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The Independent UK

Sport

Flo Clifford

Tour de France 2025 live: Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre wins thrilling stage 16 atop Mont Ventoux

Tadej Pogacar Tour de France Tour (Event)

Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre won a thrilling stage 16 of the Tour de France atop the famous Mont Ventoux.

Paret-Peintre reached the top of the climb with Ireland’s Ben Healy, Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago and Belgium’s Ilan van Wilder, and tracked Healy to the finish line before sprinting past to claim the first Tour stage of his career.

Behind them, GC contenders Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard traded attacks near the top of the mountain, leaving their teammates behind, but neither rider could land a telling blow as Pogacar retained his strong grip on the yellow jersey.

Follow all the reaction from stage 16 of the Tour de France below:

Who is leading the Tour de France? Yellow jersey and general classification standings

Mathieu van der Poel forced to abandon Tour de France with pneumonia

Luke Rowe: ‘Cav should sleep with one eye open – Tadej Pogacar is coming for his Tour de France record’

Tour de France Stage 16 LIVE

Race reaches infamous climb of Mont Ventoux to kickstart final week
Valentin Paret-Peintre seals victory in thrilling sprint with Ben Healy on Mont Ventoux
Tadej Pogacar has iron grip on yellow jersey but was foiled by breakaway today
Stage 16: 171.5km from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux | Live on ITV4 and TNT Sports
Mathieu van der Poel forced to retire with pneumonia

Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre wins atop Mont Ventoux as Tadej Pogacar keeps yellow jersey

17:27 , Flo Clifford

Valentin Paret-Peintre secured the biggest win of his career and a first stage win for the home nation of this year's Tour de France with a thrilling sprint atop Mont Ventoux.

The 24-year-old edged out breakaway companion Ben Healy in a dramatic two-up sprint for the line, after a slimmed-down group of four came into the final kilometre with the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar and rival Jonas Vingegaard breathing down their necks.

Pogacar dealt with every attack attempted by Vingegaard and even put a couple of seconds into him at the finish to add two seconds to his lead, and now sits 4:15 clear in yellow, but stage 16 went to the breakaway at the summit of this most feared of Tour climbs.

Valentin Paret-Peintre wins atop Mont Ventoux as Tadej Pogacar keeps yellow jersey

Lipowitz cements lead in white

16:47 , Flo Clifford

And Florian Lipowitz is looking secure in white. He and Onley were locked together on the lower slopes of Ventoux but by the top he had dropped his rival, in what has been the story of this year’s race.

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 58:33:49
Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +2’01”
Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +4’17”
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +8’49”
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +11’42”

Points classification after stage 16

16:40 , Flo Clifford

Pogacar’s fifth place today has granted him more points in the green jersey standings, and he’s bearing down on Jonathan Milan, who had a real day to forget today, failing to pick up any points whatsoever.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl‑Trek) 251 pts
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 240 pts
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché‑Wanty) 169 pts
Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick‑Step) 150 pts
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) 135 pts

Pogacar moves into KOM lead

16:32 , Flo Clifford

Poor old Lenny Martinez finished more than 26 minutes down and has conceded the polka dots to Pogacar.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 60 pts
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 60 pts
Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 48 pts
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 39 pts
Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 38 pts

Movers and shakers on GC

16:26 , Flo Clifford

Pogacar and Vingegaard were locked together all day but the yellow jersey still managed to eke out another two seconds on the line.

Lipowitz has cemented his grip on third place overall and now leads Onley by 2’01”. The Scot himself had a good ride and leads Vauquelin by more than two minutes... but Vauquelin isn’t who he needs to be worried about now, with five-time Grand Tour winner Roglic breathing down his neck at just 38” off the pace.

Healy has re-leapfrogged Rodriguez in their intriguing battle for the minor places.

'The sun shines again' - Valentin Paret-Peintre

16:19 , Flo Clifford

Valentin Paret-Peintre, still looking rather amazed, tells ITV4, “How I won that stage is hard to say, I was thinking maybe I can win today, maybe I’m the best climber in this breakaway. I asked my teammates to make a good pace at the bottom and I tried so many times to drop Healy but he was very strong and at the end I was just waiting for the sprint, and then I won.”

Referencing Remco Evenepoel’s departure, he says, “These last few days we went through a little storm, I guess, and now the sun shines again. It’s really amazing for me and for the team to win another stage, a fourth stage in this Tour, then tomorrow it’s a sprint we hope, so we can maybe win again.”

