tour de france stage 5 sprint points

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Tour de France 2023 stage 5: Result and winner from stage 5 today

After two hilly routes in Spanish Basque Country and Jasper Philipsen’s two sprint wins in the French Basque Country, the serious yellow jersey contenders should come to the fore over the next two days, and we might find out a little more about the destiny of this year’s Tour de France crown.

Stage five’s 163km route from Pau to Laruns is flat for the first 70km, but then comes the first hors categorie climb of this year’s race, the Col du Soudet (15.2km at 7.2%). It is a long and gruelling drag to the top, and we can expect plenty in the peloton to get dropped here as the leaders crank up the pace.

It could well present the first head-to-head between the two favourites - two-time winner Tadej Pogacar and reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard - in what promises to be an intriguing stage

Follow all the latest updates from stage five below:

Tour de France 2023 - Stage Five

18km to go - hindley leads charge over climb as vingegaard attacks, 75km to go - gall launches attack to collect maximum king of the mountain points.

Stage five sees a 163km route from Pau to Laruns

Adam Yates still has the overall lead as the race heads to the slopes of the Pyrenees

Britain’s Tom Pidcock targets stage win after coming close on stage two

HINDLEY WINS STAGE FIVE!

16:22 , Ben Fleming

1km to go - Hindley on course for victory

16:21 , Ben Fleming

It will be a procession for the last kilometre and his race today will have thrown the Tour de France wide open. He may not end up winning but his surge today caused Vingegaard to attack and that has left Pogacar with a huge task over the remaining stages.

5km to go - No help for Vingegaard

16:17 , Ben Fleming

Hindley is closing in on a superb victory which will see him take the yellow jacket.

Behind him, Vingegaard, Ciccone and Buchmann have caught up with Gall. The Jumbo-Visma rider is leading the quartet but turns around asking for support. There’s none forthcoming from the other three who have been ahead grinding in the breakaway groups all day.

10km to go - Vingegaard extends lead over Pogacar

16:13 , Ben Fleming

The defending champion is unlikely to catch up Hindley at the front but the Jumbo-Visma rider will have is eyes on one thing - extending his lead over his main rival Tadej Pogacar.

He left him for dead on the Col de Marie Blanque climb with a devastating attack and now leads him by around a minute.

15km to go - Hindley leads Vingegaard by a minute

16:07 , Ben Fleming

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider begins his descent but Vingegaard is in hot pursuit alongside Ciccone and Hindley’s team-mate Buchmann.

Between them is Felix Gall who is 30 seconds behind Hindley.

16:01 , Ben Fleming

What a ride this has been by Jai Hindley and he surges clear of Felix Gall to get to the top of Col de Marie Blanque climb in first.

Further back Vingegaard, Kuss and Pogacar break free from the peloton...but now Vingegaard attacks on his own and Pogacar doesn’t stay with him! Dramatic turn of events and what a message to send to his main rival. The defending champ is now under 90 seconds behind Hindley.

20km to go - Peloton catches up strugglers

15:56 , Ben Fleming

The main group is now just 2 minutes behind the main two, Hindley and Gall, as many including Van Aert drop back into the peloton.

Jumbo-Visma are now beginning to come to the fore of the peloton as they look to chase down Hindley ahead.

22km to go - climb splinters lead group

15:49 , Ben Fleming

This category one climb has really splintered this main group. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands have all been dropped after they were caught and now it’s Hindley and Gall who break ahead as a two but the Australian has team-mate Buchmann nearby him a few seconds back.

30km to go - Col de Marie Blanque climb upcoming

15:37 , Ben Fleming

The final climb of the day is the category one climb, Col de Marie Blanque. It’s 7.8km at an average gradient of 8.5%. The peloton have cut the lead to Hindley’s group to about three minutes but with that climb coming up, they’ll have to work really hard to cut further into the lead before the finishing kilometres.

