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The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Rocky road ahead for Brailsford and Ineos as questions remain amid Tour doping investigation
As Tadej Pojacar stood on the Champs-Élysées podium, celebrating his fourth victory in the Tour de France, the man who led British cyclists to multiple yellow jerseys and numerous Olympic gold medals had already flown home to Monaco. Not that long ago, a Dave Brailsford-led success in the Tour de France was almost routine. From 2012 to 2019 when riders from Team Sky, and later Ineos, won seven titles in eight years, Brailsford was at the heart of it all. Ask anyone closely involved with British Cycling's Olympic programme, and more specifically, the Tour de France, who drove the standards, who led the charge when times got tough, who raised the mood when morale was low, and they will almost always respond: 'Dave.' Brailsford was once the performance guru who transformed the fortunes of British cyclists, yet his trumpeted return to the Tour caravan this year unravelled as an anti-doping investigation related to a member of his Ineos Grenadiers team took the headlines away from their two mountain stage wins. Last Thursday afternoon, the team confirmed in a statement that David Rozman, a long-term member of their staff, had left the Tour after the International Testing Agency (ITA) launched an investigation into alleged messages he exchanged with the subsequently convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt, in 2012. Since the first time that Rozman's name was published, when the Tour arrived in Châteauroux on 13 July, Brailsford has refused to comment on a story that had first made headlines in June in a German documentary that identified the team but not the Slovenian carer. His team's management – it subsequently transpired – had in fact known about the ITA's interest in Rozman since April, and in their most recent statement said that the matter had then been subjected to 'a thorough review by an external law firm'. But one thing that Brailsford made clear as this year's Tour began was that he didn't want to talk about doping. And for three weeks, he was as good as his word. In fact, it turned out, he didn't want to talk on the record at all. Meanwhile, his team's communications on the Rozman allegations adhered to a now-familiar script stating that the team had 'acted responsibly and with due process', while rolling out another well-worn line reiterating their commitment to 'its zero-tolerance policy'. Three weeks is a long time at the Tour de France. For a man who used to love holding court, expounding his theories of marginal gains, it's also a long time to keep stumm. It now feels an age since Brailsford's comeback to the race, after his troubled sojourn at Manchester United, was hailed by his colleagues as a masterstroke. 'We have welcomed him back with open arms,' the team's chief executive, Johan Allert, said on the eve of the race. 'He's a not-so-secret weapon for us to use. It's great to have him back.' 'We all love having him back and feel honoured that he's here,' the sports director, Zak Dempster, said. His initial comments – off record – outside the team bus in Bayeux, reflected his long absence from the Tour. There was a lot of catching up to do, he insisted, but he would be happy to talk later in the race. Yet despite multiple attempts by the Guardian to arrange an interview, he has declined to speak publicly. Even the team's success on this Tour has been clouded by the past; Thymen Arensman's first stage win in the Pyrenees was followed by the 25-year-old being asked awkward questions about his knowledge of the Rozman allegations that dated back to when he was 13. 'I don't really know to be honest, you'll have to ask management,' he said. Even then, Brailsford still declined to go on record. Attempts by the Guardian to persuade him to comment, in Bayeux, Montpellier, Valence and even on the penultimate evening of the race, did not succeed. But then the 61-year-old has seemed diminished during this year's Tour, unsure of himself. 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 By his own admission, the demands of the race have changed and, aside from Arensman's two wins, neither he nor his team have been able to keep up. A once-dominant Brailsford-led team exist in the shadow of Pogacar and have done since 2020, when the Slovenian rider stormed to his first yellow jersey. Many are now wondering why, with the Rozman story already brewing, Brailsford returned to the Tour. He had hoped for a calm, controversy-free comeback to the French race, one where he could observe performance, inspire his riders, audit management and still have time for his usual morning bike ride. But he didn't get it. In Le Mont-Dore, when a group of reporters sought to question him on the Rozman allegations, he responded: 'No comment.' When the questions continued the response was: 'Fucking come on guys.' Rozman, too, has not responded when approached directly for comment. Answers, it appears, must wait until the ITA investigation concludes. The team, and Brailsford, have been under this microscope before: their medical consultant in 2012, Geert Leinders, was banned for life for doping violations at a previous team; UK Anti-Doping ended a 14-month investigation into the contents of an infamous Jiffy bag delivered to Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné because there was no evidence to support a conclusion; Wiggins's use of TUEs in 2012 which was exposed by Russian hackers and which a select