Amazingly, this is just Valentin Paret-Peintre’s third pro win. He has a stage win at the Tour of Oman, Giro d’Italia, and now the Tour de France.

First win of the Tour for France

16:12 , Flo Clifford

It’s Soudal Quick-Step’s fourth win of this year’s Tour, after Tim Merlier picked up sprint victories on stage three and nine and Remco Evenepoel won the stage five time trial.

And it’s a first of the race for France, and on Mont Ventoux, no less.

General classification after stage 16

16:00 , Flo Clifford

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 58:24:46
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) +4:15
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +9:03
Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +11:04
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +11:42
Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea - B&B Hotels) +13:20
Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +14:50
Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +17:01
Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) +17:52
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +20:45

Jubilation for Soudal Quick-Step

15:55 , Flo Clifford

Vingegaard speaks

15:52 , Flo Clifford

It seems Jonas Vingegaard was taken out by an errant photographer after he crossed the line. We didn’t see it on the live feed but hopefully it wasn’t anything serious. “People in the finish area should use their eyes a bit more,” he tells an assembled media scrum.

“I was feeling very good today, happy with the attacks I tried to do, of course I didn’t gain any time but I take a lot of motivation from today.” He thanks his teammates and says he and Pogacar followed each other’s every move. “At least it gives me some motivation how good I felt today and I will keep trying.”

Stage 16 results

15:49 , Flo Clifford

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) in 4:03:19
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), same time
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) +4”
Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) +14”
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) +43”
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) +45”
Enric Mas (Movistar) +53”
Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) +1’17”
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +1’51”
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +1’53”

Paret-Peintre wins stage 16

15:44 , Flo Clifford

What a day for Soudal Quick-Step, who lost their leader Remco Evenepoel and have rescued something from this Tour - with a French winner no less.

Paret-Peintre runs up to Van Wilder and the pair share a lovely and very emotional hug.

Roglic has come back and he crosses the line a few bike-lengths ahead of Lipowitz. The pair have dropped Onley and he will lose a bit of time to Lipowitz, but still looking great for fourth overall.

Pogacar beats Vingegaard

15:42 , Flo Clifford

Pogacar attacks as he and Vingegaard come to the top, he swings past Mas, and adds another couple of seconds to his lead as he powers all the way to the line.

Paret-Peintre wins stage 16!

15:42 , Flo Clifford

Healy is the first to attack! Van Wilder’s leadout is over. Paret-Peintre is on his wheel, Buitrago is dropped - can Healy hold on?

The pair sprint for the line!

It’s the Frenchman who wins atop Mont Ventoux!

Mont Ventoux sprint incoming

15:40 , Flo Clifford

400m to go: Soudal Quick-Step have played a blinder. Van Wilder comes to the front and leads this group up the uppermost, 10% slopes. What incredible timing.

Van Wilder keeps the pace high and the team have gambled that Paret-Peintre can beat Healy and Buitrago in a sprint.

Flamme rouge

15:39 , Flo Clifford

700m to go: The leading trio are playing games. Vingegaard and Pogacar are just 45 seconds back.

Ilan van Wilder is coming back from absolutely nowhere to help Paret-Peintre!

Pogacar attacks!

15:38 , Flo Clifford

1km to go: The yellow jersey goes and all of a sudden the stage win looks up for grabs again!

Vingegaard is under pressure... and just about shut it down. 1’12” to the leaders. They catch Alaphilippe.

Paret-Peintre attacks at the top, Healy and Buitrago follow... Vingegaard counters but Pogacar is his match!

Sprint incoming?

15:36 , Flo Clifford

1.5km to go: The leading pair are into the final 2km to go. They’re on gradients of 8%.

They’ve slowed down enough for Mas and Buitrago to latch back on, but the gap to Vingegaard and Pogacar is at 1’43” and that’s too much to bring back now. Pogacar is just sitting conservatively on his rival’s wheel.

Attacks all over the climb

15:33 , Flo Clifford

2.5km to go: Onley and Lipowitz are on their own now, presumably Lipowitz’s Red Bull companions have dropped off.

Paret-Peintre attacks at the front! Healy is under pressure but is riding doggedly to get back on... and counters, but the Frenchman latches on immediately!