35km to go - leaders complete Col d’Ichère climb

15:29 , Ben Fleming

Neilands crosses the category three climb in first to take the two points. Van Aert crosses in second to take the remaining point on offer.

Van Aert and Alaphilippe have now caught up the Latvian on the downhill but Hindley’s chasing group are now under 20 seconds behind them.

The peloton remains over three minutes back with just 35km to go.

40km to go - Van Aert and Alaphilippe break away

15:20 , Ben Fleming

Neilands remains in the lead but finally two riders decide to try and close the gap to the Latvian and it’s Van Aer and Alaphillipe who are those two.

They are only 17 seconds behind Neilands and have a 30-second lead over Hindley and the rest of the breakaway riders.

44km to go - Col d’Ichère climb coming up

15:12 , Ben Fleming

It’s far less intimidating than the Col de Soudet earlier. But it’s a category three climb so KOM points are available. It’s 4.2km at 6.2%.

50km to go - breakaway group beginning to splinter

15:06 , Ben Fleming

Krists Neilands makes a burst out of the breakaway group and the Israel-Premier Tech rider has a 25-second lead now from the main breakaway group.

A few have also begun to fall off from that main breakaway group, one of which is Victor Campenaerts who lead such a good charge with Van Eart and Pedersen up the Col de Soudet earlier.

14:55 , Ben Fleming

Felix Gall is eventually caught by the chasing group who is now 17-riders strong. Their lead continues to move past four minutes with Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) doing his best to widen that even further.

70km to go - Four-minute lead for first group

14:42 , Ben Fleming

This has been a fantastic stage so far for Jai Hindley. He’s got Bora-Hansgrohe team-mate Emanuel Buchmann with him in this first chasing group. They are only a few seconds behind Felix Gall but he has a mammoth four-minute lead over the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard in the peloton.

If Team UAE and Jumbo-Visma weren’t concerned before, they should be now.

14:37 , Ben Fleming

Just as quickly as the lead group is brought together and Felix Gall (Ag2r-Citroën) launches an attack. Jai Hindley lets him go and the Austrian will summit the Col de Soudet first and should take the polka-dot jersey off Neilson Powless at the end of this stage.

Daniel Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers) crosses in second to take 15 points with Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) third taking 12 points.

The visibility is terrible at the top of the climb and real caution will be needed especially from the peloton.

77km to go - leaders caught

14:32 , Ben Fleming

Finally, the leaders in Van Aert and Campenaerts are caught. There is now a 25-man group in the lead with Jai Hindley the main GC contender amongst them - they have just 2km to the top of the Col de Soudet.

From there, it’s three minutes back to the peloton.

14:30 , Ben Fleming

The leading two continue to maintain their slender lead over the first chasing pack but a few are beginning to fall out of that. One is Pedersen but another, more intriguingly, is Marc Soler. However, it appears that the Team UAE rider is merely following team orders and waiting for the peloton.

Perhaps a sign that they are getting a bit concerned by the lead that the first chasing group have over them and Soler will no doubt be asked to do some of the heavy lifting involved to get them back closer to them.

83km to go - Pedersen dropped

14:14 , Ben Fleming

The Dane decided enough is enough for him and he drops out of the leading back and falls back to the first chasing group which is fronted by Lidl-Trek’s Juanpe Lopez. Van Aert and Campenaerts still have a lead of just over 20 seconds from them but their chasing group is moving nicely.

The peloton is still being headed up by Team UAE Emirates and Matteo Trentin but they are now over three minutes back from the leading pair.

87km to go - first chasing group closes gap

14:03 , Ben Fleming

Remi Cavagna and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step) have taken to the front of the first chasing group who are behind our leading three. The pace increases immediately and there’s clearly a desire to close that gap which is now down to around 30 seconds.