committee report deemed inconsistent with the philosophy of 'winning clean' sparked further scrutiny, while Chris Froome had an adverse analytical finding for salbutamol which was over-turned in 2018. The team doctor, Richard Freeman was struck off and later banned for four years for possession of a banned substance and lying to anti-doping authorities. Team Sky, Ineos, Wiggins and Froome have consistently denied any wrongdoing. However, in the context of what we were told by Brailsford before any of the questions around the team's ethics arose of his core beliefs in winning clean, of transparency, of accountability, and of course, of zero tolerance, the latest allegations against Rozman raise further questions over his stewardship. Brailsford remains a director at Manchester United, and the head of Ineos Sport. Despite the investigation into Rozman, he is understood to be defiant, insisting all possible vetting procedures and ethical practices were in place. The Tour has now ended and the spotlight moved on. The questions, however, will not. On the road, despite Arensman's two stage wins, the problems within Jim Ratcliffe's cycling franchise remain, just as much as they do within Old Trafford. A lack of identity and direction and an inability to challenge in Grand Tour racing in the age of Pogacar have now taken hold. Ineos Grenadiers are as far away from winning the Tour as they have ever been. Geraint Thomas, the team's last athletic connection with the days of British Cycling and Team Sky, will retire in September. Brailsford needs a marquee name to replace him. Having failed to secure Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, he will need to look elsewhere. An unhappy Jonas Vingegaard might be a good place to start.
Kuwait Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Kuwait Times
Supreme Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time
Supreme Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time PARIS: Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals in the 3,400km slog to rack up a fourth title. Wout van Aert won the final-day cliffhanger on the cobbled roads of Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge when rain forced times to be neutralized to avoid potential accidents. Pogacar gamely tried for the stage win anyway before Belgian Van Aert pulled away from the Slovenian on the last climb. The winner was clearly enjoying himself as he played to the delighted crowds, racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb. Despite the rain, spectators packed Montmartre to follow his progress up and down the narrow lanes of the popular tourist spot in his leader's yellow outfit. Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the Champs-Elysees finish line, for his second last-day stage win there. Pogacar was fourth on the day but after wins in 2020, 2021 and 2024, he proved untouchable again in the world's greatest bike race. Jonas Vingegaard, the Dane who won in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4min 24sec adrift. Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third. Defending his title Pogacar, embarked from the start in Lille clear favourite and won four stages along the way. In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne. He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees on week two with his rivals as good as vanquished. Vingegaard suffered on the stage five time trial, and again in week two at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him. In need of a massive turn around in the Alps to overturn a four-minute deficit, Vingegaard was game enough to go all in on stage 18, producing a brave 71km attack as Pogacar sat on his rival's wheel. A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars. Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall. Ireland's Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey. Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public. The return of Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team's Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion. Having previously masterminded seven Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team's Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps with well-executed attacks to win two stages. Another Dutch rider, Mathieu van der Poel, lit up the first week, sealing a stage two win and twice wearing the yellow jersey. France's sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux thanks to Valentin Paret-Peintre. The 2025 Tour, however, will be remembered mainly for Pogacar's all-round dominance. PARIS: Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals in the 3,400km slog to rack up a fourth title. Wout van Aert won the final-day cliffhanger on the cobbled roads of Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge when rain forced times to be neutralized to avoid potential accidents. Pogacar gamely tried for the stage win anyway before Belgian Van Aert pulled away from the Slovenian on the last climb. The winner was clearly enjoying himself as he played to the delighted crowds, racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb. Despite the rain, spectators packed Montmartre to follow his progress up and down the narrow lanes of the popular tourist spot in his leader's yellow outfit. Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the Champs-Elysees finish line, for his second last-day stage win there. Pogacar was fourth on the day but after wins in 2020, 2021 and 2024, he proved untouchable again in the world's greatest bike race. Jonas Vingegaard, the Dane who won in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4min 24sec adrift. Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third. Turning the screw Defending his title Pogacar, embarked from the start in Lille clear favourite and won four stages along the way. In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne. He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees on week two with his rivals as good as vanquished. Vingegaard suffered on the stage five time trial, and again in week two at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him. In need of a massive turn around in the Alps to overturn a four-minute deficit, Vingegaard was game enough to go all in on stage 18, producing a brave 71km attack as Pogacar sat on his rival's wheel. A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars. Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall. Ireland's Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey. Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public. The return of Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team's Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion. Having previously masterminded seven Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team's Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps with well-executed attacks to win two stages. Another Dutch rider, Mathieu van der Poel, lit up the first week, sealing a stage two win and twice wearing the yellow jersey. France's sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux thanks to Valentin Paret-Peintre. The 2025 Tour, however, will be remembered mainly for Pogacar's all-round dominance. - AFP
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Pogacar claims fourth Tour de France title
Tadej Pogacar claimed his fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, cementing his status as the most dominant rider of his generation and joining Britain's Chris Froome on the all-time winners' list. The 26-year-old Slovenian, who previously triumphed in 2020, 2021 and 2024, delivered a near-flawless performance over three weeks, excelling in every department, even coming close to prevailing on a spectacular final stage on the Champs Elysees after an epic duel with Belgian Wout van Aert. Pogacar attacked relentlessly in the ascents of the Butte Montmartre but eventually suffered a brutal counterpunch from Van Aert, who went solo to win the 21st stage. The competitive element was largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left in the stage due to hazardous road conditions in driving rain. It did not prevent Pogacar from going for it, but Van Aert proved to be the best on the day, beating Italian Davide Ballerini and third-placed Matej Mohoric. Pogacar took fourth place. The world champion effectively sealed his victory in the Pyrenees, with a brutal attack on the climb to Hautacam and a commanding victory in the uphill individual time trial, leaving chief rival Jonas Vingegaard more than four minutes behind before controlling the race. German Florian Lipowitz finished third on his Tour debut and won the white jersey for the best U-25 rider. 'This was one of the hardest Tours I've ever been in,' Pogacar said. On Sunday, celebrations turned tense when the final stage featured three climbs up Montmartre. Times had been neutralised some 50 km from the finish due to slippery roads, but a fierce fight for the stage win still unfolded. With his latest triumph, Pogacar equals Froome (2013, 2015-17) and now only trails cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, who share the record with five titles. Pogacar also secured the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification, underlining his all-round dominance, while Italy's Jonathan Milan clinched the green jersey for the points competition. For Ineos Grenadiers, the once all-conquering team that ruled the 2010s with victories by Bradley Wiggins, Froome and Geraint Thomas, there was little to celebrate beyond two stage wins by Thymen Arensman. Thomas, a former champion, rode his last Tour in virtual anonymity, as the British outfit continues to face questions amid doping allegations reported in recent weeks. As tradition dictates, riders entered Paris in a celebratory mood, but the finale proved anything but routine with the Montmartre climbs spicing up the closing laps. Meanwhile, Mavi Garcia became the oldest rider to win a stage at the women's Tour de France on Sunday. The 41-year-old Spaniard clinched the second stage with a solo breakaway. She looked back twice before realizing she would not be caught and then raised her arms aloft at the finish line. Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten was 39 when she won a mountain stage on the 2022 women's Tour, organizers said. Garcia attacked with about 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) left on the 110.4-kilometer hilly stage through Brittany and ending in Quimper. She looked like being caught near the end as the peloton loomed large behind her, but she kicked in and won by three seconds. 'I've been racing for a long time and I hadn't been having my best year, but this win really gives me a massive boost of energy,' Garcia said. 'I really didn't believe I was going to win at the end. I've tried many times like that and it never worked out, so I just couldn't believe it until I was five meters from the line.' Dutchwoman Lorena Wiebes was second and Kim Le Court of Mauritius took third place in a sprint to the line. Le Court did just enough to take the race leader's yellow jersey from cycling great Marianne Vos, who won Saturday's opening stage in a close finish and placed fifth on Sunday. Le Court and Vos have the same overall time after two stages, but Le Court now leads overall courtesy of her better combined stage finishes over the first two days. Stage 3 on Monday is a flat stage for sprinters, ending in the western city of Angers. The nine-stage race ends on Aug. 3. Agencies