Vingegaard and Pogacar are now within 1’50” of the leaders.

Trio at the front

15:31 , Flo Clifford

3km to go: Mas has been caught! It was a very spirited ride, but Healy is just too strong.

Campenaerts has brought the gap down to 2’23” and as the leading trio start to mess about it’s looking dangerous for them... Healy attacks! Paret-Peintre recognises the danger and responds, and they drop Mas.

Paret-Peintre is a fine climber and has a Giro d’Italia stage win to his name, and on paper probably the favourite over Healy.

Vingegaard attacks again and Campenaerts is done - but Pogacar is still there!

Gap closing to Mas

15:28 , Flo Clifford

4.2km to go: Ben Healy is absolutely flying. The gap to Mas is down to 10 seconds. Valentin Paret-Peintre is still with him and refusing to work.

Vingegaard and Pogacar have latched onto Campenaerts and the gap is down to under three minutes and they’re shaving it away... but is it too late?

Roglic has come back onto Lipowitz and now Onley is in a Red Bull sandwich, with another one of their teammates in Mick van Dijke with them too.

Vingegaard attacks again!

15:23 , Flo Clifford

5.9km to go: Lipowitz attacks, with Roglic having dropped back to his teammate, and Onley leaps onto him immediately. That particular battle is fascinating.

Further back, Benoot has been swept up by Vingegaard and Pogacar, and Visma are playing this well with Campenaerts somewhere on the road up ahead too, I think.

And Vingegaard goes again, but Pogacar is still glued to his wheel!

Vingegaard attacks!

15:19 , Flo Clifford

7.3km to go: It’s very far from the top of Mont Ventoux and Vingegaard attacks!

Pogacar closes him down but neither looks particularly comfortable...

Roglic is the first behind them!

Riders spread out all over the hillside. Lipowitz and Onley are locked together. They drop Rodriguez and Vauquelin and will gain time on the Frenchman.

Healy gaining ground

15:18 , Flo Clifford

7.6km to go: Paret-Peintre attacks the Healy group and it’s the pink jersey of Healy who closes him down.

In the yellow jersey group, Rodriguez attacks, looking to defend his ninth place overall... and simultaneously Healy attacks.

Those moves have rapidly brought down Mas’ lead to 42”. Alaphilippe has been dropped and that’s the end of the Frenchman.

Enric Mas riding clear

15:16 , Flo Clifford

8.2km to go: The Healy group, including Paret-Peintre, Santiago Buitrago, and Alaphilippe has caught Arensman. They’re still 1’08” behind Enric Mas, who is on a flyer.

The yellow jersey group is a fraction off five minutes behind Mas.

Sivakov drops back

15:11 , Flo Clifford

10km to go: Sivakov has dropped back from the Healy group and floated into the yellow jersey group to support Pogacar... and he’s dropped!

Simon Yates is struggling to hold on in this group, and Jhonatan Narvaez has been dropped. Attritional riding by Kuss but it’s hurting his teammates as well as Pogacar’s. Adam Yates is the last teammate standing for Pogacar.

They’re riding through this comparatively sheltered, wooded area before the infamous ‘Bald Mountain’ opens up above.

Onley and Lipowitz are still in this group, as is Roglic. Felix Gall is struggling.

Visma hit the front

15:04 , Flo Clifford

11.9km to go: Surely even Pogacar can’t take back 5’40” on 12km of climb remaining.

Visma take things up at the front through Sepp Kuss as their baffling tactics continue. Don’t make the pace hard, lads, Pogacar loves that.

Arensman and Alaphilippe are 25 seconds back on Mas, who is gradually extending that lead.

Onto Mont Ventoux

14:57 , Flo Clifford

14km to go: Chaos all over the road as riders drop like flies on these punishing slopes. Enric Mas has dropped Alaphilippe and Arensman and is riding away.

Valentin Paret-Peintre, Soudal Quick-Step’s rangy climber, has dropped the Healy group and faces the daunting task of chasing onto the leaders.

⛰️ PROFILE - MONT VENTOUX ⛰️

📏15,7 km
🥵 8,8 %
2️⃣0️⃣ KOM points#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/UsmSN96VZb
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025

Breakaway cracking

14:50 , Flo Clifford

17km to go: The riders aren’t even onto the climb yet, on the 5% lower slopes leading to the foot of the climb proper, and Arensman looks to be in trouble... but he’s riding back on, setting his own tempo.

