Tadej Pogačar extends Tour de France lead on Mont Ventoux

Tadej Pogačar remained solid in defence of his Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France, taking fifth place across the line at the top of Mont Ventoux. As the breakaway claimed the spoils on stage 16, the world champion got the better of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in another entertaining contest, extending his lead of the race by a further two seconds.

Returning to the Giant of Provence for a first summit finish on its slopes since 2013, the Tour de France drew tens of thousands of supporters to the roadside, all of whom were delivered another epic showdown between Pogačar and Vingegaard. Both riders made attempts to put the other on the back foot, but in the end it was the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man who came out on top.

Finishing one place ahead of Vingegaard, Pogačar attacked through the final hairpin and powered up the punishingly steep last 300m of road. As they approached the line, Vingegaard was forced to return to his saddle and inch his way towards the finish. Ultimately, Pogačar extended his lead by two seconds before the race heads to the Alps later this week.

Speaking to the media after stage 16, Pogačar reflected on another ding-dong encounter with the two-time Tour de France champion.

Pogačar: “Today, Jonas really tried and they worked very well as a team together. They really paced the climb super well, but luckily I didn’t have the same legs as 2021, so I’m happy with today. It was a good performance from my side, and I defended the Yellow Jersey as I decided this morning.

“There were some points, of course, where I was suffering. But I think today was just one climb, one effort, and it was more or less full gas from the bottom to the finish line. In the next days, I think it will be more and more tiring for the body.

“When [the break] went, at first it was a three-man breakaway and we already stopped. Then they started to attack again and it was a big breakaway. Marc and Pavel were inside, and we just let them go.

“If we had to ride the climb, we would ride with Adam [Yates] and Tim [Wellens], with Marc [Soler] and Pavel [Sivakov] in the breakaway. So when they went, we said the breakaway could increase the gap. But in the end, because of Visma, it was coming pretty close. We saw them at 800m to go, I knew that if there was one big effort from me or Jonas, maybe we could catch them, but I think they deserved the victory.

“I saw [stage winner, Valentin] Paret-Peintre, we were in the changing room together and he was super happy. He was calling a friend and it was nice to see.

“I think we will race until Paris and we will see who will be the winner. I think today was a proper hard day after the rest day. For me, it is one box ticked and going with good motivation to the next days.”

Earlier in the stage, it was Pogačar’s teammate Nils Politt who produced perhaps the performance of the day. The big German rouleur was relentless in ensuring that the eventual breakaway would be suited to Pogačar’s ambitions, before proceeding to drive the peloton for well over 100km to the base of Mont Ventoux in the village of Bédoin.

With UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Pavel Sivakov and Marc Soler up the road, Politt and Pogačar watched a near 40-man breakaway go clear through the flatlands that preceded Mont Ventoux. The final climb would be the only bump of the day on Tuesday, but this did not stop the front group from breaking apart on the approach to the climb.

Indeed, as the break began the tough slopes of Ventoux, only Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Enric Mas (Movistar) were in the very first group on the road. As Sivakov and Soler rode at their own pace, the rest of the breakaway battled it out for the stage honours, with Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) eventually getting the better of Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in a two-up sprint to the summit.

Five minutes further down the climb, Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike began to mount their offensive whilst the breakaway went head-to-head. With Wout van Aert driving the pace from the foot of the climb, Sepp Kuss took over the work as the race entered the famed Communal Forest of Bédoin. Here, the Visma-Lease a Bike plans took a turn as Simon Yates lost contact, forcing Kuss into a longer stint at the front.

Undeterred, the American former Vuelta a España winner pressed on, setting up Vingegaard’s first attack with a little under 10km to ride. For the remainder of the stage, Pogačar showed not a jot of weakness, responding well to the Dane’s accelerations and standing up to the task when the Dutch squad used their satellite riders (Tiesj Benoot and Victor Campenearts) further up the climb.

On the barren slopes that led to the summit of Mont Ventoux, Pogačar made his own counterattack, but Vingegaard refused to be budged.

Save for a couple of seconds between the pair at the summit, not much could separate the two strongest riders in this race on Tuesday afternoon. Their battle looks set to rage on through the Alps in the final week of the race.

Up first, however, stage 17 looks set to suit a sprint finish, should the forces of Lidl-Trek and Soudal Quick-Step tee up an expected contest between Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier, respectively.

As for Pogačar, the Slovenian’s fifth-place finish on stage 16 was enough to see him retake the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey. That will be worn on behalf of the Yellow Jersey by the recently-deposed Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious on Wednesday.

Tour de France 2025 stage 16 results:

1. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) 4:03:19

2. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) s.t

3. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) +4″

5. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +43″

Tour de France 2025 general classification after stage 16:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 58:24:46

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4:15

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +9:03