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Dave Brailsford future in doubt as doping questions overshadow Ineos Grenadiers' Tour
For Ineos Grenadiers the 2025 Tour de France was supposed to be about renewal. Welcoming a familiar face back into the fold in Sir Dave Brailsford following his well-publicised football sojourn. Saying farewell to one of the most popular riders in the team's history in Geraint Thomas. Developing the next generation: GC hopeful Carlos Rodríguez, Thymen Arensman, the young Briton Sam Watson. After years of drift, the image that Ineos wanted to present to the world on the eve of the race was one of a team who were getting to grips with the future. Brailsford was seemingly a big part of that. 'It's obvious we want to win the Tour [again],' said chief executive John Allert of Ineos's stated ambition. 'But there's no point just saying you want to win the Tour: you've got to do something about it. That's why it's great to welcome Dave back into the fold. Dave loves a performance challenge and this is the biggest one there is.' Allert added that Brailsford was 'like a kid in a sweet shop, talking about climbs and getting back to the mountains. That's the battlefield that he knows and loves'. Unfortunately for Brailsford, and the team, the battlefield they ended up on was a very different one, albeit one equally familiar to them. The case of David Rozman, Ineos Grenadiers' head carer, who was forced to leave the Tour after the International Testing Agency (ITA) launched an investigation into alleged messages he exchanged in 2012 with subsequently convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt, completely engulfed the British squad. Ineos initially declined to speak to journalists after Paul Kimmage of the Sunday Independent named Rozman as the longstanding Ineos member of staff referred to in a doping documentary by German broadcaster ARD pre-Tour. Then they claimed the allegations had not 'been presented to the team by an appropriate authority'. In the end they were forced to admit that Rozman had been informally contacted by the ITA back in April and that they had commissioned a 'thorough review by an external law firm'. Given the potential for the whole thing to blow up in their faces – ARD first approached Ineos at the Giro d'Italia back in May so they knew this was coming – it is incredible that Brailsford chose this Tour to come back. In fact, it is tempting to wonder whether it would have blown up the way it has if he had not. Was it his presence back at the race that acted like a magnet? Either way, it completely overshadowed Thomas's 14th and final Tour, not to mention the two stage wins by Arensman, who was forced to field questions in his winner's press conferences about something which occurred when he was a child. 'Do you think it's fair that you're celebrating the biggest result of your career and the journalists are having to ask you what's going on?' the 25-year-old was asked after the victory at Luchon-Superbagnères on stage 14. 'Yeah, I don't know, weird that they don't really answer you,' he replied, not unreasonably. Where do Ineos go from here? Can Brailsford survive? Can the team survive? If Rozman has been found to have done anything wrong – and the allegation is that he sent Dr Schmidt messages in 2012, the year Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour – it could prove terminal. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Ineos co-owner who bought the team in 2019, famously said when he took over: 'The day any of that enters our world [doping] then we would leave cycling.' Even if nothing is proven, it looks horrific, another in a long line of controversies that includes the employment of medical consultant Geert Leinders, who worked with Team Sky in 2012 and who was subsequently banned for life for multiple doping violations from 1996-2009 at a previous team, Wiggins' use of TUEs (therapeutic use exemptions) ahead of the three biggest races of his life, exposed by Russian hackers Fancy Bears, and which an MPs inquiry found to be 'unethical', Chris Froome's AAF (adverse analytical finding) for salbutamol in 2018 which he subsequently overturned, the infamous jiffy bag that was flown out to the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2011, and the arrival of a box of testosterone to British Cycling's headquarters that same year which resulted in a four-year ban for Dr Richard Freeman. Team Sky and later Ineos have consistently denied any wrongdoing, but patience is wearing thin. Brailsford, who in the old days preached transparency and openness, telling journalists that the door was always open, has long since given up speaking. 'I won't be commenting,' he told media when journalists first started gathering outside the bus to ask about Rozman. 