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Arab Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Arab Times
Paret-Peintre wins Tour stage on Mont Ventoux
MONT VENTOUX, France, July 22 (AP): Valentin Paret-Peintre triumphed on Mont Ventoux to become the first home rider to win a stage at this year's Tour de France, while Tadej Pogačar consolidated his overall lead. Paret-Peintre finished just ahead of former leader Ben Healy in a sprint for the line at the top of the famed mountain known as the "Beast of Provence.' Santiago Buitrago was third, 4 seconds behind, ahead of Paret-Peintre's teammate Ilan Van Wilder and fifth-placed Pogačar, who withstood repeated attacks from Jonas Vingegaard to cross the line 2 seconds before his main rival. Pogačar stretched his overall lead to 4 minutes, 15 seconds over the Danish rider. Vingegaard won the Tour in 2022 and 2023 but seems powerless to stop Pogačar from achieving his fourth win when the race finishes next weekend in Paris. After the Tour's second rest day on Monday, Stage 16 took the riders 171.5 kilometers from Montpellier in the south of France on a long flat course until they reached the brutal climb up Ventoux. Mathieu van der Poel, who had been third in the points classification, withdrew before Tuesday's stage with pneumonia. Wout van Aert, the last winner when the route went through Ventoux in 2021, attacked from the off, prompting responses from Jonathan Milan, Ivan Romeo, and others. Six were in the lead by the time they got to Bedoin at the bottom. Only 22 kilometers remained, but they were to get increasingly tough with 15.7 kilometers at an 8.8% incline from Saint-Esteve to the finish. Healy, in a group of chasers, overtook Julian Alaphilippe while Vingegaard made his initial move. He attacked again, then again, but Pogačar stayed doggedly on his wheel. The gap was closing on Spanish rider Enric Mas in the lead. Vingegaard got support when he caught up with Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Victor Campenaerts, but Healy was moving fast in front of them and took the lead from Mas with 3.7 kilometers to go. Paret-Peintre followed and was helped by Soudal-Quick-Step teammate Van Wilder to finish just ahead of Healy. Vingegaard attacked again but could not shake off Pogačar, who attacked with 2 kilometers to go to deal his rival another demoralizing blow.
a day ago
- Sport
Paret-Peintre wins Tour de France stage on Mont Ventoux, where Pogačar deals Vingegaard another blow
MONT VENTOUX, France -- Valentin Paret-Peintre triumphed on Mont Ventoux to become the first home rider to win a stage at this year's Tour de France, while Tadej Pogačar consolidated his overall lead Tuesday. Paret-Peintre finished just ahead of former leader Ben Healy in a sprint for the line at the top of the famed mountain known as the 'Beast of Provence.' Santiago Buitrago was third, 4 seconds behind, ahead of Paret-Peintre's teammate Ilan Van Wilder and fifth-placed Pogačar, who withstood repeated attacks from Jonas Vingegaard to cross the line 2 seconds before his main rival. Pogačar stretched his overall lead to 4 minutes, 15 seconds over the Danish rider. Vingegaard won the Tour in 2022 and 2023 but seems powerless to stop Pogačar from achieving his fourth win when the race finishes next weekend in Paris. After the Tour's second rest day Monday, Stage 16 took the riders 171.5 kilometers from Montpellier in the south of France on a long flat course until they reached the brutal climb up Ventoux. Mathieu van der Poel, who had been third in the points classification, withdrew before Tuesday's stage with pneumonia. Wout van Aert, the last winner when the route went through Ventoux in 2021, attacked from the off, prompting responses from Jonathan Milan, Ivan Romeo and others. Six were in the lead by the time they got to Bedoin at the bottom. Only 22 kilometers remained, but they were to get increasingly tough with 15.7 kilometers at an 8.8% incline from Saint-Esteve to the finish. Healy, in a group of chasers, overtook Julian Alaphilippe while Vingegaard made his initial move. He attacked again, then again, but Pogačar stayed doggedly on his wheel. The gap was closing on Spanish rider Enric Mas in the lead. Vingegaard got support when he caught up with Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Victor Campenaerts, but Healy was moving fast in front of them and took the lead from Mas with 3.7 kilometers to go. Paret-Peintre followed and was helped by Soudal–Quick-Step teammate Van Wilder to finish just ahead of Healy. Vingegaard attacked again but could not shake off Pogačar, who attacked with 2 kilometers to go to deal his rival another demoralizing blow.
