Tadej Pogačar finishes third on final Tour de France mountain stage

On the final day in the mountains at this year’s Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar did not flinch in his defence of the Yellow Jersey. Finishing third across the line at La Plagne, the Slovenian did not even come under attack on the last climb, such was the pace that he set at the front of the favourites’ group.

Unable to put the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man under pressure on the last summit finish of the race, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) sprinted around Pogačar for second at the line, with Ineos Grenadiers’ Thymen Arensman taking a well-earned victory after his speculative attack from the GC group. The Dutch climber becomes the only rider to take a stage win in both the Pyrenees and the Alps at this year’s Tour.

Content to set a defensive tempo up the final climb to La Plagne, Pogačar did not chase down Arensman or follow his stage-winning attack. Instead, the 26-year-old sapped the morale of his opponents and crossed the line with his race lead remaining well in excess of four minutes. Only two stages stand between the world champion and a fourth Tour de France victory.

Earlier in the stage, Tim Wellens delivered another faultless performance on behalf of Pogačar, with the Belgian champion leading the peloton up the entirety of the tricky Col de Pre ascent. Under Wellens’ control, only three riders were within the day’s breakaway over the top of the Cormet de Roselend (5.8km at 6.5%).

With those three being Primoź Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Pogačar could be relaxed to see no GC dangers up the road.

Determined to frame himself in the podium fight, Roglič did his best to pull off an unlikely stage victory, but the four-time Vuelta a España champion was caught by a combination of Wellens and Uno-X Mobility at the head of the peloton. The Scandinavian outfit was determined to see Tobias Halland Johannessen climb above the dropped Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) in the GC at the end of the day.

As Roglič was brought to heel, Wellens dragged the peloton onto the early slopes of the hors catégorie climb to La Plagne. Once the Belgian was done, it was his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Jhonatan Narváez who took over. Sitting firmly in the wheels, Pogačar had only one real task: stay on guard for an attack from Vingegaard.

As it happened, such an attack never occurred, with the stage victory instead opening up for the bravest rider on Friday afternoon. To his credit, it was Arensman who threw caution to the wind and made a pair of attacks, the second proving successful. That stage-winning move came 13.6km from the summit, with the Dutch rider never to be caught before the finish line.

Unable to mount any pressure in the fight for Yellow, the group of favourites behind Arensman refused to work with Pogačar, to which the Slovenian responded by sticking to his rhythm and accepting his position at the front. He could ride within himself and accept that the stage win was not his responsibility to chase.

After three weeks of non-stop racing within France, there was an air of fatigue that crept over the chasing group as they approached the summit. Arensman rode to a brilliant win out front, as Vingegaard sprinted to take second over the line, with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) all but affirming his third-place finish in Paris.

As for Pogačar, the Yellow Jersey took third place on the day and will now turn his attention to the final two stages of this year’s race. With an advantage of well over four minutes in the GC, Pogačar can be confident, but as he stated in his post-race interview, this is no time to become complacent.

Pogačar: “We did a very good job until the last climb, and then some teams and riders think they can sprint the 19km of the climb. The pace was incredibly high at the start and then I was thinking that maybe Jonas [Vingegaard] would want to win the stage also. But in the end, he was just holding on to my wheel.

“Arensman went on a good attack, I decided not to follow, to set my defensive rhytym that I feel comfortable with and in the end, it was like this. I am just glad it is over and now just two more days until Paris.

“I had to pull the whole climb in the end, so of course I came quite tired to the finish line, but also it was tough the last three days for me. I am happy that today is over and we will go again tomorrow.

“It is the Tour de France, it is two more days. We will keep concentrated, and let’s go.”

Tour de France 2025 stage 19 results:

1. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 2:46:06

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2″

3. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

Tour de France 2025 general classification after stage 19:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 66:55:42

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4:24

3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +11:09