Abrahamsen has been distanced and Alaphilippe, Velasco, Arensman and Mas are the survivors up front. The specialist climbers.

The peloton is 6’30” back and Lenny Martinez is in trouble! Possibly a mechanical? Looks like it.

Breakaway standing strong

14:40 , Flo Clifford

22km to go: Are they starting to dream? The seven leaders have 6’50” on the peloton and 1’30” on the Healy group.

“Make sure you do as much work as Abrahamsen,” the Astana team car tells Velasco, which seems absolutely terrible advice. No one works as hard as Abrahamsen. That’s a hiding to nothing.

Wright dropped

14:25 , Flo Clifford

32km to go: Fred Wright has been dropped from this leading group and is rapidly going backwards towards the Healy group. And then there were seven.

Can they hold off this man?

Breakaway gaining ground

14:18 , Flo Clifford

37km to go: Nils Politt has been doing his best on the front for UAE but he’s lost ground to this eight-man breakaway, who have been rotating well together.

Behind them, the Ben Healy group is playing games and is already 1’38” back and counting. Alaphilippe and Trentin’s teammates in this group, Haller and Hirschi, are being as disruptive as possible. “No one wants to ride!” Krists Neilands of Israel-PremierTech says on his radio in frustration.

TotalEnergies’ Thomas Gachignard, meanwhile, is more than 15 minutes back, the poor Frenchman is having a terrible day out.

Mont Ventoux

14:10 , Flo Clifford

This is what’s coming...

Happy Ventoux day 😈💛#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/mgqJOKvOej
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025

Abrahamsen wins intermediate sprint

13:57 , Flo Clifford

55km to go: Abrahamsen launches a clever sprint at the intermediate and holds off Velasco, his only challenger, for the maximum 20 points.

The rest of this lead group roll over the line in orderly fashion and 28 seconds behind them, so does the Ben Healy group.

Split in the breakaway

13:49 , Flo Clifford

62km to go: The irrepressible Julian Alaphilippe has been part of a split in this enormous leading group. Eenkhorn, Wright, Arensman, Mas, Velasco, Abrahamsen, and Alaphilippe’s teammate Trentin are all on the right side of this split, and the pair have two Tudor teammates in the group behind, some 18 seconds back now, who could help them stay away.

The gap to the peloton has gone out to more than four minutes, with Verstrynge and Rickaert still 30” off the front of the breakaway.

Geraint Thomas' final Tour

13:42 , Flo Clifford

Retiring Geraint Thomas is going up Mont Ventoux for the final time today as his last-ever Tour de France nears its end. “I think he’s definitely glad this is his last Tour de France,” close friend Luke Rowe says on TNT Sports comms. He adds that the Welshman still wants something from this Tour; a stage win would be the perfect end to a fine career.

“What G brings is his charisma off the bike,” he adds. “He’s not the loudest guy on the bus, but when he talks, he talks a lot of sense. He’s a massive asset to that squad.”

36 riders in the break

13:35 , Flo Clifford

75km to go: Some more attacking and counter-attacking later, this is a huge, huge, move, and the big news is that Jonathan Milan - who has been on the attack with Biniam Girmay again - has failed to get into it. You’d think that may be the end of his green jersey hopes, with somebody else going to pick up the 20 intermediate sprint points and Pogacar most likely to take 30 at the summit.

36 riders up the road with 30 seconds on the Alpecin-Deceuninck pair of Jonas Rickaert and Emiel Verstrynge, with the peloton three minutes and counting down the road.

🏁 80 km
3️⃣5️⃣ 🚴‍♂️ < 42"2️⃣🚴‍♂️ < 2’47" < 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚗

Breakaway of the day / L'échappée du jour ⬇️

🇮🇪 Ben Healy
🇳🇱 @ThymenArensman
🇪🇸 @EnricMasNicolau
🇦🇹 Gregor Mühlberger
🇧🇪 Xandro Meurisse
🇧🇪 Ilan Van Wilder
🇧🇪 Victor Campenaerts
🇪🇸 @raul_gass
🇪🇸 @solermarc93
🇳🇱 @PascalEenkhoorn
🇮🇹… pic.twitter.com/sPKKEC4u8G
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025

Vingegaard on breaking Pogacar

13:34 , Lawrence Ostlere

"He hasn't really shown any sign of weakness so far. Obviously it's pretty hard to read something out of that but we just have to keep trying.

