Latest news with #sprinters
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 11 route updates as Ben Healy takes up the yellow jersey in Toulouse
After a wild start to the 2025 Tour de France, which has seen crashes and crosswinds cause havoc in the peloton to go with some sensation racing and memorable wins, the race arrives in Toulouse for a lumpy 157km route which could suit the sprinters or a determined breakaway. Ireland's Ben Healy is the surprise owner of the yellow jersey after escaping up the road in the break on stage 10 and staying far enough ahead of Tadej Pogacar to usurp the reigning Tour de France champion at the top of the general classification. And Healy is likely to keep hold of yellow at least for today on a route unlikely to fire up the GC battle. Stage 11 features five categorised climbs and finishes with a loop around the city featuring a few short, sharp ascents including the Cote de Pech David (800m at 12.4%) with 9km to go. That could scupper some of the sprinters' legs before they reach the finish, and it may provide the perfect setting for a puncheur in the pack to make a decisive attack. Stage 11 start time Bonjour and welcome to stage 11! The riders roll out for the neutralised start at 1.15pm local time, 12.15pm BST, with an expected finish time of 5.05pm local time (4.05pm BST). Flo Clifford16 July 2025 11:06 Tour de France stage 11 preview: Route map, profile and start time as Ben Healy wears yellow in Toulouse The Tour de France rarely disappoints but this year's race has been utterly absorbing from the get-go when crosswinds blew apart the peloton on stage 1, and there's every reason to think stage 11 will serve up another thrilling day. Not many predicted Ireland's breakaway artist Ben Healy would own the famous yellow jersey on the first rest day of this Tour, but that's exactly what has unfolded after some tactical brilliance on Monday's stage 10 helped him gain more than three minutes on Tadej Pogacar to depose the reigning champion at the top of the GC standings, while Simon Yates won the stage itself. Not that Pogacar – who enjoyed coffees and a giant burger on Tuesday's rest day – plans on lending Healy the maillot jaune for long. Ben Healy wears yellow jersey on stage 11 as Tour de France resumes in Toulouse The Tour de France road book has stage 11 down as a flat day for the sprinters, but there are plenty of lumps and bumps along the way to make for an unpredictable outcome Lawrence Ostlere16 July 2025 11:00 Tour de France – stage 11 live Hello and welcome along to live updates from stage 11 of the 2025 Tour de France. Lawrence Ostlere15 July 2025 23:50
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Wout van Aert is a BOOSTED 6/1 with Sky Bet to win stage 11 of the Tour de France with sprinters expected to battle for victory
The Tour de France will resume on Wednesday with sprinters expected to battle for victory on a flat stage before the race heads into the Pyrenees. Stage 11 will see the peloton complete a 156 kilometre loop around the city of Toulouse. The largely flat stage features a flurry of climbs in the latter stages, which could see punchier riders clinch victory ahead of the outright sprinters. As a result, Mathieu van Der Poel is viewed as a 7/2 favourite to claim victory and add to his win from stage two. Sky Bet are, however, offering a Price Boost on Wout van Aert to triumph on stage 11. The Belgian star's odds have been boosted from 11/2 to 6/1 to secure the stage win. Tadej Pogacar, Quinn Simmons and Jonathan Milan are viewed as the next most likely stage winners, with the trio priced at 16/1. Three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar remains a 1/5 favourite to win the Grand Tour. The Slovenian star is currently 29 seconds behind the yellow jersey, Ben Healy of Ireland. Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard lie second and third respectively in the general classification after the first rest day. Vingegaard, the two-time champion, remains second favourite to win the Tour at a price of 7/2. Evenepoel is third favourite at 33/1, while current leader Healy is 50/1 to claim the overall victory. Sky Bet odds for stage 11 winner of the Tour de France (Each Way: 1/4 Odds, 3 Places): Mathieu van Der Poel - 7/2 Wout van Aert WAS 11/2 NOW 6/1 Tadej Pogacar - 16/1 Quinn Simmons - 16/1 Jonathan Milan - 16/1 Sky Bet odds Outright Winner Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar - 1/5 Jonas Vingegaard - 7/2 Remco Evenepoel - 33/1 Ben Healy - 50/1
The Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 9 route and updates as sprinters return to ‘Cavendish City'
