend at Chalet Renard. Healy, meanwhile, had closed the gap to Mas with impressive ease and the Movistar rider was duly dropped by Healy and Paret-Peintre. The Frenchman attacked the Irishman, before Healy quickly returned the favour. Behind, Vingegaard continued to test Pogačar but the Slovenian showed no real signs of weakness. Both men would go on to beat Iban Mayo's long-held climbing record, set in the 2004 Criterium du Dauphine, by more then a minute. Healy attacked as the finish line approached, but Paret-Peintre, having been helped by the unexpected appearance of his teammate Ilan Van Wilder, countered and finally shook Healy off on the viciously steep ramp after the final bend to record the biggest win his career. Pogačar distanced Vingegaard by a couple of seconds on the same bit of road, too, with the Visma rider also suffering the ignominy of being carelessly brought down by a photographer after crossing the finish line. A stage that was designed to produce drama did exactly that. 👑 𝑳𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒊 𝒅𝒖 𝑽𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒙 ! 👑#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025 Jacob Whitehead and Tim Spiers analyse a memorable day. Find all of The Athletic's Tour de France coverage here. Or follow Global Sports on The Athletic app via the Discover tab. There was no better moment for the belated first French stage winner in this year's Tour. Paret-Peintre timed his surge to the line to perfection, holding off a valiant challenge from former yellow jersey wearer Healy after a titanic battle up the famous slopes of Mont Ventoux. Three days after team leader Remco Evenepoel chose to abandon the race on the Col du Tourmalet, it was a heartwarming triumph for Soudal–Quick-Step. And it was, despite Paret-Peintre riding for 14.5km of the gruelling 15km ascent without any teammates, a team effort. The sight of Paret-Peintre almost falling off his bike at the finish line and hobbling like someone gingerly heading into a motorway service station after six hours on the road, before falling into the arms of team mate Van Wilder, reflected a surprise late contribution from the Belgian. Much of the final section of the ascent of Ventoux had seen Paret-Peintre jousting with Healy as Buitrago and Mas sporadically tried to grab their heels. But Paret-Peintre and Healy looked far stronger and also very evenly-matched. It looked like a straight fight to the finish, and so it proved. Advertisement That was until Van Wilder, a tired remnant from the broken breakaway earlier in the race, returned from the dead like Banquo's ghost at the feast just 600 meters before the line. He discretely informed his teammate of his presence, then paced Paret-Peintre and Healy for a few hundred meters, allowing the Frenchman crucial time to reset and prepare for his final attack after what had been a couple of kilometers of nervous, paceless jousting with the spectre of Pogačar and Vingegaard ominously looming down the road. 🏆 Le jour de gloire de 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret ! Revivez le dernier kilomètre et cette incroyable bataille avec Ben Healy ! 🏆 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret's day of glory! Relive the last kilometer and that incredible battle with Ben Healy!#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025 Had Soudal-Quick-Step planned it all along? Absolutely not, but whatever they did worked perfectly and helped give the 24-year-old Frenchman a famous victory — and a brilliant 'assist' from Van Wilder. 'On the last climb, it was difficult all the way, I couldn't let go of Ben Healy,' Paret-Peintre said after the stage. 'At 3km to go, I said to myself, I know this last ramp, after the last bend, which is really, really steep, and I know I can win on this slope.' Tim Spiers On an iconic climb, the stage was set for the latest chapter of an iconic sporting rivalry, albeit a somewhat one-sided one so far in 2025. But on this occasion, Vingegaard delivered a performance worthy of their historic battles, even if it still wasn't enough to put a dent in Pogačar's lead. That was despite a much-improved showing from Visma-Lease A Bike, with first Sepp Kuss, then Benoot and finally Campenaerts all stepping up to pace Vingegaard up Ventoux while Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates teammates floundered one by one. It was almost a tactically perfect day from the Dutch squad. Advertisement Vingegaard was back in full attack mode here, swaying side to side as he has throughout this Tour, buffeted by Pogačar's attacks from every side. This was good swaying, though; a dancing on the pedals that showed the Dane was