Tadej Pogačar sprinted to his second win of the opening week of the Tour de France on stage seven, conquering the climb at Mûr-de-Bretagne (Guerlédan).
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was chased to the line by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) but did enough to take victory and take back the yellow jersey.
Previous race leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was dropped in the final kilometres, meaning yellow changed hands. Pogačar now leads Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) by 54 seconds.
After a crash in the run-in took out around 10 riders at the back of the bunch, including Pogačar's key lieutenant João Almeida, it was left to Jhonatan Narváez to lead the world champion out. He did so perfectly, setting the Slovenian to sprint off with 150m to go. Vingegaard was in his wheel, but there was not enough road to stop Pogačar winning for a 101st time.
In the final 2km, Pogačar, Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) had forged ahead, but this move came back, before the former pair duked it out for the win.
"I’m super happy with the win today," Pogačar said post-stage. "We did an almost perfect job. I hope João is ok, if he is then it’s a perfect day, and if he’s not, then this victory is ok. I just wish he’s ok.
"Me and Mathieu both know this finish very well, we have good memories here. We wanted the same, to win on this iconic climb. Maybe he left too much on the road yesterday, so we couldn’t have a rematch. For me, today went like we planned, and the win is amazing.
"It was a hot day, so we spent a lot of energy pulling it out. It was a super fast day too. We had a plan, we stuck to it, the team led me out to the bottom of the climb. Jhonny [Narvaéz] did a reality super job to keep it under control. It was perfect for me.
"Back in yellow, now let’s go for two more easy days. "
How it happened
Stage seven was yet another punchy day at the Tour de France, with the finish on the hill in Mûr-de-Bretagne which the race has made famous in the last decade.
Attacks came early on, including from Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who was attempting to get away for the second consecutive day, this time with Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), however this attempt was shut down.
With 171km to go the next attacks included Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), along with Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), but this came to nothing once more.
It wasn’t until 141km to go that a break was finally established, such was the fight to get in it. It consisted of five riders: Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling) Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Iván García Cortina (Movistar).
Despite the pace being high in the break, the peloton never allowed the break to get too much beyond two minutes, and their advantage dwindled throughout the stage. At the intermediate sprint in Plédran, García Cortina took the points, while in the peloton behind, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) out-sprinted Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), as the pair duked it out in the green jersey competition.
Haller was the first to be dropped from the break, leaving just four riders up front. There was a brief moment of concern for Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) as he was shown off the back of the peloton with just 37km to go, but he was soon back in the bunch.
On the fourth-category Côte du village de Mûr-de-Bretagne, García Cortina was the first to attack from the break, although this was quickly shut down, as Visma-Lease a Bike pushed the pace on at the front of the peloton.
The Spaniard went once again, and while Baudin and Costiou could follow, Thomas was dropped. Costiou took the single KOM point on offer.
The first time up the Mûd-de-Bretagne climb itself with 17km to go, García Cortina was dropped, then Baudin, as Costiou forged on alone. A crash for Clément Champoussin (XDS Astana) took him out of contention.
Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) set the pace on the front of the bunch for his team leader, Jonas Vingegaard. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) remained hidden, but the yellow jersey, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was caught behind.
Costiou was the first over the top of the climb, taking the three KOM points on offer. The peloton grew in size over the top, with Van der Poel back in.
On the descent, with 14km to go, Van Aert pushed on, chased by Kévin Vaquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). Costiou still had 17 seconds at this point. A kilometre later, Van Aert’s move was shut down.
It was with 12.2km to go that Costiou was caught by the peloton, and the day’s break finally shut down. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) set the pace on the front of the peloton.
A high-speed crash at the back of the peloton took out a dozen riders with about 6km to go, including João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious).
In the final 2km, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) set the pace for his team leader Pogačar. Van der Poel was once again dropped, as Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel forged ahead. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was dropped.
A small group formed, including Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) and the three previous leaders. From this group, Pogačar opened up the sprint first, chased by Vingegaard. Despite a spirited effort, the latter could not come round, meaning the Slovenian won again and regained yellow. The pair gained seconds on their GC rivals.
Results
Tour de France 2025 stage seven: Saint Malo > Mûr-de-Bretagne (197km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:05:39
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Oscar Onley (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +2s
4. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
7. Kévin Vaquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, all at same time
8. Jhonatan Naravaéz (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +7s
9. Axel Laurance (Fra) Ineos Grenadiers, +15s
10. Tobias Halland Johannessen, Uno-X Mobility, +21s
General classification after stage seven
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirate-XRG, in 25:58:04
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +54s
3. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +1:11
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:17
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +1:29
6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:34
7. Oscar Onley (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +2:49
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:02
9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:06
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +3:43
