The Giant of Provence crowned one of the riders with the smallest stature in the peloton, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), whose light weight allowed him to tame the mighty slopes of the day. After an extraordinary battle with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), the pure climber became the fifth Frenchman to win atop Mont Ventoux, and also claimed the first victory this year for the host nation. In their wake, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) traded blows, with the Danish climber and his teammates piling the pressure on the Slovenian leader of the race. Pogacar managed to resist and eventually gained a few seconds on the line. The battle goes on into the final week of the Tour 2025.
It’s the final week of the Tour, Paris is almost in sight! But before the peloton reach Paris, they have to overcome some more gruelling challenges, starting with the ascent of Mont Ventoux (15.7 km ay 8.8%). 165 riders set off from Montpellier as Alpecin Deceuninck reports Mathieu Van der Poel suffers from a pneumonia.
A massive battle for the break
Attackers have some 150 kilometres on the flat to try and get a head start before they battle it out up Mont Ventoux. Wout van Aert, the last winner of a Tour stage featuring the Giant of Provence (in 2021), immediately sets off. But many more riders want to get on the move. The Belgian star is rapidly reeled in.
At km 11, Marco Haller, Marc Hirschi (Tudor) and Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) get away. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) does everything he can to prevent further attacks but breakaway contenders are not discouraged by the German’s pressure.
After covering the first two hours at an average speed of 49.9 km/h, 32 riders eventually go clear alongside the three previous attackers: Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pascal Eenkhoorn, Valentin Paret Peintre, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), Santiago Buitrago, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe, Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Ewen Costiou, Raúl Garcia Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Clément Champoussin, Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), Michael Woods, Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Jarrad Drizners, Brent van Moer (Lotto), Jonas Abrahamsen y Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility).
Tudor filter the break
At kilometre 105 of the stage, Trentin accelerates, followed by Alaphilippe, Wright, Arensman, Mas, Velasco, Abrahamsen and Eenkhoorn to form a leading group. The Dutch rider from Soudal-Quick Step eases off shortly afterwards to rejoin his teammates in the chasing group.
Abrahamsen goes first at the intermediate sprint at Châteauneuf-de-Pape (km 112.4), where the seven breakaway riders have a 25-second lead over their 28 pursuers and 4'55" over the peloton led by Politt. A puncture 36 kilometres from the finish line eliminates Wright from the leading group, reducing it to just six men.
Visma-Lease a Bike attack Pogacar
Alaphilippe accelerates as soon as the attackers hit the first slopes of Mont Ventoux. Mas and Arensman join him. And the Spaniard goes solo 13 kilometres away from the finish. Meanwhile, the chase group explodes with several accelerations from Valentin Paret-Peintre. The French climber proves to be the strongest climber from the chase group with Ben Healy. They catch Mas with 4 km to go.
In the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike set a strong pace until Jonas Vingegaard attacks with 8.5 km to go. The Danish climber attacks again and again, he also finds the support of Benoot and Campenaerts… But Pogacar follows.
A thrilling finale
Healy and Paret-Peintre attack again and again but they fail to make a difference. After each attack, they look at each other. And it allows Mas, Santiago Buitrago and even Ilan Van Wilder to get back in the mix. The Belgian climber took the reins of the group inside the last kilometre to ensure Pogacar and Vingegaard wouldn’t get back.
Healy launched the sprint but Paret-Peintre passed him inside the last 100 metres to claim the first French victory in this edition. Buitrago completes the top 3 of the stage ahead of Buitrago and Van Wilder, with Pogacar crossing the line 43’’ behind the winner of the day.