experiencing a good day. Attacking on the lower slopes of Ventoux, Vingegaard attempted to do what Pogačar did to him on Hautacam last week — and what Vingegaard had done to the Slovenian back in 2021 on Ventoux, albeit in the final meters. Pogačar stayed on his wheel, grimacing (a rarity), riding defensively, matching pedal strokes, but Vingegaard went again. And again. Pogačar then countered with a couple of attacks of his own, but neither he nor the Dane could make a move properly stick. Ultimately, though, it always felt like Pogačar had more in his locker, and so it proved on the final stretch, with a rueful Vingegaard looking down to the ground as Pogačar crossed the line a few metres ahead. Confirmation that Pogačar had taken nearly a minute off the climb's record ascent only underlined the point. RECORD BREAKER ⏱️ Tadej Pogačar sets the fastest time up Mont Ventoux — the previous record was 55:51 👏 — Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 22, 2025 So Pogačar didn't provide us with the iconic image of him winning in yellow on Ventoux, but he did perhaps put another little nail in the coffin of Vingegaard's challenge to dethrone him in Paris on Sunday, not the Dane is giving up. 'I was feeling very good today, happy with the feeling today and the attacks I tried to do and yeah, of course, I didn't gain any time today, but I took a lot of motivation today,' Vingegaard said after the stage. 'The team did amazing today, everybody worked with everything they have, it was real commitment from everyone, and everyone was going super great. Thank you to all my teammates.' Tim Spiers He is battling for the podium against a quartet of far-younger riders, but Primož Roglič came in as best of the rest on GC. Leading in teammate Florian Lipowitz by two seconds, just over a minute behind Pogačar and Vingegaard, he cemented his young teammate's overall placing. Roglic zieht Lipowitz den Berg hoch 💪#TDF2025 — Tour de France – DE (@letour_de) July 22, 2025 Oscar Onley finished a further 36 seconds back — he now trails Lipowitz by two minutes and one second — while Kevin Vauquelin lost two minutes on the German, and now looks out of the running. With two major tests in the Alps to come, Ventoux is not a decisive moment in the podium race, but it still feels significant. Advertisement Lipowitz bettered Onley again — and it increasingly looks as if he'll have to majorly crack in one of the two remaining major mountain stages in the Alps to lose his third place. Jacob Whitehead There is a pram at the top of Mont Ventoux, but how it got there is anyone's guess. Its summit is rocky, steep, and miles from the nearest parking spot, but the mountain's acolytes have come in their thousands. There is a man wearing a Slovenian flag, carrying a Slovenian flag, and with a Slovenian flag painted on his face. There is a giant cut-out of Alaphilippe's face, celebrating two hours before the race comes by. There is Santa Claus. And there is the mountain itself, the Giant of Provence, a climb which saps the strongest of legs as if taking blood. If cycling is a national obsession in the month of July, then Mont Ventoux is the apex from which it ripples. Its history is the Tour's history. Wins for Raymond Poulidor, Marco Pantani and Eddy Merckx. Chris Froome, running towards Chalet Reynard amidst seething crowds in 2016. The tragic death of Tom Simpson, who collapsed from heat exhaustion in 1967. Today is only the 11th stage finish at its peak, crowned by the iconic weather station tower. But coming here is a risk, with the bald mountain particularly vulnerable to high winds and storms. Stages, as in 2016, have been forced to conclude lower down the slopes due to weather conditions. It means that the Tour coming here remains a privilege, a twice-decade trip which may even become ever scarcer. It is arguably the only time this month that the place transcends the race. In all senses, Ventoux stands alone. Its winners' names are etched into white stone. Paret-Peintre is now one of them, a French crowd crying out in desperation, having waited 16 stages to see one of their own triumph. You cannot see the top of the climb from further down the mountain; before the news was confirmed by the announcer, there was a small hush, then an explosion, a banging of boards and howls to the sky. Last two French winners on the Mont Ventoux 💪#TDF2025 — Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 22, 2025 It is the first French win on Ventoux since Richard Virenque in 2002. It's about time. Jacob Whitehead A rare chance for the sprinters in the second half of the race. Welcome after their struggles up Ventoux 24 hours earlier. 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