13:47 , Ben Fleming

Behind the three leaders, we have a first chasing group of 33 riders. Here is the full list of those:

Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), Felix Grosschartner (UAE), Marc Soler (UAE), Omar Fraile (Ineos), Dani Martínez (Ineos), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves (EF), Rigoberto Uran (EF), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep), Remi Cavagna (Soudal-QuickStep), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek), Berthet (AG2R), Felix Gall (Ag2R), Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar), Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (DSM), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AIUIa), Anthony Delaplace (Arkea-Samsic), Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Torstein Traen (Uno-X), Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total-Energies).

13:44 , Ben Fleming

The front three (Van Aert, Pedersen and Campenaerts) have over a minute ahead of the second breakaway group - they now have under 100km to go.

Still no real effort from Pogacar and Team UAE in the peloton to get up to Jai Hindley in that second breakaway group. Will they launch an attack later on the climbs or are they happy to lose the yellow jersey for now?

105km to go - Col de Soudet upcoming

13:35 , Ben Fleming

Coquard drops back to the second breakaway group leaving just Van Aert, Pedersen and Campenaerts in the lead. They have a 35-second advantage over that bigger breakaway group and are more than 2 mins 30 secs ahead of the peloton.

The lead riders are now about 15km away from the foot of today’s first climb, the Col de Soudet. It’s over 15km at an average gradient of 7% and the first proper mountain and all-category climb of this year’s Tour.

112km - Coquard takes maximum points in the sprint

13:26 , Ben Fleming

The Cofidis rider gets the better of Mads Pedersen in the intermediate sprint to take the maximum 20 points on offer and move second in the green jersey standings.

Pedersen takes 17 while Wan Aert and Campenaerts take 15 and 13 points respectively.

115km to go - Intermediate sprint upcoming

13:22 , Ben Fleming

The Lanne-en-Barétous intermediate sprint is coming up with Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen breaking away from the original lead group as they eye up points for the green jersey.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) join them and these four will be the main contenders for maximum points.

125km to go - 1 minute gap for breakaway group

13:12 , Ben Fleming

This large breakaway group have suddenly opened up a nice lead of just over a minute. 2022 Giro D’Italia champion, Jai Hindley is a real GC contender and he’s got support in the form of team-mates Emanuel Buchmann and Patrick Konrad in this lead group

That could well be a cause for concern for Team UAE back in the peloton who look to be trying to close the gap.

Towards the back, Lidl-Trek Quinn Simmons has a nasty fall but looks to be back on his bike.

130km to go

13:04 , Ben Fleming

Remi Cavanga (Soudal-Quick Step) and Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar) briefly moved into a two-man breakaway but were swiftly caught and the jostling for the breakaway group continues. There’s now a 36-man group including GC contender Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) who have a small gap from the peloton.

142km to go - Latour back to the peloton

12:51 , Ben Fleming

You have to feel for the Frenchman who launched a solid early attack but had no support from any other rider. He’s eventually chased down by a breakaway group and before you know it the peloton are back together again.

148km to go

12:43 , Ben Fleming

Alberto Bettiol is the next to launch an attack to try and get up Latour. He’s joined by Jumbo-Visma’s Wout van Aert amongst others.

We are only 15km in but sprinter Fabio Jakobsen has already been dropped by the peloton. The Soudal-Quick Step rider had a nasty crash yesterday and is clearly still feeling the effects of it.

153km to go

12:36 , Ben Fleming

There’s an early crash for Lidl-Trek’s Mattias Skjelmose who might have fancied his chances today. The Dane is back up and appears unharmed as he makes his way back to the peloton. Mathieu van der Poel makes briefly looks to make an attack but quickly comes back to the peloton.

159km to go

12:30 , Ben Fleming

The initial attack falls apart but another is launched now by Pierre Latour with nobody following the TotalEnergies rider so far.

Tour de France - Stage Five

12:25 , Ben Fleming

The yellow flag is raised and we are underway as Lotto Dstny make an early move. Neilson Powless mentioned earlier in an interview that he needed to be in any breakaway group today and the American is on the second wheel behind Victor Campenaerts.