'F-----g hell guys, come on,' he added. Now he cannot answer because there is an official investigation ongoing. Even if he survives, one wonders whether this will affect Brailsford's appetite to return to cycling in a leadership role after his time out in football. He is still director of sport for Ineos, with a broad overview of the company's sporting portfolio. Will he go back to flitting between them? Ineos's appetite to continue in professional cycling is also unclear. Ratcliffe admitted to the Telegraph during last autumn's America's Cup that the team was 'under consideration', adding their results were 'not good'. Ineos won just 14 races in 2024, the lowest total in the team's history, and were winless at the Tour. Allert then said in January that Ineos 'don't want to spend more money' and were actively looking for a second title sponsor. TotalEnergies were announced as a jersey sponsor prior to this Tour, but it is unclear how much more patience Ratcliffe has. A spokesperson for Ineos did not return a request for comment. On the performance side, the team still feels a long way from being Tour-competitive, which is Ratcliffe's stated aim. While Ineos have lots of talented riders, how many of them would you build a team around? Rodríguez finished fifth in 2023, seventh in 2024 and was 10th overall this year before fracturing his pelvis in a heavy crash on stage 17. Arensman, 25, had a breakthrough Tour, and has twice finished sixth in the Giro and once in the Vuelta a España. But he was not targeting the general classification this year, and is not at the same level as a Tadej Pogacar or a Jonas Vingegaard. Who is? Remco Evenepoel is possibly the closest but it looks as if the Belgian is going to Bora-Hansgrohe. There are reasons to be more positive. Thomas is said to have been offered a management role, which could be interesting. The Welshman has always seemed immune to the troubles swirling around him, a friendly, likeable presence on the team. It also appears Ineos may be starting up an under-23 team under the guidance of performance director Scott Drawer and Simon Watts, the performance pathway manager. This could yield results down the line. But again, how much patience does Ratcliffe have? In the meantime, the team will batten down the hatches while they wait for the ITA to rule on Rozman. There is a lot riding on it. The Slovenian also worked with Team GB at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He was personal soigneur to Froome for years. The four-time Tour champion must be wanting Rozman to explain himself. Brailsford, too. 'We have welcomed him back into the team with open arms,' Allert said of Brailsford's return less than a month ago. 'He's a not-so-secret weapon for us to use, and we plan on using him to the fullest extent we can. It's great to have him back.' A team statement read: 'David Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications. David immediately notified the team of his meeting with the ITA and his recollection of the contents of the meeting. Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm. 'The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team. The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA.'
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Supreme Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time
PARIS: Tadej Pogacar closed out a supreme 21-day performance to win the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals in the 3,400km slog to rack up a fourth title. Wout van Aert won the final-day cliffhanger on the cobbled roads of Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge when rain forced times to be neutralised to avoid potential accidents. Pogacar gamely tried for the stage win anyway before Belgian Van Aert pulled away from the Slovenian on the last climb. The winner was clearly enjoying himself as he played to the delighted crowds, racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb. Despite the rain, spectators packed Montmartre to follow his progress up and down the narrow lanes of the popular tourist spot in his leader's yellow outfit. Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the Champs-Elysees finish line, for his second last-day stage win there. Pogacar was fourth on the day but after wins in 2020, 2021 and 2024, he proved untouchable again in the world's greatest bike race. Jonas Vingegaard, the Dane who won in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4min 24sec adrift. Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third. Defending his title Pogacar, embarked from the start in Lille clear favourite and won four stages along the way. In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne. He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees on week two with his rivals as good as vanquished. Vingegaard suffered on the stage five time trial, and again in week two at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him. In need of a massive turn around in the Alps to overturn a four-minute deficit, Vingegaard was game enough to go all in on stage 18, producing a brave 71km attack as Pogacar sat on his rival's wheel. A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars. Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall. Ireland's Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey. Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public. The return of Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team's Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion. Having previously masterminded seven Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team's Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps with well-executed attacks to win two stages. Another Dutch rider, Mathieu van der Poel, lit up the first week, sealing a stage two win and twice wearing the yellow jersey. France's sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux thanks to Valentin Paret-Peintre. The 2025 Tour, however, will be remembered mainly for Pogacar's all-round dominance. - AFP