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Defending champion Team Emirates-XRG's Pogacar out to bury ghosts in final Tour de France week
UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Tadej Pogacar is riding not just for the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, but also to bury the ghosts of the past. As the 2025 Tour de France heads into its final and most punishing mountain stages, the defending champion is about to tackle climbs where he cracked or struggled before. The Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze await again. But this time, things feel different. 'I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me,' Pogacar said with a smile on Monday. 'But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs.' This year, he has already won at Hautacam, where his Tour hopes vanished in 2022 when he was beaten by chief rival Jonas Vingegaard, who ended up 2:10 behind the Slovenian. Pogacar is 4:13 ahead of the Dane in the general classification as he marches towards a fourth Tour title. In his sixth campaign, Pogacar speaks with the assurance of a man determined to make peace with painful memories. 'Col de la Loze, for me, is one of the hardest climbs I've ever done,' he conceded. 'I'm not looking for revenge. I just want to have better legs than those days in the past.' In 2023, Pogacar experienced what he then called the 'worst day' of his life on a bike when he cracked in the ascent of the Col de la Loze, effectively losing the Tour to Vingegaard. While the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider appears firmly in control, Pogacar knows better than anyone that one bad day can change everything. Although Vingegaard has suffered two rare off days, he insists he is not out of contention. 'I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now - it's a big gap,' the Dane said. 'But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack.' Vingegaard, however, has no illusions about the challenge ahead. 'The biggest difference is my two off days, where I lost most of the time,' he said. 'But I don't think the gap is as big as it looks. I know that's not my level - I can do a lot better than that. 'I'm also willing to sacrifice second to try to achieve first.' Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director Grischa Niermann underlined the urgency of the mission. 'It's four minutes - you don't make that up with an attack in the last 500 metres,' Niermann said. 'For that to happen, we need to see a weakness in Tadej. So far, he hasn't shown one. But the Tour is over only when we reach Paris.' Visma-Lease a Bike, however, seem to have lost the collective power that made them a formidable squad in 2022 and 2023, when Vingegaard won his two Tour titles. 'They tend to overtrain their riders and after two or three years, they're completely empty,' a senior official in another Tour team said. 'They have plans, but don't have the capacities to execute them. They should be more humble.' Pogacar is ready for anything that might come at him. 'We're ready for a fight with everybody,' he said. 'Especially with Jonas.' Meanwhile, heading into the final week of the Tour de France, emerging German star Florian Lipowitz is third in the overall standings and the highest-ranked rider under 25 in the world's greatest bike race. The 24-year-old from the Red Bull Bora team is not only the new face of cycling in his homeland, but also the new face standing alongside the likes of reigning Tour champion Pogacar and Vingegaard on the big-race podiums. Lipowitz climbed to third in the rankings on Saturday, the day when double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel pulled out during the gruelling Tourmalet stage. Having made the podium at both Paris-Nice and the Criterium du Dauphine this year, he was described by Pogacar, who met him in a lift at a team hotel, as 'a nice guy, very cool, and really strong on a bike.' The shy rider from southern German had an unusual route into cycling, coming to the sport from biathlon, a sport in which his brother Philipp was junior world champion. Agencies
ARN News Center
2 days ago
- Sport
- ARN News Center
Cycling: Wellens wins Stage 15 to underscore UAE's Tour control
