Tour de France
Déjà vu on the Ventoux: Pogačar vs. Vingegaard
It was the expected duel at the Tour de France. As in previous years, eternal rivals Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard eyed each other up for three weeks. The 26-year-old Slovenian had everything under control in his fourth triumph and always had the almost two years older Dane, who had defeated him in the Grande Boucle in 2022 and 2023, under control. In the Pyrenees, "Pogi" outclassed his rivals and then only managed the results, as here at the finish on Mont Ventoux, when he took more seconds off his fiercely fighting rivals with relative ease. In Paris, the winner had a lead of 4:24 minutes over the first chaser. Will the circle of contenders for victory in 2026 be larger and the race more exciting?
City festival: final stage through Montmartre
The atmosphere at the 2024 Olympic Games road race had whetted the appetite for more. For the first time, the final stage of this year's Tour de France also led through the artists' quarter of Montmartre up to the Sacré-Cœur basilica. Although the most important cycling race still ended on the Champs-Élysées boulevard, the sprinters were left behind early this time. Belgian rider Wout van Aert celebrated the day's victory as a soloist after leaving Tadej Pogačar behind him on the rain-soaked cobblestones of Montmartre.
Strong performance from Tim Merlier
Tim Merlier had an important announcement to make at the end of stage 9. The 32-year-old Belgian from Soudal-Quickstep announced over the team radio that he had once again won the bunch sprint in Chateauroux at the end of stage 9, as he had previously done on the third stage ahead of the Italian Jonathan Milan.
Giro d'Italia
A rocky road to success
For almost three weeks, Simon Yates rode at the front of the Giro d'Italia in a reasonably inconspicuous manner. He seemed to be calmly watching the disagreements at Team UAE, where Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso were clearly not in agreement about who should be the boss. On the final climb over the gravel road to the Colle delle Finestre, the 32-year-old Brit pulled away from all his rivals and rode to the finish in Sestriere 5:13 minutes ahead of his remaining rivals del Toro and Richard Carapaz. The two had been ahead in the overall standings at the start in the morning, but became entangled in a time-consuming duel behind Yates.
Happy ending for Simon Yates
Simon Yates was beaming as he lifted the "Trofeo senza fine", the trophy for overall victory in the Giro d'Italia, into the blue sky above Rome. It was a special satisfaction. Back in 2018, he looked like the winner of the Tour of Italy before his compatriot Chris Froome snatched the pink jersey and the trophy from him with a solo ride that became legendary. Back then, Yates collapsed horribly on the mountain stage over the Colle delle Finestre and finished almost 39 minutes behind. This time, the same mountain was the key stage for his revenge.
Vuelta a España
Lonely summit assault
On the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain, the small group of favourites around Jonas Vingegaard climbed up the Alto de El Morredero through a deserted wasteland - which the organisers and riders must have been happy about for once in view of the massive disruptions caused by demonstrations about the Gaza conflict. The 21-year-old Italian Giulio Pellizzari from the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe team took advantage of the hardly observed appearance of the professional cyclists, at least from the sidelines, to take his most important victory as a pro to date. Strong winds made cycling and spectating at the summit particularly uncomfortable.
Red jersey for Vingegaard
It was a kind of ersatz satisfaction: Jonas Vingegaard won the Vuelta a España in late summer. The Dane was rewarded with the red jersey of the overall best - instead of yellow in France. At the Tour de France, he had no chance against Tadej Pogačar, whose absence in Spain he used for a successful performance. Two years ago, he had to more or less voluntarily leave the overall victory there to his important helper Sepp Kuss in accordance with team orders.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