12:24 , Ben Fleming

We have 1km to go until the official starts but some quick news on a couple of withdrawals. Both Leon Sanchez (Astana-Qazaqstan) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto Dstny) fell in the sprint yesterday, both breaking their collarbones meaning their Tour is done for this year.

12:12 , Ben Fleming

Today promises to be a fast start with teams looking to get in a good position before the first climb. The riders have begun their neutralised rollout before the official start.

12:03 , Ben Fleming

Britain’s Adam Yates won the first stage to take the yellow jersey and the Team UAE Emirates rider still has the maillot jaune as we enter the fifth day. Here is a reminder of the general classification standings:

Adam Yates (Team UAE Emirates): 18:18:01

Tadej Pogacar (Team UAE Emirates): +6 secs

Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula): +6 secs

Victor Lafay (Cofidis): +12 secs

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): +16 secs

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): +17 secs

Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe): +22 secs

11:59 , Ben Fleming

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) has enjoyed a stellar start to this Tour with an 11-point lead in the King of the Mountain standings. Stage five will be a very different day and with seconds on offer at the top of today’s first climb, the American will have to fight hard to maintain the jersey.

Speaking to Eurosport earlier, he said: “I need to be in the breakaway today for more points. I think me and 130 other riders want to be in that breakaway so it’s going to be a really tough fight. It might be the hardest for me wearing this jersey.

“I think a lot of other guys that maybe want the polka-dot as well are going to show their hands, show their cards today so it’s going to be a big fight for sure but I’m already wearing the jersey so that’s already really motivating.

“On a day like today, anything is possible because there are bonus seconds on offer on the final climb and again at the finish so maybe someone like Tadej Pogacar thinks he can get more seconds over Jonas Vingegaard. But yeah, there’s so many riders that want to go in the breakaway that it’s going to be hard for anyone to control.”

11:50 , Ben Fleming

Here’s a reminder of the full list of jersey wearers today. Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) has the coloured numbers after winning Stage Four’s combativity prize.

Yellow: Simon Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

White: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Green: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Polka Dot: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)

How Mark Cavendish became a Tour de France legend – according to his fierce rivals and loyal teammates

11:33 , Ben Fleming

It wasn’t to be for Mark Cavendish on stages three and four as the Manxman saw opportunities at both sprint stages pass him by.

In what is his final Tour de France, Cavendish goes in search of his record-breaking 35th stage win which would see him surpass the great Eddy Merckx’s tally.

But how did we get to this point? Lawrence Ostlere spoke to some of Cavendish’s fiercest foes and closest allies to find out what makes the Manx Missile a Tour de France legend.

How Mark Cavendish became a Tour de France legend – according to rivals and teammates

Tom Pidcock earmarked three Tour de France stages to win. This is one of them

11:16 , Ben Fleming

When Tom Pidcock assessed the 2023 Tour de France with his leadership team at Ineos Grenadiers, they pored over the opening nine stages before the first rest day and earmarked three they thought he could win.

The first was stage one, a hilly route through the Spanish Basque Country with the promise of the yellow jersey at the finish in Bilbao. It didn’t go to plan – Pidcock couldn’t keep pace with the elite group over the steep Cote de Vivero climb and he lost contact, eventually coming in 30 seconds behind the winner, fellow Briton Adam Yates. He was frustrated by how it played out.

The second was stage two, another lumpy day en route to San Sebastian. This time he did keep up with the fastest few, but he could not out-sprint the supreme Wout van Aert or two-time champion Tadej Pogacar, and anyway, none of them had accounted for the surprise solo attack of Victor Lafay . Pidcock finished fourth.

The third was today’s stage five .

Read the full article and interview with Pidcock below:

Tour de France 2023 - Stage Four Recap

11:03 , Ben Fleming

It was another day for Jasper Philipsen yesterday in Nogaro and another missed opportunity for Mark Cavendish as he hunts down that elusive 35th stage win.

