After three gruelling days in the Pyrenees, it was the baroudeurs’ turn to shine at the end of the second week of the Tour de France 2025. Usually tasked with protecting Tadej Pogacar, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) made the most of this opportunity to participate in a festival of attacks, while his leader safely navigated the bunch. More than 30 riders managed to break away en route to Carcassonne. Wellens left them all in his wake with 43.5 km to go, claiming his first victory in the Tour de France. Already a winner at La Vuelta and the Giro, he becomes the 113th rider with stage wins in all three Grand Tours, just a couple of months after Wout van Aert was the 112th. Wellens also succeeds Van Aert as a Belgian national champion claiming victory in the Tour (Van Aert had done so in 2021). Behind him, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) complete the top 3 of the stage, ahead of Van Aert. The peloton crossed the line with a gap of 6 minutes.
The last effort before the last rest day! After three days in the Pyrenees, the peloton head out to Carcassonne with a hilly course that could favour attackers. Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) won’t take part in the battle as he withdraws ahead of the start. The Belgian climber was for from the best version of himself after a crash early in the Tour.
Early scare for Vingegaard and Lipowitz
As soon as the flag drops, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) attack with the hopes to repeat their stunning assault on Toulouse (stage 11). But there are dozens of contenders for breakaway, which leads to a furious battle marked by a crash in the bunch at km 17.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) are among the many riders affected. They lead a strong chase but at the front, attacks keep flying, which prevents them from getting back to the bunch until km 38.
MVDP initiates the break
In the meantime, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) attacks at km 27. He is followed by Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel Premier Tech) and Jarrad Drizners (Lotto).
Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), Jake Stewart (Israel Premier Tech) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) make it 15 riders in the lead at km 34… And the battle goes on, as Ineos Grenadiers want to have someone at the front!
The battle goes on and on
The configuration changes slightly on the Côte de Saint-Ferréol (km 72.8), where Jasper Stuyven, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor) join the breakaway.
Onto the Sorèze climb (km 86.6), a breakaway within the breakaway emerges with Campenaerts, Wellens, Mohoric, Lutsenko, Powless, Simmons and Storer. Behind them, a huge chasing group forms with 28 riders (including Alaphilippe, Van Aert and Van der Poel, among others).
Among the chasers, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) manages to join the front group at km 86. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) emulates him at km 110, and then it’s Alexandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL) at km 113.
Wellens flies away
Storer destroys this group by attacking on the first slopes of the Pas du Sant (km 114). He is followed by Simmons, and then Wellens and Campenaerts. The four attackers reach the summit together. After the climb, they are joined by Vlasov, Lutsenko, Barguil and Rodriguez with 44 kilometres to go.
Right after the junction, Wellens attacks. His rival scan’t follow the Belgian, who opens a gap of more than a minute en route to Carcassonne. Behind him, the chase groups get back together. Campenaerts attacks inside the last 2 kilometres to take the 2nd place ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor).