"We didn't lose our hopes, we still believe it can be possible, and we'll keep on trying.

"I'm feeling good. I had a good rest day, together with the team. We'll see today, Hopefully the legs are good then we can maybe try something."

Jonas Vingegaard has it all to do in the final week (AFP/Getty)

Milan's points jersey in danger

13:19 , Flo Clifford

Jonathan Milan has had one threat to his green jersey lead removed in the form of Mathieu van der Poel leaving the race entirely. The Dutchman had been third in the standings at the start of the day.

But Pogacar is just 28 points off the pace as things stand and is likely to continue picking up points as he hoovers up stage wins. Today’s stage, bizarrely classified as a medium mountain despite featuring a HC summit finish, has 30 green jersey points on offer as well as 20 KOM points.

Pogacar winning today - as seems the most likely outcome - would also help him usurp Milan’s jersey, should the Italian pick up no points today (or one, or two).

There are 20 points on offer for first over the intermediate sprint at Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 112km into the stage, so Milan is in serious need of doing well in that sprint.

Original breakaway brought back

13:11 , Flo Clifford

95km to go: The chaos continues as Visma keep jumping, with UAE continuing to try to shut moves down.

But it looks like, with the original trio shut down, UAE are fanning out to let the new breakaway up the road.

Milan has missed it and tries to jump again - but that gets snuffed out, and that’s bad news for Milan because this is a really big group. Some 24 names, including Sivakov, Soler, Benoot, Campenaerts, van Wilder, Healy, Powless, and the original trio of Meurisse, Haller and Hirschi are in there too.

Lipowitz leads fight for final podium place

13:04 , Flo Clifford

German star Florian Lipowitz, only 24 and riding just his third Grand Tour, is in prime position to take third place on the podium in Paris.

The battle for third is also essentially the battle for the white jersey, with his closest challengers Oscar Onley and Kevin Vauquelin - but the German is well clear at the moment and has looked superior on the toughest climbs in the Pyrenees.

He’s a former biathlete, giving him something in common with Primoz Roglic, his Red Bull-Bora stablemate and another athlete who transitioned from a winter sport to cycling.

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 54:28:37
Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +1:25
Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2:28
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +10:33
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +10:48

Luke Rowe: ‘Cav should sleep with one eye open – Tadej Pogacar is coming for his Tour de France record’

12:57 , Flo Clifford

The battle for the Tour de France’s yellow jersey lasted 12 days, but really it lasted about five minutes. That’s how long Tadej Pogacar waited before attacking Jonas Vingegaard on the Hautacam, the first hors-categorie mountain of the Tour, with an acceleration that made the Danish double champion look like a weekend rider who’d taken a wrong turn.

There is still a week’s racing to come in the Alps, featuring a couple of menacing stages including Tuesday’s summit finish atop Mont Ventoux. But Ventoux is more likely to be where Pogacar writes another piece of Tour history than where Vingegaard trims his four-and-a-half-minute deficit.

Lawrence Ostlere spoke to Luke Rowe about the marauding Slovenian - and how Vingegaard can get himself back in the race:

Luke Rowe: ‘Cav beware – Tadej Pogacar is coming for your Tour de France record’

Weather check

12:50 , Flo Clifford

Echelons incoming? That would spice things up...

It looks like an ideal day for cycling, with sunshine and pleasant temperatures around 28ºC… The punishing factor will be the wind, which will pick up after the intermediate sprint at Châteauneuf-de-Pape (km 112.4) and blow from the side, with gusts of up to 45 km/h until the foot of Mont Ventoux. In the last six kilometres of the final climb, from Chalet Reynard onwards, it will blow against the cyclists, making the task of climbing the “bald mountain” even more difficult.

letour

'You cannot hide' on Mont Ventoux - Jonas Vingegaard

12:43 , Flo Clifford

Matt Stephens of TNT Sports has a chat with Jonas Vingegaard, who also seems pretty chilled-out. Why is Mont Ventoux so significant? A lot of reasons, the Dane says: “It’s been in the Tour de France so many times, a lot of big fights have been battled there. It’s an iconic, very hard climb, almost 20k long, so you cannot hide there.