Tim Wellens overpowered his breakaway companions in brutal fashion to claim victory on Stage 15 of the Tour de France, offering yet another sign of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's iron grip on the race. The Belgian national champion, one of defending champion and overall leader Tadej Pogacar's domestiques, jumped away from a leading group of six some 43 kilometres from the finish and never looked back, beating compatriot Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 1:28. France's Julian Alaphilippe took third place, nine seconds further back. "It's a very special victory, everybody wants to ride the Tour but not everybody wins on the Tour de France," said Wellens. "Suddenly there was a big crash... I followed one move and I was in the breakaway. "I had an opportunity, I took it and I had legs to finish it." Wellens' master, Pogacar, still leads Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by 4:13 in the overall standings, edging 169.3km closer to a fourth Tour title after the hilly ride between Muret and Carcassonne. German Florian Lipowitz sits in third place, 7:53 off the pace. "I'm actually happier than for any of my wins," said Pogacar, who added he was recovering from a sore throat. "With all the ice we're having (to cool down from the heat) and the air conditioning, half of the peloton has a sore throat, it's a pain." The top riders stayed quiet all day, Pogacar slowing down after Lipowitz and Vingegaard were caught up behind an early crash. It was a hectic stage with relentless attacks from riders looking to capitalise on the rare opportunity of a victory as flat and mountain stages are the exclusive domain of top sprinters and general classification contenders. The group who would fight for the win took shape after more than 100 kilometres and Wellens was not only the stronger rider, he was also the smartest. Having done very little in the breakaway - one of the perks of riding for the yellow jersey holder - Wellens attacked on a slightly uphill section, catching everyone off guard. The 34-year-old attacked and the chasing group quickly disappeared into the background as he sped to his maiden Tour de France win to complete his grands tours stage victory collection after prevailing in the Giro d'Italia in 2016 and 2018 and in the Vuelta a Espana in 2020.
Dubai Eye
2 days ago
- Sport
- Dubai Eye
Cycling: Wellens wins Stage 15 to underscore UAE's Tour control
Tim Wellens overpowered his breakaway companions in brutal fashion to claim victory on Stage 15 of the Tour de France, offering yet another sign of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's iron grip on the race. The Belgian national champion, one of defending champion and overall leader Tadej Pogacar's domestiques, jumped away from a leading group of six some 43 kilometres from the finish and never looked back, beating compatriot Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) by 1:28. France's Julian Alaphilippe took third place, nine seconds further back. "It's a very special victory, everybody wants to ride the Tour but not everybody wins on the Tour de France," said Wellens. "Suddenly there was a big crash... I followed one move and I was in the breakaway. "I had an opportunity, I took it and I had legs to finish it." Wellens' master, Pogacar, still leads Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard by 4:13 in the overall standings, edging 169.3km closer to a fourth Tour title after the hilly ride between Muret and Carcassonne. German Florian Lipowitz sits in third place, 7:53 off the pace. "I'm actually happier than for any of my wins," said Pogacar, who added he was recovering from a sore throat. "With all the ice we're having (to cool down from the heat) and the air conditioning, half of the peloton has a sore throat, it's a pain." The top riders stayed quiet all day, Pogacar slowing down after Lipowitz and Vingegaard were caught up behind an early crash. It was a hectic stage with relentless attacks from riders looking to capitalise on the rare opportunity of a victory as flat and mountain stages are the exclusive domain of top sprinters and general classification contenders. The group who would fight for the win took shape after more than 100 kilometres and Wellens was not only the stronger rider, he was also the smartest. Having done very little in the breakaway - one of the perks of riding for the yellow jersey holder - Wellens attacked on a slightly uphill section, catching everyone off guard. The 34-year-old attacked and the chasing group quickly disappeared into the background as he sped to his maiden Tour de France win to complete his grands tours stage victory collection after prevailing in the Giro d'Italia in 2016 and 2018 and in the Vuelta a Espana in 2020.