The Tour de France continues with a second sprint stage of this weekend, another more relaxed day out for the peloton before the frenzy of the build-up to the line. Stage nine returns to a place etched in Tour history: Chateauroux, which hosts a finish for the fifth time in its history, at the end of a 174km run from Chinon. Three of those finishes were won by the legendary Mark Cavendish, who sprinted to the first of an eventual record of 35 stage wins here on the avenue de La Chatre - often dubbed 'Cavendish Avenue' - in 2008, before repeating the feat in 2011 and 2021. Those achievements have been recognised with temporary signage reading 'Cavendish City' being added to every marker on the city's limits, with a permanent tribute planned later down the line. But which sprinter will inherit the Manxman's crown today? Stage nine preview The Tour has opted for rare back-to-back sprint days, but unlike yesterday's this one is clear-cut, with a flat finish perfectly tailored to the pure sprinters at the end of 174km in the Loire. This double-header of sprint days falls, intriguingly, on a weekend, an unusual choice for the current era of Tour direction, favouring hyper-difficult mountain stages and GC fireworks as it does. Today will be a rather sleepy day for the TV cameras until the peloton swoops closer to Chateauroux: expect plenty of beautiful chateaux and charming French countryside, interspersed with bits of bike racing. The route heads east all day from Chinon, traversing a couple of mild bumps before a very flat approach to a town which has hosted a Tour finish four times. Flo Clifford13 July 2025 11:03 Good morning Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of stage nine of the Tour de France! It's another sprint battle royale today, and it's in sprinter's paradise: the famous 'Cavendish City', site of three wins by the Manx Missile. Who will inherit his crown in Chateauroux today? Let's find out... Flo Clifford13 July 2025 11:00
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Tour de France 2025: stage eight, from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval
Update: Date: 2025-07-12T10:16:20.000Z Title: Preamble Content: After a series of hilly stages over the past couple of days, the peloton will head out today on a 171.4km flat route from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval, with an elevation gain of 1,700m. There's only one climb, the category four Côte de Nuillé sur Vicoin, coming 16km before the finish. It's a short climb at 900m with an average gradient of 3.8% so it shouldn't be a problem for the sprinters who will be eyeing up a stage win today. With that in mind, sprinters such as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step) are expected to be in the mix, but there could also be a surprise from lesser known names. I'll also be keeping an eye out to see how Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) tackle that short climb before the finish. As always, I'd love to hear your predictions so please do email them to me. The peloton are scheduled to roll out at 1.10pm CEST (12.10am BST) and the finish is estimated to be at about 5.04pm CEST (4.04pm BST). If you want to catch up on yesterday's stage first, here is Jeremy Whittle's stage seven race report from Mûr-de-Bretagne: And a refresher of who's who and the teams competing in this year's Tour:
The Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 8 route and updates with sprinters set to battle in Laval
The 2025 Tour de France continues with a double-header of sprint stages - two more opportunities for the fast men in a Tour with very few of them. They'll have to hope that their legs have recovered from the exertions of a difficult, punchy few days in Normandy and Brittany, however, with Tadej Pogacar winning from a reduced sprint of elite climbers in Mur-de-Bretagne yesterday to take back the yellow jersey and add to his haul of 19 Tour stages and counting. Today's stage eight is a 172km run from Saint-Meen-le-Grand to Laval, in the Pays de la Loire region, and while it's pretty flat all day there's a late sting in the tail: a category-four climb with less than 20km left to race, and an uphill drag to the line that may kill off the hopes of some of the pure sprinters. Key moments of stage eight There's also the matter of a categorised climb in the final 20km, the Cote de Nuille-sur-Vicoin, which at 3.8% for 900m is short but steep enough to punish the pure fast men and ensure they waste some energy ahead of the final. Other than that it's pretty much pan-flat, and with the sprinters' teams no doubt controlling things all day, we may see no riders bother with a breakaway at all. Let's hope they do, because it'll be a long day otherwise. Flo Clifford12 July 2025 11:06 Stage eight preview Stage eight is one of just five friendly days for the fast men in this year's route, a 174km ride from Saint-Meen-le-Grand in Brittany to Laval in the Pays de la Loire region. And even this one has a spanner in the works in the form of an uphill drag to the line, the sort of finish Mark Cavendish would roundly object to. It means that the likes of Tim Merlier, winner of stage three, may find themselves struggling to power past the more versatile sprinters. Flo Clifford12 July 2025 11:03 Good morning Hello and welcome to The Independent 's live coverage of stage eight of the Tour de France! After a punchy week in Normandy, the sprinters get their time to shine again today. But there's a twist in the tale with an uphill drag to the line that may prove too much for the pure fast men... let's find out! Flo Clifford
