A Great Yet Brutal Tour

The 2025 Tour de France must be considered as one of the most difficult in history. From the opening nine-days of Northern Classic themed stages, all raced at warp speed, to the extraordinarily mountainous second half where even the transition stages went through the Massif Central and the Jura Mountains, the racers were always under pressure. The new carbohydrate-based biohacking, which allows tremendous amount of in-race fueling, has created a peloton that can fly at incredible speeds on every stage from start to finish, making television viewing constantly interesting and exciting. Of course, the dominance of Tadej Pogačar took much of the drama out of the Maillot Jaune chase, but his back-and-forth battles for the tunic with the superb Mathieu van der Poel kept some fascinating story lines going. As always with the Tour, there were 21 stages full of subplots, great performances and real tragedies.

Tadej Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates – XRG were dominant in the race, swatting away the challenge posed by Team Visma – Lease a Bike at each key moment. The Dutch team’s leader, Jonas Vingegaard, newly muscled and ready to thrash on the opening classics stages of the Tour, was found wanting once the mountains were reached on stage 12, losing 2’10” to Pogačar on the climb to Hautacam, then 36” on the Slovenian on the next day’s individual time trial, raced up a col which should have been his perfect playground. Barring incident, the race for Yellow was already over. The loss of João Almedia, Pogačar’s right hand in the mountains, was more than made up for by the extraordinary efforts of Nils Politt and a remarkable Tim Wellens, the Belgian Champion going from strength to strength as the race went on, nabbing a win in Carcassonne with a powerful, 40-kilometer solo breakaway. A fine reward before his return to team duties.

Team Visma – Lease a Bike did everything right: controlling the front on the opening stages, setting up satellite riders in the mountains, even leading the team competition from Stage 4 to Paris in a sign of their collective strength. Problem was that their pony, Vingegaard, simply wasn’t strong enough in the head-to-head battles with Pogačar and no amount of team tactics nor team efforts could make up for that unfortunate fact. The Dane rallied after his Pyrenees debacle, was able to match Pogačar on the climbs, but certainly was never able to put any daylight between himself and the Yellow Jersey. The Dane has now won two Tours and will finish, for the third time, in second place. Wout van Aert’s power win on the Champs and Simon Yates’ victory at Le Mont-Dore plus their Teams title proves how resilient and strong this team is. They certainly aren’t going home empty handed.

Mathieu van der Poel was beyond brilliant in this Tour, throwing down spectacular and daring rides that kept fans on the proverbial edges-of-their-seats. The Dutchman is a true star, when he’s in a race everything seems to revolve around him and his actions. The opening nine-days provided the perfect canvas for his art, and he certainly didn’t disappoint, winning Stage 2 and fighting tooth and nail for the Yellow, proving himself the King of the North. VdP’s Alpecin-Deceuninck squad was excellent right from Stage one, captured by Jasper Philipsen who also stepped into Yellow - before being crashed out of the Tour – all the way to Stage 20 where a deserving Kaden Groves romped away for a solo win – this from a man considered a sprinter. The team, in full sponsor search, goes home with five Yellow Jersies and three stage wins which should certainly help their quest.

Remco Evenepoels early exit from the Tour on Stage 14, presaged by his terrible time trial performance the day before, proves that the Soudal Quick-Step team management knew what they were doing by bringing ultra-fast sprinter Tim Merlier to the Tour. Merlier’s two stage wins brings his total up to 12 victories this year so far, the most of any rider on the circuit. I sense that the impending transfer of Evenepoel, rumored to be to Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe, will in fact be a boon to the team, allowing the Wolfpack to come out of hibernation and return to their former glory. The idea of turning a team like that, with a rich history of stage and classics wins, the guys you really don’t want in the breakaway with you because they’ll smoke you in the end, into Banesto, slaving away on the front for a unique leader, never quite worked. It’s simply not in their DNA. Wolf-cub Valentine Paret-Peintre certainly heard the howls, liberated from Remco duty, seizing the opportunity to win on Mount Ventoux while saving French honor in the process. They go home with four stage wins, proving that it takes more than just money to be a winning team.

Lidl – Trek did justice to their sprinter Jonathon Milan, carrying him in through all the mountain passes to keep the Green Jersey and setting him up with real skill for the sprints. The 6’5”, 190-pound Italian, whose sprinting style has been compared “to a galloping horse that’s just escaped the barn”, will add a Tour Green Points Jersey to the two points titles he’s won at the Giro d’Italia. His teammate, American Professional Champion Quinn Simmons, was key in this triumph, roaming the front of the bunch like a medieval tribal chieftain, burying himself for his team each day of the Tour, turning himself into a media star in the process. The Coloradan, with his wild hair, American flag jersey and open demeanor, was always on the front, always pushing and looking for openings. He does need to work on his tactics, it must be said, Simmons is in danger of throwing away his immense talent by not paying enough attention to the art of the win. They need a Quinn-whisperer in the team to guide him through the races.

Who doesn’t love Ben Healy? The Irishman – although British podcasters do seem a bit snooty about his nationality transfer – was so very exciting this Tour, his patented long-range attack on Stage 6 netting a fine win followed by a third on the Stage 10 and a heartbreaking loss at the top of the Ventoux. Sitting in 9th overall, he made the Tour for his EF Education – EasyPost squad, supported in the main by a superb Harry Sweeny, the big Aussie with the perfect pedal action completely selfless in his efforts, able to go deep into the mountains despite his size. Healy owes him a bottle (s) of champagne on the Champs.

There are endless stories to follow in the Tour. The rise of elegant Florian Lipowitz to third overall, opening a bright future for Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe now faced with the end of the Primoz Roglič era, the Slovenian so mysterious in his comportment in this, his final Tour. The salvation of the INEOS – Grenadiers campaign by the remarkable Thymen Arensman’s two mountain wins; the appearance of a new UK star in fourth-placed Oscar Onley who fought with Lipowitz for the final podium spot; the excellent French performances by Lenny Martinez’s Polka Dot Jersey chase, Paret-Peintre’s massive win, Kèvin Vauqelin (7th overall) and Jordan Jegat (10th overall), all these just some of the threads that made for such fine entertainment over the course of the past three-weeks. Even the dominance of Tadej Pogačar couldn’t keep the drama out of the race, the Tour always offering up new tales, new riders to root for, new vistas to marvel over. It’s been a grand race and a pleasure to cover, as always.