The Tour de France continues with another hilly, punchy day of action, this time in Brittany, with a flatter first half of the day before the race will no doubt explode into life over the second half.
Today’s route is helmed by the infamous Mur-de-Bretagne, a brutal final uphill test which returns to the Tour de France route four years after Mathieu van der Poel won a stage up the iconic climb and took yellow in the process.
Will the flying Dutchman be able to repeat the trick and secure a second stage victory of the 2025 tour? The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider is already back in yellow by a one-second margin over defending champion Tadej Pogacar after getting in the breakaway yesterday, with the stage eventually won by Irishman Ben Healy. Van der Poel’s legs, then, might be suffering after that effort - but he’s got the gentler first part of this stage to recover before heading back onto familiar, winning terrain...
Follow all the action with our live blog below:
Tour de France 2025 Stage 7 LIVE
- Stage 7: 194km from Saint-Malo to Mur de Bretagne Guerledan | Live on TNT Sports and ITV4
- Geraint Thomas in five-man breakaway with slender advantage on peloton
- Stage 6 recap: Ben Healy wins maiden Tour stage with phenomenal solo effort
- How to watch the Tour de France 2025
- Stage 7 route map and profile
General classification after stage seven
15:56 , Flo Clifford1) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 25:58:04
2) Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) +54”
3) Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1’11”
4) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’17”
5) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1’29”
6) Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’34”
7) Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +2’49”
8) Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3’02”
9) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3’06”
10) Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +3’43”
Joao Almeida finishes the stage
15:52 , Flo CliffordThe big change on GC is Joao Almeida dropping from seventh entirely out of the top 10. No word yet on how bad his injuries are, but he has finished the stage.
His jersey is shredded, but he’s standing, and has been able to use both hands on the bike, even with one wrist bloodied and the subject of concern as he chats to a doctor.
Jack Haig, sadly, has not been able to finish the stage, and that’s his Tour over.
Stage seven results
15:49 , Flo Clifford1) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in 4:05:39
2) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), same time
3) Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +2”
4) Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
5) Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)
6) Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)
7) Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), all at same time
8) Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7”
9) Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers) +15”
10) Tobias Halland Johannessen +21”
Van der Poel concedes yellow
15:44 , Flo Clifford“I was quite sure I would lose the jersey today so I tried to enjoy it as much as possible, and I did,” Van der Poel tells Eurosport, not looking too upset. “Coming back to mur de bretagne it was quite special, wearing the yellow jersey after four years.
“The first time [up the major climb] I was almost dropped already and I was thinking, what [was I thinking] the other time when I attacked here! Times change.”
All in for the green jersey? He offers a non-committal answer, the classic, “We will see, but first I’ll try to recover a bit.”
Pogacar is back in green today, as well as yellow, too, so that’s who he’s got to beat.
Pogacar's 19th stage and 101st career win
15:41 , Flo CliffordMark Cavendish must be sweating over his record 35 stage wins. At 26 Pogacar already has 19 Tour de France stages to his name - two already in this Tour, and we’re nowhere near the high mountains.
Tadej's tactics
15:39 , Flo CliffordLarry Warbasse, on TNT Sports comms, makes the point that it’s unusual that after such a difficult climb, it came down to a reduced sprint in Mur-de-Bretagne.
Did Pogacar opt to conserve some energy, rather than attack on the steepest section, and instead back himself in the sprint?
Tadej Pogacar wins elite sprint
15:37 , Flo CliffordReplays of the sprint show that once Pogacar opened things up and Vingegaard closed, the two were once again miles clear of everyone else. Narvaez did a great lead-out for him.
Evenepoel clearly saw he couldn’t compete and dropped off rather than sprinting for third.
Pogacar wins stage seven
15:35 , Flo CliffordAfter UAE controlled things nearly all day, Pogacar put the icing on the cake. You could tell he wanted this stage from the minute he lined up in the all-white skinsuit, his winning gear.
No repeat of 2021 for Mathieu van der Poel, who crosses 1’20” down, and will concede yellow.
Vingegaard took second, Oscar Onley third! The Scot is having a phenomenal Tour so far.
Pogacar wins stage seven!
15:33 , Flo CliffordPogacar attacks! Vingegaard gains as Evenepoel drops back - but it’s Pogacar who wins, and he’ll be back in yellow again!
500m to go
15:33 , Flo CliffordAre we getting a sprint finish? Narvaez is still on the front...
Flamme rouge
15:32 , Flo CliffordNarvaez attacks, Evenepoel closes... Pogacar and Vingegaard are right behind him, then Jorgenson... Vauquelin, Onley, Felix Gall, are there too.
Evenepoel leads them up
15:32 , Flo Clifford1km to go: Vauquelin, Jorgenson, Onley are all in this group coming back onto the front three - and they’re back.
Van der Poel is already 30 seconds back. Evenepoel keeps looking back, having put in a dig, to assess the damage. He’s wary of the Pogacar-Vingegaard threat.
They’re over the most punishing gradients now; down to 7% or so.
Van der Poel dropped as 'big three' take to the front
15:30 , Flo Clifford1.5km to go: Matheiu van der Poel has been caught out and is way at the back of this group.
Tim Wellens swings off after a monster group and now the rainbow jersey, competing in the full white skinsuit, is on the fornt.
Evenepoel and Vingegaard close the gap and the Belgian takes it up on the front.
Van der Poel is already 19 seconds back, Roglic losing time too.
Onto the climb
15:29 , Flo Clifford2.1km to go: 44km/h as they get onto the approach to the climb. Evenepoel, Pogacar, and Vingegaard are all swinging up. Tim Wellens leads Pogacar up to the front.
UAE win the positioning battle as they swing right onto the climb.
Almeida caught out in crash
15:27 , Flo Clifford3.7km to go: Enric Mas, Valentin Madouas, Santiago Buitrago all looked like they were caught up in that crash too, alongside breakaway boy Ewen Costiou.
Jack Haig and Joao Almeida are still down and being attended to.
Huge crash at the back, Almeida down
15:26 , Flo Clifford5km to go: Marc Soler is leading them on the long approach to the climb and the pace has slowed, but it’s very tense.
And there’s a huge crash at the back! Probably just a touch of wheels, riders switching off and paying the price.
Almeida is down! Eddie Dunbar and Jack Haig are down too but back up... Almeida does not look good, I think he’s holding his collarbone, and that’s a total disaster for UAE if he’s out. Ben Healy went down too I believe, but he’s back up and being dragged back on by Alex Baudin.
Approaching the final climb
15:24 , Flo Clifford6.5km to go: The green jersey group, more than eight minutes back, have just taken the bell. Milan has two Lidl-Trek minders with him, as well as Biniam Girmay and what looks like Jordi Meeus among a few others.
Pogacar is a little bit further back in the peloton, may 12th wheel or so, although he’s got a teammate on the front. Wout van Aert is coming up too. Van der Poel, unmistakeable in his garish full yellow suit, is back and looking like he’s cruising.
Costiou caught
15:19 , Flo Clifford12km: The 22-year-old’s day is done.
Oscar Onley’s Picnic-PostNL squad move him up. The peloton is all strung out. Heading back towards the Mur-de-Bretagne climb again.
Wout van Aert attacks
15:17 , Flo Clifford13km to go: Van Aert counters as they take the bell for the final lap of 15km.
Costiou is still digging deep, and this has been a great showing by the home team of Arkea. He’s still got 16 seconds or thereabouts.
Van Aert has been reeled in but is riding on the front, Tim Wellens overhauling his fellow Belgian to keep Pogacar protected.
Van der Poel, Mas dropped
15:14 , Flo Clifford15km to go: Van der Poel has been caught out by a split in the bunch, Enric Mas too, who lost significant time on the time trial and has really had his GC hopes dented.
Local boy Ewen Costiou, who must have ridden this climb a million times, will be first over the top, 20 seconds ahead of the Visma-led bunch. What a day for the youngster on his home roads.
Van der Poel is drifting back on, riding at his own pace, so don’t write him off yet.
Oscar Onley is up in this front group too. What can the young Scot do today?
Breakaway reeled in
15:11 , Flo Clifford16km to go: So they swing off that opening climb and are immediately onto the Mur-de-Bretagne itself: a cat-three, 2km long at 6.9%. A lovely day out for the puncheurs, less so for the green jersey group, now 4’55” back.
Costiou is the lone survivor hanging on, with the peloton marching on, now 38” behind him and closing in on their prey.
Simon Yates takes it up for Vingegaard, with Pogacar moving up the bunch. Yates is going up at a fearsome pace. Lipowitz is moving up too, with Almeida and a host of UAE teammates there too.
Thomas has been caught.
Cortina takes KOM points
15:09 , Flo Clifford17km to go: Cortina attacks and Baudin and Costiou respond, with Thomas distanced as they go up the climb. Cortina digs again but Costiou counters for the KOM points.
Back in the bunch Nils Politt, job done for the day, gives the camera a cheery smile and wave.
The Visma-led peloton are now within 50 seconds of the break, with Quinn Simmons moving up for Lidl-Trek despite being in the breakaway all day yesterday.
Visma hit the front on first climb
15:07 , Flo Clifford19km to go: So we’re on the Cote du Village de Mur-de-Bretagne, the day’s first climb and the only one that isn’t repeated on the next circuit. It’s a category four, short but sharp, 1.6km at 4.1%.
Edoardo Affini comes to the front for Visma-Lease a Bike, with Jonas Vingegaard looking impassive in among a phalanx of teammates. UAE will no doubt respond.
5km from Mur-de-Bretagne
15:02 , Flo Clifford23km to go: We’re 5km from the first climb up the Mur-de-Bretagne village climb (not called the Mur-de-Bretagne itself, in fact).
The peloton are 1’05” behind our leading quartet as it stands. They’ve knocked the pace off a little, but expect it to be back to infernal on the climb.
Evenepoel returns
14:54 , Flo Clifford30km to go: Rob Hatch on TNT Sports comms confirms that Evenepoel has instead just gone for a loo break, and he’s been shepherded back on now by teammate Pascal Eenkhorn.
A large number of riders, including the green jersey Jonathan Milan, have decided to save their legs and drop back, and are now 2’35” down on the breakaway. Milan picked up 10 points at the intermediate sprint at Pledran, adding to his lead, with Biniam Girmay next-best of the sprinters with nine.
Evenepoel distanced
14:49 , Flo Clifford35km to go: “Amazing, Nils, amazing,” the team car tells the industrious German over the radio as he keeps the gap hovering at around a minute. And it’s just dipped below it, now around 58 seconds.
Remco Evenepoel has been dislodged and is in a group some 20 seconds off the back of the peloton, and their progress back on is not going to be helped by Politt going full gas. Possibly a mechanical issue there? It seems unlikely that the Belgian is struggling.
Marco Haller drops back
14:42 , Flo Clifford40km to go: “I like to back the break, definitely. I feel they are committed, they want to make this happen, but the writing is on the wall,” Jens Voigt says on the TNT Sports/Eurosport motorbike. Van der Poel and Pogacar are on the march, is what that means. 1 minute of a gap now.
“Geraint Thomas looks good, effective on the bike, keeping his body as ready as possible,” Voigt says when asked who of the break looks in the best shape. “Baudin looks really promising, I have to admit.”
It’s certainly not Haller, who decides he’s had enough and drops off.
Breakaway splitting
14:35 , Flo Clifford46km to go: Nils Politt, with his German-striped sleeves as a former German national champion, is back on the front. He put in a phenomenal shift on the flat yesterday (pretty much every day, to be honest) and is back winding things up for UAE.
The breakaway have 1’04” but they’re beginning to fall apart now. Geraint Thomas wants to press on and Ewen Costiou follows, but Ivan Garcia Cortina can’t hold the wheel and slips back, leading Alex Baudin to look distinctly unimpressed.
Bernard Hinault is in the race director’s car! ‘The Badger’ says today is a “dream day”. Of course, the race traverses some of his old haunts today, including his home town of Yffiniac.
Breakaway's lead slowly fading
14:26 , Lawrence Ostlere52km to go: The breakaway’s lead is sadly eroding away, now down to barely a minute.
This, you suspect, was one of two or three days which Geraint Thomas would have identified as an opportunity to escape up the road and then outgun his fellow breakawayers, but there just doesn’t seem to be the firepower in the group to make a serious gap, and there is clearly enough motivation for the stage win in the peloton to keep the breakaway on a tight leash.
Tour de France 2025 – stage 7
14:15 , Lawrence OstlereA nice day to watch the Tour de France in Brittany:
🏖️🤩#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/1V9YvcL7TD
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 11, 2025
Thomas-led breakaway still 1min 30sec clear
14:08 , Lawrence Ostlere65km to go: Our five-man break is 1min 30sec ahead of the peloton. Geraint Thomas is the standout name and he has done most of the work on the front, followed by Baudin and Costiou.
A reminder of the quintet:
Alex Baudin (EF Education-Easypost), Geraint Thomas (Ineos-Grenadiers), Marco Haller (Tudor), Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar).
Vingegaard: 'It's going to be another hard day'
14:02 , Lawrence OstlereJonas Vingegaard, speaking to Discovery+ before the stage, on his memories of the Mur-de-Bretagne in 2021, which Mathieu van der Poel won so impressively: “I remember Van der Poel going the first time for the bonus seconds, and then the second time, dropping everyone again. So he did an impressive ride back then, and it was a hard stage. So I I expect today to be hard as well.”
Mattia Cattaneo withdraws from Tour de France
13:51 , Lawrence OstlereConfirmation that Mattia Cattaneo, a key teammate of Tour de France contender Remco Evenepoel, has withdrawn from the race.
The versatile Cattaneo, who rides for Evenepoel's Soudal Quick-Step, was seen struggling at the back of the peloton during Friday’s stage 7 between Saint-Malo and Mur-de-Bretagne. The Italian rider retired after about 70 km, race organizers said.
Evenepoel, who finished third in last year’s Tour, was third overall before Friday's 197km stage, lagging 43 seconds behind race leader Mathieu van der Poel.
Alpecin hit the front
13:37 , Flo Clifford90km to go: It’s another hot day out there.
Alpecin are on the front now and the gap is shredding again, back down to around 1’15”. You’d expect Van der Poel to fancy another stage win today, if his team are setting such a ferocious pace.
Breakaway with 1'40"
13:26 , Flo Clifford98km to go: Thomas is the best placed on general classification among this breakaway, at 14 minutes down, but not much of a real threat to the likes of Pogacar.
He’s the only one of this break with a Tour stage win to his name - three, in fact: one on the opening day in 2017, and back-to-back mountain victories in 2018, the year he took his spectacular overall victory.
He’s also the elder statesman of this group (and the peloton) by some way: 39, with Haller second-oldest at 34. Ewen Costiou is the fresh-faced youngster at 22.
Alpecin have moved to the front of the peloton and the advantage has slipped slightly to 1’30”, before going back out to 1’40” or thereabouts. Still not a huge gap.
Can Thomas win today?
13:17 , Flo Clifford106km to go: Wouldn’t it be dreamy if Geraint Thomas could win today? The five-man break have 1’45” on the peloton and he’s one of the strongest in it, along with Haller and Baudin.
EF targeting back to back stage wins
13:03 , Flo Clifford115km to go: TNT Sports have interviewed an EF sports director at the start line, and he says the dream for the team today is for either Alex Baudin or Neilson Powless to win from the break. Well, Baudin has got himself up the road, so they’re halfway there.
The crowds are out in force holding signs cheering on Alexis Renard, the Cofidis rider who is from Saint-Brieuc in Brittany.
Gap out to 1'30"
12:53 , Flo Clifford123km to go: Decathlon have not had their way. This gap has gone out to a minute and a half.
Here’s our breakaway:
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Ewen Costiou (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
- Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar)
- Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling)
Decathlon pile on the pace
12:43 , Flo Clifford131km to go: The gap swung out to over a minute but Decathlon aren’t happy that they’ve missed it and Bruno Armirail has been ordered onto the front to chase it back.
It dipped under a minute, but as the riders stop for loo breaks, it looks like it has in fact gone. 1’06” is the gap at the moment.
Five-man breakaway forms
12:32 , Flo Clifford139km to go: Have we got a break? Alex Baudin, Geraint Thomas, Marco Haller, and Ivan Garcia Cortina, and Breton Ewen Costiou have a 15 second gap that’s rapidly ballooning out to half a minute, then 45 seconds. It’s a smaller group than you might have expected considering the amount of effort so many teams put in to getting up the road.
Van der Poel attacks!
12:23 , Flo Clifford146km to go: No move has been able to stick yet but Mathieu van der Poel, all decked out in day-glo yellow, is in about 15th wheel... and he follows a move now.
Wout van Aert is on the front of this move, but Tim Wellens is straight on van der Poel’s wheel, so this one may well get snuffed out too.
Relentless pace continues
12:17 , Flo Clifford152km to go: Valentin Madouas is up the road now with a handful of seconds... he’s been active so far. A few more riders are trying to come across but the peloton is straight on it.
The helicopter pans over a delightful piece of countryside art, an enormous bike made of moving wheels, courtesy of several tractors slowly moving in circles. Pics when we get them.
Now Geraint Thomas is going! Madouas is caught and the next move goes.
Crosswinds to wreak havoc?
12:10 , Flo Clifford160km to go: According to TNT Sports comms, there’s a tailwind for most of today’s action - particularly at this very hectic start - with a cross-headwind over the top of the decisive Mur-de-Bretagne climb, and the potential for crosswinds in the middle of the stage. Think it’s safe to say Visma will pile the pace on there in a bid to force Pogacar out of position. Evenepoel and Roglic, whose positioning hasn’t been great so far this race, will need to watch out.
More attacks
12:01166km to go: That group has been brought back, and now Alex Baudin has a dig for EF Education-EasyPost. The squad has clearly been inspired by Ben Healy’s brilliant win yesterday - half of them have been trying to get up the road. Unsuccessfully so far.
Baudin keeps trying, but they’re all back together now.
Further attacks
11:54 , Flo Clifford170km to go: Schmidt and Van Aert have been brought back and Victor Campenaerts sits on the front, hunched over his bike in a bid to get away. UAE moved onto the front a minute ago - the unmistakeable figure of Tim Wellens in the polka dot jersey - and it’s clear they want to control things today.
Now Alaphilippe has a dig! He took the yellow jersey on stage one of the 2021 Tour on similar Breton terrain, in Landerneau. Geraint Thomas, Andreas Leknessund, and a couple of others also have a go. Matej Mohoric is following. Pavel Sivakov - 28 today - is keeping an eye on things.
Now Neilson Powless has a couple of seconds on the bunch.
Scenery check
11:52 , Flo CliffordUtterly beautiful. We’re in Brittany today, heading south before turning west, heading back along the coast before going inland to Mur-de-Bretagne.
Geraint Thomas: 'It's easy to underestimate'
11:46 , Flo CliffordTNT Sports have a chat with Geraint Thomas at the start line. Asked about the Mur-de-Bretagne climb, he says, “It’s just tough, it’s only 2k but it’s steep and dead straight. Always a good atmosphere on there, always rammed with people.
“It’s just easy to underestimate, [you] think it’s only 2k, but it’s a tough little climb and it keeps going, you have that steep bit and it keeps dragging all the way to the line. Especially these days with the punch of the guys, it’s going to be a tough one.”
Thomas hasn’t looked his freshest over this opening week so far, and says, “I was just not very good yesterday, been a bit up and down which is a bit frustrating, but we go again.” It would be brilliant to see the Welshman end his Tour career with another stage win, but today is unlikely to be that day.
Axel Laurance is Ineos Grenadiers’ protected rider for the day, Thomas says; he’s got a great chance on a punchy finish like this one.
Van Aert and Schmidt with slender advantage
11:38 , Flo Clifford188km to go: Bryan Coquard appears to have picked up an injury of some sort, bandaging himself up travelling at speed as he aims to get back onto the bunch. That’s very impressive to watch. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Up front, Van Aert and Schmidt have 13 seconds on the peloton, travelling at 51km/h along this flat, exposed road. That feels doomed, to be honest.
Flag drop!
11:32 , Flo Clifford194km to go: And we’re off in Saint-Malo! Visma are trying to get in the break, no doubt playing mind games with Tadej Pogacar, and at the moment Wout van Aert is off the front.
There’s a big group trying to get away, including Swiss champ Mauro Schmidt, but it looks like everything is coming back together.
Scrutiny on Visma-Lease a Bike tactics
11:24 , Flo CliffordTadej Pogacar was visibly annoyed at Visma’s tactics yesterday, riding hard to force him to stay in yellow, and force him into all the attendant duties that wear a rider out during a lengthy bike race.
Robbie McEwen makes the point on TNT Sports that, “They’re poking the bear... I’d be very, very careful at annoying Tadej Pogacar.” Wise words.
The Slovene is back in the rainbow stripes today, and he loves winning in rainbow...
Neutralised start
11:17 , Flo CliffordThe riders have rolled out in beautiful Saint-Malo for the neutralised start, 7.4km before the racing proper begins. It’s another day of blinding sunshine and clear skies.
Jersey standings for stage seven
11:10 , Flo CliffordMathieu van der Poel will be back in bright yellow today, although by the narrowest margin in some time: just one second.
Pogacar will likely be in the KOM jersey again after his brief spell earlier in the race, having handed over yellow.
Jonathan Milan leads the points jersey standings and Remco Evenepoel is the best young rider in white.
Tadej Pogacar reacts to stage six
11:03 , Flo CliffordPogacar continued, “Nils [Politt] did an incredible job, then Marc [Soler] and the rest of the team. Visma on the last two kickers were just riding all out.
“Maybe they had info that Van der Poel was suffering in the front, losing time, and maybe they wanted to give me yellow, but I think Mathieu has it for one second so chapeau to him. It was a super ride from him today.”
Tadej Pogacar reacts to stage six
10:56 , Flo CliffordStage six was intriguing for how the GC battle played out, too. It looked like UAE were happy to let Van der Poel take back yellow, as the Dutchman will hardly be a threat come the mountains, but Visma really pushed in the closing stages to keep Pogacar in the lead.
Attacks by Vingegaard and Jorgenson were closed down by the yellow jersey himself, who countered and beat both to the line.
“Visma went hard so we just followed,” Pogacar said afterwards. “The first two hours were super hard, incredibly fast and then we were deciding if we go for the stage or not, and we decided not to spend the bullets so we rode our pace.”
Prediction for stage seven
10:49 , Flo CliffordMathieu van der Poel has won on this exact finishing circuit previously, and his victory on stage two indicated he’s back in form after suffering a broken wrist during his mountain-biking campaign earlier this year.
He was in yesterday’s breakaway and did look to suffer, though, failing to match Ben Healy’s winning move and ultimately finishing nearly four minutes down, so might not have enough left in the tank - but the Dutchman is one of the peloton’s biggest engines and on paper is the one to beat today.
Anywhere there’s Van der Poel there’s Tadej Pogacar too, his erstwhile Classics rival, so we could see a repeat of stage four’s uphill sprint finish. And anywhere there’s Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard will be not too far behind, so what in theory is a great day out for the puncheurs or an enterprising breakaway might be derailed into a GC day.
Mathieu van der Poel back in yellow
10:42 , Flo CliffordThe yellow jersey has already chopped and changed multiple times in the opening week of the Tour de France, with Mathieu van der Poel wrestling it back off defending champion Tadej Pogacar by just one second on a thrilling stage six.
Pogacar seized the yellow jersey for the first time at the 2025 Tour de France as Remco Evenepoel obliterated the opposition to take time trial victory on stage five, but Van der Poel was back in yellow by the end of the next day as he escaped up the road in the day’s breakaway.