“I’m feeling good, I had a good rest day with the team, rested a lot obviously. We’ll see today, hopefully the legs are good and we can try something.”

On Pogacar and the fight for yellow, he says, “He hasn’t really showed any sign of weakness so far, obviously it’s pretty hard to read something out of that, but as I said before, we have to keep trying and we didn’t lose our hopes. We still believe it can be possible and we keep on trying.”

Asked if he gets nervous before a stage like this, he says, “Of course there’s a bit of nerves, in some kind of way you learn how to handle the nerves the older you get and the more experienced you get.”

Delettre in no-man's-land

12:35 , Flo Clifford

123km to go: Poor old Alexandre Delettre has been let off the leash by the peloton but is really in no-man’s-land, 45 seconds off the leading trio with the peloton a minute behind the breakaway.

UAE are doing their best to snuff things out, although they seem content to let Delettre suffer. But of course lots of other teams not represented by the three riders up front - and two of them ride for the same team - aren’t happy with that.

Nils Politt sits there to police the next flurry of attacks. A big group splits off the front of the peloton, I can see a Visma jersey in there, Ivan Romeo, Alaphilippe, an Ineos Grenadier, possibly Luke Plapp too. Inevitably, the gap has come down to around 45 seconds now.

'To win on Mont Ventoux in yellow is really iconic' - Tadej Pogacar

12:27 , Flo Clifford

TNT Sports had a chat with a relaxed-sounding Tadej Pogacar before the start. “I had a good [rest] day, more or less 10 out of 10. Urska [Zigart, his partner and rider for AG Insurance-Soudal] came to our hotel, we ride together, she was on the ride with us with a coffee stop - she trained a bit more than us. Spent a nice afternoon with the closest ones, beautiful day.”

He’s on a swish new bike: “It’s a very nice thing to do from Colnago, to bring down the aero bike to a super low weight [for the stage 13 time trial], this is what I’ve been wishing for for a long time, and today is the day to have this kind of bike.”

Asked about his statement that he wants to win in yellow on Mont Ventoux, he says, “When did I say this?” and laughs.

“Everybody wants to win a stage in the Tour, and today is the Mont Ventoux, it’s a legendary climb and if you can win in the yellow jersey it’s something really iconic, maybe. But we know why we are here, to bring the yellow jersey to Paris.”

Roglic at the back

12:19 , Flo Clifford

138km to go: Primoz Roglic at the moment is at the very back of the bunch, literally the last man, with teammate Gianni Moscon for company. Luke Rowe on TNT Sports commentary points out that the day after the rest day can throw up some weird results, but let’s hope the Slovenian is fine and just taking things easy at the back.

It looks like this move is getting brought back: there have been too many counter-attacks, the potential number of escapees has got too big, and it’s all disintegrating as Van Aert chases another move. Meurisse, Haller and Hirschi are just nine seconds clear of the peloton.

UAE keep watch

12:11 , Flo Clifford

142km to go: UAE are controlling things at the front, content to let this small group of riders go, and trying to fan out across the road to stop anyone else getting away. The sheer number of roundabouts they’re having to cross is making that task a bit more difficult.

The leading trio have 20 seconds or so on the lone chaser of Benjamin Thomas, with the peloton nearly 40 seconds back and a few more riders dotted about between them.

Pogacar into the KOM lead?

12:04 , Flo Clifford

Frenchman Lenny Martinez currently owns the KOM jersey after a good shift on Saturday, picking up maximum points over the Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin, and second place over the Col de Peyresourde.

But he only leads by eight points over Tadej Pogacar, and with several more summit finishes - including today’s - in the Slovenian’s sights, Martinez has his work cut out to retain the polka dots.

There are still 176 KOM points available this week, including 20 today at Mont Ventoux.

Here’s how the standings look ahead of stage 16?

Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 60 pts
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 52 pts
Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 48 pts
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 39 pts
Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 38 pts

Trio up the road

11:58 , Flo Clifford

154km to go: Xander Meurisse - teammate of Mathieu van der Poel, who has been forced to abandon the race - is part of this leading trio, who currently have around 24 seconds on the peloton. He’s accompanied by the Tudor pair of Marco Haller and Marc Hirschi.

Attacks everywhere

11:51 , Flo Clifford

160km to go: Plenty of attacks but so far nothing sticking. Julian Alaphilippe has been on the move, seemingly okay after his crash on stage 15. Now his Tudor teammate Marco Haller leads a move.

Flag drop

11:43 , Flo Clifford

After 13km of neutralised start (making an already tough stage even longer) the riders are underway!

171km to the legendary Mont Ventoux. Which rider will write their name into history today?

Plenty of riders try to get up the road early on, including Wout van Aert and Lenny Martinez, but no move has gone clear just yet.

Vingegaard willing to sacrifice second place to go for yellow

11:37 , Flo Clifford

Here’s what Jonas Vingegaard had to say on Monday’s rest day: “I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now, it's a big gap.

“But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack.

“I'm also willing to sacrifice second to try to achieve first.”

Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director Grischa Niermann underlined the urgency of the mission.

“It's four minutes - you don't make that up with an attack in the last 500 metres,” Niermann said. “For that to happen, we need to see a weakness in Tadej. So far, he hasn't shown one. But the Tour is over only when we reach Paris.”

Tadej Pogacar out to bury the ghosts of his past in final Tour de France week

11:30 , Flo Clifford

Tadej Pogacar is riding not just for the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, but also to bury the ghosts of his past.

As the 2025 Tour de France heads into its final and most punishing mountain stages, the defending champion is about to tackle climbs where he cracked or struggled before.

The Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze await again - but this time, things feel different.

“I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me,” Pogacar said with a smile on Monday.

“But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs.”

More from the rest day press conferences:

Tadej Pogacar out to bury the ghosts of his past in final Tour de France week

Van der Poel's exit continues mixed Tour for Alpecin-Deceuninck

11:24 , Flo Clifford

Mathieu van der Poel has been one of the electrifying racers of this Tour, beating Tadej Pogacar in a sprint on stage two to take the yellow jersey, livening up breakaways, and spending 173km up the road on stage nine to get teammate Jonas Rickaert on the podium as most combative rider.

His Tour has been something of an improvised affair; after Jasper Philipsen’s exit on stage three van der Poel was no longer there as key lead-out man for the Belgian sprinter, leaving him freer to stage-hunt and to target the green jersey.

He was third in the standings heading into this final week and with his impressive ability to get into any breakaway - and therefore pick up points at intermediate sprints - had a serious chance of winning it.

Now Jonathan Milan can breathe a sigh of relief, although he’s still got Tadej Pogacar as his closest challenger, and van der Poel will head home to recover after a successful, if abruptly curtailed, Tour.

Mathieu van der Poel forced to abandon Tour de France with pneumonia

11:17 , Flo Clifford

The peloton will be missing a familiar face today, as Mathieu van der Poel has been forced to abandon the Tour de France due to pneumonia.

The Dutchman was enjoying a standout Tour, twice taking the yellow jersey and securing victory on Stage 2 in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The 30-year-old had been quiet over the days leading up to the second rest day in mountainous terrain, with Alpecin-Deceuninck confirming that he had been struggling with cold-like symptoms.

He has subsequently been diagnosed with pneumonia and will not start Stage 16 on Tuesday.

Mathieu van der Poel forced to abandon Tour de France with pneumonia

Neutralised start

11:10 , Flo Clifford

The riders are rolling out in Montpellier for the neutralised start; it’s a long one today, around half an hour’s riding before Christian Prudhomme will wave the starting flag.

Stage 16 prediction

11:03 , Flo Clifford

The design of the stage means there isn’t much terrain for a real elite breakaway to escape on, and the green jersey of Jonathan Milan is likely targeting the intermediate sprint at Chateauneuf-du-Pape 112km into the stage, so Lidl-Trek and the sprinters’ teams may be on hand to help UAE control proceedings during the flatter section.

All that means that we’re likely to see the whole peloton reach the climb together - and there’s one man who can climb faster and more brilliantly than anyone else.

So it seems foolhardy to bet against race leader and modern Cannibal Tadej Pogacar. The yellow jersey has had a day to rest his legs and is likely to come out firing on all cylinders, and while he has claimed wins on many of the Tour’s most legendary climbs, there are always more to add to that list - including Mont Ventoux.

Tadej Pogacar celebrates after winning stage 13 (AFP via Getty Images)

Stage 16 preview

10:56 , Flo Clifford

Ventoux comes at the very end of today’s stage, 171.5km from the start town of Montpellier - where the riders enjoyed a rest day - and is the only climb on an intriguing parcours. It’s flat all day until the town of Bedoin at the foot of its lunar slopes, meaning the riders have 130km of flat to plan how they’ll attack.

Its place in Tour mythology is partially down to how rarely it features in the route: the race last had a planned summit finish here in 2016, but that stage was curtailed as a result of expected 100km/h winds, with the finish relocated to Chalet-Reynard, 6km down the mountain.

Thomas de Gendt took the win then; the previous time out, in the 2013 Tour, Chris Froome infamously ran up part of the Giant on his way to victory. Hopefully today the only drama will be of the racing kind.

The first day back after a rest day can throw up some strange results, with some riders slow to get back into the groove. Today’s racing may have an extra edge to it as the top-10 look to shore up their positions and take advantage of any slumps by their rivals.

Tour de France stage 16: Vingegaard and Pogacar set for battle on mighty Ventoux

Movers and shakers on GC

10:51 , Flo Clifford

There wasn’t any significant move in the general classification on Sunday’s stage 15, but Ineos Grenadiers’ Carlos Rodriguez enjoyed back-to-back days in the break and leapfrogged Ben Healy, who was back in the peloton, into ninth place overall.

Tadej Pogacar - 'Beyond happiness'

10:45 , Flo Clifford

And here’s what teammate Tadej Pogacar had to say: “I’m more happy for him than when I win - beyond happiness.”

ITV4 then asked him about his over-four minute lead heading into the third week.

“Normally the Tour second week is easier mountains, more for breakaways, the third week is always hardest. But this week was one of the hardest second weeks of the Tours that I’ve ridden,” he said, with the interview interjecting, “because of you!” at which he laughs.

“We still have big, big mountains to come. There’s still seven days or something to Paris and we need to fight until the end.”

'I was so happy I forgot to celebrate' - Tim Wellens

10:39 , Flo Clifford

Here’s what Tim Wellens had to say at the end of his brilliant solo victory on stage 15.

“It is a very special victory. Everybody knows the Tour de France but not many people win in the Tour de France so it was very beautiful.

“I felt super good today. On the last climb of the day I felt really good. I knew the others felt really good but I knew I had to go solo. At the top of the climb I found my moment and I felt I had the legs to keep it to the end.

“I knew I had to enjoy the moment and kept riding until the end so I had a big gap to enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish - but I was so happy I forgot to do it!”

General classification after stage 15

10:32 , Flo Clifford

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 54:20:44
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) +4:13
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +7:53
Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +9:18
Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea - B&B Hotels) +10:21
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +10:34
Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +12:00
Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +12:33
Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +18:26
Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) +18:41

Stage 15 results

10:25 , Flo Clifford

Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 3:34:09
Victor Campenaerts (Visma - Lease a Bike) +1:28
Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) +1:36
Wout van Aert (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers)
Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe)
Paul Penhoet (Groupama FDJ)
Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies)
Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost)
Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ), all at same time

Stage 15 report

10:19 , Flo Clifford

Tim Wellens had time to high-five fans inside the final kilometre as he soloed to victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France into Carcassonne with his team-mate Tadej Pogacar retaining the yellow jersey.

Wellens, 34, completed his set of Grand Tour stage victories, attacking from a reduced four-man breakaway with 44 kilometres remaining of the 169km stage from Muret.

The Belgian national champion quickly opened a sizeable gap before the long downhill run into the medieval city, where his margin of victory over compatriot Victor Campenaerts was 1:28.

Tim Wellens completes set of Grand Tour victories with solo win on stage 15

Stage 16 start time

10:12 , Flo Clifford

Another earlier start today with an early finish too: 12.10pm local time for the neutralised start, 11.10am BST, with an expected arrival time of 4.45pm local time (3.45pm BST).

Stage 16 route map and profile

10:08 , Flo Clifford

Tour de France 2025 – stage 16 map (letour)

Tour de France 2025 – stage 16 profile (letour)

Stage 16 preview

10:04 , Flo Clifford

Isolated in the landscape, towering over the Rhone valley and on the periphery of the Alps proper, Mont Ventoux is something of an outlier among the Tour’s formidable ascents - but that makes it no less beastly.

15.7km long at an average gradient of 8.8%, reaching 1,910m above sea level, it has long been established in the annals of Tour history and plenty of riders will fancy writing their names into the history books with victory on its summit today.