Jasper Philipsen and Caleb Ewan reached the line together on the Circuito Paul Armagnac, a motor racing track here in south-west France, after a crash-riddled drag race along the 700m home straight. They lunged, and Philipsen pipped Ewan by centimetres to claim back-to-back stage wins and cement his position as the alpha sprinter at this Tour de France .

Read the full report from Lawrence Ostlere below:

‘I knew I couldn’t win’: Cavendish dissescts finish as Philipsen wins against at Tour

Tour de France - Stage Five Route Map and Profile

10:54 , Ben Fleming

Welcome back to another day of Tour de France action. After two sprint days which saw Jasper Philipsen take back-to-back victories, today is one for the general classification riders.

The riders have a 163km route from Pau to Laruns which is flat for the first 70km, but then comes the first hors categorie climb of this year’s race, the Col du Soudet (15.2km at 7.2%). It is a long and gruelling drag to the top, and we can expect plenty in the peloton to get dropped here as the leaders crank up the pace.

That means two-time winner Tadej Pogacar , who is looking to win again after being dethroned last year, and reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard will likely go head to head and we could see some attacks here in the middle of the stage.

For the full stage five preview, click below:

Tour de France stage 5 preview: Yellow jersey showdown in the Pyrenees

Tour de France 2023 – stage five

10:45 , Ben Fleming

Follow all the build-up and latest updates from stage five of the Tour de France.

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2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 5 RESULTS

Chaos on the cobbles as Simon Clarke won a photo finish on stage 5 of the 2022 Tour de France. 96 miles of racing came down to inches as Clarke sprinted to the line alongside his breakaway companion Taco van der Hoorn, just ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Neilson Powless. Powless moved into second overall just 13 seconds behind Wout van Aert.

Jumbo Visma had a challenging stage as a mechanical had Jonas Vingegaard lose 13 seconds to Tadej Pogacar and a late crash took Primoz Roglic 2:08 behind Pogacar. Wout Van Aert was also involved in a crash early in the stage but was able to recover and assist Vingegaard in his pursuit of Pogacar.

TOUR DE FRANCE 2022 NEWS

OVERALL STANDINGS

2022 tdf stage 5 results, 2022 tdf stage 5 gc standings, 2022 tdf stage 5 sprint points, 2022 tdf stage 5 kom points, 2022 tdf stage 5 young rider.

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency

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THE BIKES OF UNBOUND GRAVEL

2022 TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 5 RECAP AND PHOTO GALLERY

A MOMENT IN TIME, 2011: WHEN THE UCI STRIPPED MAVIC AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE

THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2018: FROM THE PRO PELOTON TO SHIMANO TEST RIDER

THROWBACK THURSDAY, 2008: MEMORIES OF TEAM LANCE – BEFORE THE FALL

BREAKING NEWS: CAVENDISH GETS HIS CHANCE TO BEAT MERCKX

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Tour de France stage 5 LIVE: Jonas Vingegaard drops Tadej Pogačar in the Pyrenees

After a couple of sprint days the race heads into the mountains and could see a shake up in the GC

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After a pair of days for the sprinters, dominated by Jasper Philipsen, it's a day for the GC men and the climbers as the race hits the mountains.

The finish will be on the fearsome Col de Marie Blanque.

We'll be here with minute by minute updates throughout the day.

Stage start: 12.05 BST

Finish: 16.20 BST

Situation: Jai Hindley is out front alone, around a minute ahead of major GC rival Jonas Vingegaard, who in turn has distanced Tadej Pogačar to the tune of around 50 seconds.

Stage five course

Today's stage features three climbs, but the hardest comes mid-way through the stage.

Will the GC teams choose to blow it up here? Perhaps unlikely this early in the race but Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Emirates team have been keen to race aggressively so far.

A day off for Jasper

Jasper Philipsen has won two of the two sprints that have been contested so far at this Tour de France. But today he'll have a break – if you can call climbing all these mountains a break. 

