Tadej Pogačar takes Tour de France Yellow Jersey after storming time trial

Riding to second place in the stage 5 individual time trial, Tadej Pogačar took control of the Tour de France and pulled on the Yellow Jersey for the first time this year. The three-time champion was bettered only by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) on the 33km-long course, putting more than a minute into many of his rivals.

Losing only half a second per kilometre to the time trial world champion, Evenepoel, Pogačar came home just 16 seconds down on the Belgian. With the time of 36:58 enough to see Pogačar finish second on stage 5, the road race world champion moves into the lead of the race with a 42-second advantage over the second-placed Evenepoel.

Not content with Yellow, Pogačar also now leads both the King of the Mountains and Points classifications heading into stage 6. The Slovenian spoke of his delight with his performance after the stage, before turning his attention to the days ahead.

Pogačar: “I am super happy with how I rode today. To be 16 seconds behind the world champion, the Olympic champion, the best time trialist in the world right now [Remco Evenepoel], I am super super happy. To gain time on the GC and only lose a little bit to Remco, I am super happy.

“It’s a very good day and I am happy, but I am just happy that this day is over and we can focus now on the next days and keep this ball rolling in the Tour de France.

“The most important is Yellow, but the most important is to have it on the Champs-Élysées on the finish line. Now, it feels good, but the important thing is to have it in Paris.

“This year the parcours is designed really hectic so we have to be careful in every stage. So far, it has been really nervous and super hard, so I think tomorrow and the next days will be the same. We need to keep control, we keep calm, and we believe in ourselves. In the team, we have super strong riders and we believe in one goal. We will keep riding just as we did up to this point.”

Elsewhere, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate João Almeida produced a respectable ride to place eighth on the day, leaving him seventh place in the general classification. The Portuguese rider has enjoyed a stellar season to date and with less than two minutes separating himself in seventh from Pogačar in Yellow, the 26-year-old will remain a crucial card to play for the Emirati squad as the race heads deeper into the race.

After the first test against the clock of this year’s Tour de France, over one minute now separates Pogačar in Yellow from two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in fourth. The Danish rider is 1:13 behind the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader, with Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ Kévin Vauquelin producing a stellar time trial to position him in third overall.

Tour de France 2025 stage 5 (ITT) results:

1. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) 36:42

2. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +16″

3. Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike) +37″

8. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:14

Tour de France 2025 general classification after stage 5:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 17:22:58

2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) +42″

3. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +59″

7. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:53

With a solo attack on home roads, Felix Großschartner won stage 1 of the Tour of Austria in rampaging fashion, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG dominating proceedings to place four riders inside the top five on the opening day. Making the most of his local knowledge, Großschartner made a stage-winning attack inside the final kilometres, riding his way into the lead of the race.

Coming across the line some five seconds after his teammate, Rafał Majka made the most of a great display to finish second, with only Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) in third separating Großschartner and Majka from teammates Filippo Baroncini and Isaac del Toro in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Wednesday’s opening stage was a UAE Team Emirates-XRG show, with both Majka and the stage winner bridging across to Ryan after the steep Porscheberg climb in the finale. With the EF Education-EasyPost rider outnumbered by the UAE Team Emirates-XRG pair on the run to home in Steyr, Ryan did not do a pull on the front. This was textbook riding by the Irishman, but he was left without a response when Großschartner made an attack inside the final kilometres.

Not wanting to drag Majka across to his teammate, Ryan could not react, and Großschartner rode alone to the line. Winning just 30km from his birthplace, the 31-year-old hoisted his arms above his head at the finish, able to celebrate his first victory away from the national championships since the 2021 Tour of the Alps.

With fifth place across the line, the returning Giro d’Italia runner-up, Del Toro, claimed the lead of the young rider’s classification heading into Thursday’s second stage.

Speaking after the finish, Großschartner outlined the plan that allowed the Emirati squad to maintain a vice-like grip on the opening stage in Austria.

Großschartner: “The stage went really good. The team, as always, did a great job. We controlled all day and in the end, we knew that with Isaac and Rafał and me for GC, also Baroncini and Covi for the stage, we had plenty of options.

“The last climb was quite hard, and me and Rafa could close the gap to Archie Ryan, and I knew I needed a small gap on the flat to attack. I knew that if I had a small gap to Ryan, I could win the stage.

“Of course, it means a lot to me, especially today was really in my home region, on my home roads. The finish was not far from my town, so it means a lot.

“For the rest of the week, Friday and Saturday are super hard stages for GC. We will see. For sure, the main goal is to win the race. It doesn’t matter if it is me, Rafa or Isaac. I am looking forward to it.

Tour of Austria 2025 stage 1 results:

1. Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:46:36

2. Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5″

3. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +6″

4. Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +16″

5. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

Tour of Austria 2025 general classification after stage 1:

1. Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:46:26

2. Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +9″

3. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +12″

4. Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +26″

5. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t