Tour de France: Arensman pips prime weapons Pogacar and Vingegaard on stage 19 | Tour de France 2025
Thymen Arensman gained a shortened nineteenth stage of the Tour de France, from Albertville to La Plagne, after attacking alone on the ultimate climb. The race chief, Tadej Pogacar, untroubled by any significant assaults, maintained his total lead from Jonas Vingegaard.
The victorious Ineos Grenadiers rider, whose workforce have been fielding questions over a employees member concerned in an anti-doping investigation associated to their superb days as Crew Sky, was taking his second victory within the race.
But it surely was a disappointing stage for Scotland’s Oscar Onley, who after surviving nearly all the things that the Tour might throw at him, fell away from the rostrum positions within the closing moments, after third-placed Florian Lipowitz attacked to maneuver clear with Pogacar and second-placed Vingegaard.
With solely 22sec between them, Onley and Lipowitz had been inseparable for a lot of the stage, however, when Pogacar launched his first assault with seven kilometres to go, Lipowitz struggled to observe. Nonetheless the German subsequently turned the tables on Onley, taking one other 40sec on the younger Scot on the line to additional safe a possible third-place end in his debut Tour.
Forward of them, Arensman, winner within the Pyrenean stage to Superbagnères hoped to copy that success with one other summit end stage win, however as he entered the ultimate two kilometres his lead started tumbling.
But the grimacing Dutch rider held on to win by solely two seconds as Vingegaard, who had stated he would threat all to win the race, lastly attacked Pogacar within the final kilometre to complete simply forward of him.
“I’m completely destroyed,” a drained Arensman stated after the stage. “Already to win one stage within the Tour, unbelievable. However now, to win from the overall classification group, in opposition to the strongest riders on this planet, seems like I’m dreaming.”
Arensman stated that his lack of curiosity within the total standings had fed into his resolution to assault. “I began the climb with the lead group and I used to be: ‘I’ve no GC [interest], perhaps I ought to simply attempt, perhaps they’ll take a look at one another.’”
Of his collection of accelerations, he stated: “I didn’t take no for a solution … It was Tadej and Jonas. Everyone is aware of they’re the strongest on this planet, they’re nearly aliens. I simply can’t imagine I beat them right this moment.”
The stage, initially scheduled to be 130km over 4 climbs was truncated in size by nearly 40km, after a cull of contaminated cows led to the removing of two climbs, the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine and the Col des Saisies.
Lipowitz’s Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe workforce had clearly meant to check Onley’s resolve and when Primoz Roglic attacked on the descent of the Cormet de Roselend, the tactic remoted the 22-year-old Onley even additional.
As chilly rain fell on the valley highway to La Plagne and UAE Crew Emirates XRG gave chase, Roglic’s benefit ebbed away, till he was caught and summarily dispatched on the foot of the ultimate climb.
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On the lengthy climb, the quartet of Pogacar, Vingegaard, Onley and Lipowitz rode a gentle tempo, however no significant assaults got here till the ultimate kilometre, permitting Arensman to reach his lone mission.
“I used to be counting down the kilometres to the top,” Pogacar stated. “If anyone attacked I might nonetheless speed up, which is why I went at a sure tempo. However congrats to Arensman. He was tremendous good.”
Nonetheless, Pogacar, who appears extra world-weary by the day, admitted that he was “clearly drained”. “It’s not been a simple Tour, folks attacking me from day one to the top, so it’s about staying centered.”
The convoy now begins the journey to Paris, the good distance spherical, with a stage from Nantua, by means of the Jura, to Pontarlier, within the Doubs. Something is, after all, nonetheless doable, significantly on Sunday’s remaining stage by means of Paris, which replicates the Paris 2024 highway race and contains three laps of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre.
Requested if that stage may current one other alternative to win, the race chief sounded dismissive. “I hope I simply come to Paris with the yellow jersey,” Pogacar stated. “I don’t really feel like super-energised proper now to consider racing on Sunday. It’s a very hectic parcours and Sunday is Sunday.”