Latest news with #stage20
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
UAE Team Emirates star Pogacar on cusp of 4th Tour de France title
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar was left standing on the cusp of a fourth Tour de France title as Alpecin rider Kaden Groves won Saturday's stage 20 after a long-range escape that saw the Australian finish well ahead of the big guns. Runaway overall race leader Pogacar maintained his lead over Danish rival Jonas Vingegaard ahead of Sunday's 21st and final stage in Paris. The UAE Team Emirates rider has a 4min 24sec advantage heading into what could be a tricky finale, a 132km ride from Mantes-la-Ville to the Champs-Elysees, but featuring three ascents of the cobbled streets of Montmartre. A fourth title now looms for Pogacar who said after a dominant ride across the peaks and plains of France he felt he's won. "It's starting to sink in," said the 26-year-old, who previously won the sport's most prestigious cycling stage race in 2020, 2021 and 2024. "Tomorrow, all being well, I'll be celebrating with my team," added a weary Pogacar. "This has been another level of hard, all the way. I enjoyed it though and I'm really looking forward to the last day tomorrow." Pogacar refused to rule out a tilt at a fifth stage win if he could escape up the climbs to Montmartre. "We'll see how we feel and how the others act, maybe we'll try something in Montmartre." The champion-in-waiting was left shaking his head after almost getting taken down in a fall 500m from the line on Saturday as lashing rain made the roads hazardous on the run in to Pontarlier. This was a third stage win for Alpecin after Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel took the two opening wins. "They gave me a free role in the final days," Groves said after both Philipsen and Van der Poel pulled out. "I'm going to enjoy this one and celebrate with my team and enjoy the Champs tomorrow." Just 158 riders crossed the rolling hills at the foot of the Jura and many looked haggard after the fast racing in the Alps. So along the Swiss border, most of the peloton seemed happy to let an escape get a 7min lead after an exhausting slog that started July 5. Pogacar has dominated the 2025 Tour winning stages on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne in the first week, then on the mountain slopes of the Pyrenees on the Hautacam and Peyragudes in week two. As the Tour entered its end game Pogacar unexpectedly sat tight to protect his lead through the Alps rather go on his trademark all out attacks. Vingegaard, the 2022 and 2023 Tour champion, had two off days, first on a time trial and secondly at Hautacam, leaving Pogacar to surge into a lead he never looked like surrendering. Pogacar said he'd be back on the bike by Tuesday. "I travel home Monday. Tuesday I'll be going out for a ride with friends, stop somewhere for a coffee and start enjoying the summer, I've earned it." Pogacar returns to competitive action in September at Kigali, Rwanda, in defence of his world title. A boyish Pogacar first won the Tour as a break out star in 2020 with one of sport's great last-gasp turnarounds on stage 20. He followed up a year later with a crushing triumph, but the emergence of Vingegaard's patient long game earned the Dane the yellow jersey in the two following editions. Then Pogacar blew everyone away in a mighty 2024 season with a colossal racing programme, winning the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and world championships titles. Having extended his efforts into the all-in one-day classics season in 2025, his stamina was a question mark, but on Sunday that barrier also appears set to be breached.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Redemption for Yates on epic mountain climb as he closes in on Giro d'Italia title
The pack rides during the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Latteo), Italy, Saturday May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Fans gather along the Colle delle Finestre climb to see riders passing by, during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, right, and Mexico's Isaac del Toro during the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Latteo), Italy, Saturday May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Britain's Simon Yates pedals during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Britain's Simon Yates pedals along the Colle delle Finestre climb during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Britain's Simon Yates pedals along the Colle delle Finestre climb during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) The pack rides during the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Latteo), Italy, Saturday May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Fans gather along the Colle delle Finestre climb to see riders passing by, during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, right, and Mexico's Isaac del Toro during the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Latteo), Italy, Saturday May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Britain's Simon Yates pedals during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) Britain's Simon Yates pedals along the Colle delle Finestre climb during the stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia from Verres to Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP) SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) — Simon Yates produced one of the greatest rides of his career, up one of cycling's most grueling climbs, to all but win the Giro d'Italia on Saturday. Yates had started the penultimate stage in third, one minute and 21 seconds behind previous leader Isaac Del Toro but the British cyclist launched a solo attack on the beyond-category climb to Colle delle Finestre — the same mountain that spelled heartbreak for him seven years ago — to ride clear of his overall rivals. Advertisement The 32-year-old Yates, who won the Spanish Vuelta in 2018, was openly sobbing after he crossed the line more than five minutes ahead of Del Toro. With just the mostly ceremonial finish in Rome left on Sunday, Yates moved into the lead of the three-week race and is all but certain to lift the famous Trofeo Senza Fine (Trophy With No End) for the first time. Yates' attack had echoes of Chris Froome's audacious move on the Finestre in 2018 that earned him the title. It was also redemption for Yates who had been leading the Giro at that point in 2018, having worn the pink jersey for 13 days, before cracking on that climb. Advertisement Australian cyclist Chris Harper claimed his first individual victory in a Grand Tour on Saturday's 20th stage, a 205-kilometer (127-mile) leg from Verres to Sestriere. ___ AP cycling:
