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I missed virtually all the live racing what with being in the office but the highlights were excellent, what a great stage!
My only claim to fame is being born in Wordesley Stourbridge the same as Ben Healy. I've ridden around Halesowen's outdoor track too. There the similarity ends because it was probably before Ben was born!
Did he have Irish relatives as all the news is "Irish cyclist" earns yellow jersey
His dad is youngest of three brothers, two were born in Ireland. Ben’s dad was born in London but Ben has been racing for Ireland since his teens according to Wiki.
really enjoying the fact that Ben and Oscar onley are giving me a reason to enjoy the tour given that Pog is gonna stroll away with it.
A great summary of the race so far here:
FWIW I agree with Cosmo Catalano that Visma just need to throw the kitchen sink at Pogačar because trying to beat him a pedale simply won't work. I for one am happy to see them try stuff even if it doesn't work out for them, as the alternative is watching Vignegaard wheelsuck his way round France.
Rog is shockingly quiet so far this Tour, crazy to think it was almost five years ago when he had a TT shocker and Pog got his first win.
Forgot he had four crashes in this years Giro before abandoning.
Visma just need to throw the kitchen sink at Pogačar
They do, but they need to do it at the right time, that time hasn't come yet
Yesterdays stage was flippin' brilliant. My favourite rider of all time 'G' spent a bit of time in the first break, then S. Yates wins the stage and best of all Ben rides like a madman earning white jersey, combativity award and is in yellow.
Also Oscar riding with the big guns and looking very strong.
Also Oscar riding with the big guns and looking very strong.
There was an interview with him early on in the Tour where he said something about having to pinch himself to believe it - if someone had told him a year ago that he'd be riding alongside Vingegaard and Pogacar, he'd just have laughed it off. Really humble and down to earth.
He's doing a phenomenal ride.
He raced Tour of Britain last year (finished 2nd overall) and he got such a lovely reception in his home town of Kelso when the race started and finished there. His old club, Kelso Wheelers, were out in force for him.
really enjoying the fact that Ben and Oscar onley are giving me a reason to enjoy the tour given that Pog is gonna stroll away with it.
I've argued previously when people complain about "domination" that there is much more going on in a bike race than who the eventual winner will be. So far this edition is shaping up brilliantly with a well designed week one parcours. I'm interested to see how those behind the obvious first two will go in the big mountains. I think third spot on the podium is wide open.
I've argued previously when people complain about "domination" that there is much more going on in a bike race than who the eventual winner will be.
There is but it's also far from certain that this is over. I also don't want to see a Pogacar Parade but so far Vingegaard has matched him everywhere except that one TT. The fact that TP is willing to give up the jersey is another indication that he's done with all the media requirements that go with it and would rather have the recovery time. This is not a walk in the park for him or his team; they were isolated and on the defensive yesterday. So far TP has been able to go with everything that VLAB have done but equally, it's been relatively steady terrain for the most part. One bad day in the mountains, one bit of illness or injury in the team and there could easily be another Col du Granon moment.
It's also not solely between those two. Roglic and Evenepoel are still very definite threats, Jorgenson is a second card that VLAB can play and Oscar Onley is having a brilliant ride although he's relying on being able to go with the top guys himself because his team doesn't have the firepower to ride on the front and control things.
Roglic and Evenepoel are still very definite threats
i'd rate Lipowitz above Roglic on this season's performances
The fact that TP is willing to give up the jersey is another indication that he's done with all the media requirements that go with it and would rather have the recovery time. This is not a walk in the park for him or his team; they were isolated and on the defensive yesterday
hmmmm, an alternative interpretation might be that he feels that he can win this with a degree of ease and that there's only JV to keep an eye on. Of course, not having the yellow also means his team has no "obligation to honour" the jersey and chase breaks etc - he can let visma do that since JV would be even further behind any breakaway on-the-road yellow jersey (changes if that person is a visma rider, of course)
Although today is a rest day, there's still a highlights show which, in standard ITV4 style, is full of the usual dry humour and some looks back at previous Tours, older coverage and some of the history.
If you're not watching live on ITV4, it'll be on ITVX soon, well worth a watch.
Going to properly miss the ITV coverage, it's such a good team.
Any bets on how long healy can stay in yellow?
I'm going for being there through Thursday (hautacam) but just looses out on Friday (the uphill TT)
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday? I don't think so personally. Sure he was without teammates, but only near the end, and even if he cracked the final climb was not long enough to do much damage. However, if there is a way to do it, it's what they did, and there are a lot of longer climbs to come.
Any bets on how long healy can stay in yellow?
Tomorrow should be a sprintfest around Toulouse, nothing to change on GC unless there are significant splits or crashes. Biniam Girmay is missing out on a stage win so far, it's all been the Milan / Merlier show in sprints.
Hautacam - will anyone go for broke there or wait until the mountain TT and the massive mountain stage into Superbagneres?
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday?
I don't think they've got him on the back foot, but I do think they're getting on his nerves a bit. I think they're trying a similar approach to a few years ago of first dismanlting his team, then picking him apart. I think both Pog and his team are stronger than in those years though so if it does work it will take longer. From a punters perspective I think as long as they can expose some vulnerability in Pog it hsould make the race better.
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday?
UAE were on the back foot. But not Pog. All Visma did was set him up to attack Vingagoagoago again. They did at least seem to have the blueprint, but it needs to be done in the big mountains. Isolate him and send Jorgenson up the road, why Kuss was attacking earlier was a mystery he doesn't need chasing by Pog.
If Roglic finds some form it would help Visma. Jorgenson, Rog, Lipowitc and then Vini all attacking would get the job done if Pog can be isolated.
Tomorrow should be a sprintfest around Toulouse,
I was wrong, I've just looked at the stage profile and at Inrng.
https://inrng.com/2025/07/tour-de-france-stage-11toulouse-preview/#more-46291
Not a sprint stage!
Another overview here from CyclingStage.com
There are five categorised climbs on an otherwise flat-to-rolling route that takes the riders from Toulouse back to Toulouse. Could an 800-metre ramp at 12.4% inside the final 9 kilometres ruin the sprinters’ dreams?
Let’s get straight to the point: no.
The Contenders:
https://www.cyclingstage.com/tour-de-france-2025-favourites/stage-11-contenders-tdf-2025/
and teh Stage:
https://www.cyclingstage.com/tour-de-france-2025-route/stage-11-tdf-2025/
One eye on the rest of the week, sprint for sure
Fingers crossed for a spicy last 50km. Route has a feel of a mini Milan-San Remo to me with those climbs toward the end.
Route has a feel of a mini Milan-San Remo to me with those climbs toward the end.
TP and JV to watch each other while the other big rivalry - MvdP and WvA - go out and smash it to bits for the stage win.
I'd love to see Fred in the break, he has a change on a parcours like this
Fred is indeed in the break!
I'm only "watching" on the text feed but the speed of today's stage has been insane, 50kph!
I think this may well end up as a win for the breakaway.
I think this may well end up as a win for the breakaway.
well, for one of them - there's a chasing group gaining ground very slowly and since it contains Van Aert, Van Der Poel and De Lie, they would be a reall challenge.
The first 100km were utter madness, at one point Healy attacked with Jonas and caught Tadej out!
That stage was SPICY.
Thursday's first big mountain day finishing on Hautacam HC climb forecast to be hot...
Pog, ready, steady, cook!
If he’s not damaged by that crash (chopper uno-x), Pog will win today to crush Visma hopes and show his form. If he’s sore and needs recovery, he’ll mark JV all the way up the final climb. I think he’s been sandbagging so far with the occasional acceleration to just test JV.
My tiny brain has only just recovered from yesterday's insane stage.
There was such a lot going on, many timings on the screen, lots of different breakaway groups, so exciting. Really pleased for the breakaway rider J. Abrahamsen, especially after his accident a few weeks ago.
The Itv4 coverage this year has been superb, even better since Alex Dowsett joined, what a crying shame that this free to watch channel will be no more.
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed. Surely rule one of racing is stay on the bike. I understand if it’s a mechanical outside the riders control. I doubt he would have lost any time but would have had to burn a few matches to catch up which adds up over the race.
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed.
It's a bit of a grey area but the general rule / gentlemen's agreement is that you should beat your opponent in a fair fight, not when one of them is on the floor.
There are nuances around it - no-one would have sat up and waited for Geraint Thomas for example.
There are also shades of grey around who is deemed at fault. It caused a bit of upset last year when Remco (obviously) crashed on a corner but lost no time due to the 3km rule. However his crash was entirely his own fault, no other rider involved so the rule got rewritten to avoid that "line rider decking it by riding like an idiot" clause.
However if another rider (or a spectator) takes you down, that's clearly not your fault so you shouldn't be penalised for it.
I know that the word "shouldn't" is doing a fair bit of heavy lifting there. It's not clear cut at all.
Anyway, it's another insanely fast day (helped by a tailwind) and with a massive breakaway of 50-odd riders.
Flattish run in to 3 big climbs.
Wow, Remco has been dropped already on the Col de Soulor, and the break still has 7km to go. THe first Cat 1 climb of the race, and there's still a Cat 2 and an HC to go today
Arse!
This race is in BITS. At one point the pace set by VLAB was so high that Jorgenson and Yates got dropped. They've eased up to allow them to rejoin and conserve them for the next two hills.
Healy dropped also by about 10 seconds fro the GC group. Lenny Martinez going backwards through the groups
and all this on the first major climb of the first day in the mountains!
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed.
In general, in Grand Tours the strongest rider wins, not the luckiest. Riders are pretty good at assessing what is bad luck and what is not. Nobody would want to win because someone had an unlucky (as opposed to physically bad) day. If he'd crashed on a time trial, too bad. But in this case he was chopped by a Uno-X rider who crossed his path too early to get on the break. It was also only a km from the safety zone which recognises that crashes are more common near the end of a race due to tiredness and positioning.
Pog is currently looking like he's on a training ride in VLAB's wheels.
Remco may be about to get back on
... then there's only Hautacam to survive
Well done Remco the mental side of getting dropped but staying on it is so hard! Let's hope he has paced it well
Oh, **** me - if that move sticks,...
Pog will have finished his recovery drink by the time Ving crosses the line. 5-8 secs/km will be the gain. Lots of stem inspection from Ving is never a good sign.
Lennie (edit: Lippo) and Oscar is the saving grace so far
Demolished!
Short of pog falling off or forgetting his tt bike that’s the gc race over
20 seconds per km!
I think he won't need his TT bike as it's a mountain TT. Maybe he could ride a Boris Bike to give the others a chance.
Pog didn't even look like he was trying, l find it so boring now at least it was free to watch this year.