Breakaway artiste extraordinaire Ben Healy took the stage honours for the biggest win in his career to date, but Van der Poel clung on enough - despite an onslaught by the GC riders up the day’s final climb - to take back the race lead by just one second.
The Dutchman will wear yellow on the Mur de Bretagne, which returns to the Tour route after four years’ absence on stage seven. Van der Poel won on the Mur de Bretagne the last time it featured, taking the race lead in the process; will he double up on victories on the famous climb, this time already wearing the leader’s jersey?
General classification after stage six
10:35 , Flo Clifford1) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in 21:52:34
2) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1”
3) Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) +43”
4) Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +1’00”
5) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’14”
6) Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’23”
7) Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1’59”
8) Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +2’01”
9) Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2’32”
10) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +2’36”
Ben Healy on 'unbelievable' win
10:28 , Flo CliffordHere’s what stage six winner Ben Healy had to say yesterday: “It’s just unbelievable, it’s really what I’ve worked all for, not just this year, just the whole time, it’s really incredible. Hours and hours of work from so many people. To pay them back today, really, really amazing.”
He previously won a stage of the Giro d’Italia and is asked what confidence that gave him: “Last year was a real eye-opener and really made me believe I could do it, just knuckled down and did the hard work, tried to refine my racing style as well, lots of race footage watched, and it really paid off today.
“I just switched on from the start, maybe spent a bit too much trying to get into the break but that’s just the way I do it! It was on the pedals all day. I knew I needed to get away from the group, picked my moment, I think I timed it well and hopefully caught them by surprise a little bit, then just head down and do my best ride to the finish.
“It suited me down to the ground, this was a stage I circled in the book from the start.”
Stage six results
10:21 , Flo Clifford1) Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in 4:24:10
2) Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) +2’44”
3) Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) +2’51”
4) Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) +3’21”
5) Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +3’24”
6) Will Barta (Movistar) +3’29”
7) Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) +3’52”
8) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +3’58”
9) Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +5’27”
10) Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +5’27”
Start time for stage 7
10:15 , Flo CliffordAnother earlier start today: 12.10pm local time, 11.10am BST, with an earlier finish, so don’t get caught out: around 4.40pm local time (3.40pm BST).
Stage seven
10:09 , Flo CliffordThe 2025 Tour de France heads into Brittany to pay a visit to the scene of a memorable win from four years ago, as the Mur de Bretagne returns to La Grande Boucle.
Starting in stunning Saint-Malo, the peloton will travel 194km inland along yet more bumpy terrain - the hallmark of this opening week - to finish in Guerledan.
Bernard Hinault’s home of Yffiniac features on the parcours too as the riders travel south and west towards the infamous Mur de Bretagne climb, and a finishing circuit that was the backdrop to a memorable Mathieu van der Poel victory in 2021.
The Dutchman attacked the first time the riders went up the ‘wall’, before doing so again to take the stage win and yellow on the second ascent. Two ascents are once more on the menu today, the first 20km from the line, the second forming another uphill finish.
There’s also a cat-four climb, the Cote du village de Mur-de-Bretagne, a 1.6km hors-d’oeuvre at an average of 4.1%, just before the first climb of the wall proper: 2km at an average of 6.9%, a real climb for the puncheurs - and, very possibly, Tadej Pogacar, hunting another stage win.
How to watch the Tour de France 2025
10:06 , Flo CliffordThe 2025 Tour de France will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, in what is the last year of free-to-air coverage of the race before it is exclusively shown on TNT Sports and Discovery+.
Viewers can also stream the race online via ITVX app and website, and subscribers can watch the action on the TNT Sports and Discovery+ apps.
Each stage will packaged into hourly highlights shows on ITV4, typically starting at around 7pm BST. The highlights can be streamed on ITVX with the website and app.
Stage 7 route map and profile
10:03 , Flo Clifford
Good morning
10:00 , Flo CliffordHello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of stage 7 of the Tour de France!
Can Mathieu van der Poel recreate his stunning win on this same stage in 2021? Let’s find out!