Not that it's all been simple. Both Philipsen and Mark Cavendish had some pretty choice words to describe yesterday's crash-marred stage. 

The Belgian told Cycling Weekly : "I’m just really happy and proud that we have such a strong team and leadout, even in a f***ed up situation like today, actually."

His British rival told the assembled press : "It was carnage. Every team would have had a plan for that final and I would bet there wasn’t any of them that went right, apart from Jumbo who were the guys into the narrow roads early."

IS 'SAFER' SAFE ENOUGH? RIDERS CALL FOR DOWNHILL FINISHES TO BE SCRAPPED

The riders have been talking about safety on this Tour, following the death of Gino Mäder in the Tour de Suisse. The Swiss rider crashed on a high-speed descent.

It is downhill descents to the finish that are attracting attention, such as stage 14 to Morzine and stage 17 to Courchevel. Tour de France organiser ASO has put extra safety measures in , but some riders don't think it is enough.

Matteo Jorgensen of Movistar says he thinks downhill finishes should be scrapped, while Soudal-Quick Step's Michael Mørkøv says he will "never appreciate downhill finishes", with others echoing their views.

See the full story here .

SO JUST WHO IS LAURENT GINA?

Laurent Gina is new rider in town, according to the numerous cardboard placards held up by roadside fans screaming his name.

Except there is no Laurent Gina on the start list.

There's not even a pro cyclist, man or woman, going by that name.

So who is Laurent Gina? Tom Davidson takes up the story.

ELISA LONGO BORGHINI ABANDONS GIRO DONNE AFTER CRASH

Elisa Longo Borghini will not start the Giro Donne this morning after falling heavily on the descent to the finish of yesterday's stage five in Ceres.

The Lidl-Trek rider went to hospital for check-ups, specifically for concussion and an x-ray on her pelvis.

In a post on social media last night the team said : "She underwent an x-ray of pelvis and right shoulder, which ruled out the presence of fractures. She also underwent a brain scan, as she hit her head during the crash (though without damage to her helmet), which came back negative of any injuries."

However, it decided this morning that due to the fact she was still in considerable pain, she would not start.

Longo Borghini had already won stage four, and was lying in 17th place on GC.

Let's have a look at today's climbs. First up – the Col de Soudet

The Col de Soudet is the first climb the riders will encounter today, and it's a beast. Hors-catégorie (the toughest category of climb there is), they'll begin climbing it at 72km and crest the summit 15km later, encountering slopes of up to 14.5% along the way.

This was first used in 1987, when Dutchman Erik Breukink won the stage in Pau, and was most recently used in 2020.

The stats Length: 15.2km Average gradient: 7.2% Steepest kilometre: 12.% two-thirds of the way up Height: 1,540m

162km to go: The riders are underway in the neutral zone, heading towards the start proper.

162km to go: And we're go for stage five of the 2023 Tour de France. Good luck and God speed. Sorry, thought I was in a NASA control room for a second there.

158km to go: A few tentative attacks going off the front. The latest from Magnus Cort.

He didn't make it stick but now Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) has a small gap. It's sticking.

Latour has nine seconds. Probably wishing someone would come with him at this point.

155km to go: Small line of eight riders clipping off the front, trying to bridge to Latour, who's hanging out there at just five seconds. 

154km to go: Mathieu Van Der Poel has attacked, with Victor Campanaerts, Ben Turner and others all going with him too.

Meanwhile at the back Matthias Skelmose has crashed. Not sure how that happened. He's straight back up though and on the bike.

152km to go: The chasing attack by MVDP et al has, it seems, come to nowt. Latour though, now has 14 seconds. 10km in to the stage now.

150km to go: Neilson Powless active on the front, resplendent and impossible to miss in that polka-dot skinsuit.

149km to go: The front of the bunch is chaos, with riders clipping away left right and centre, but nothing sticking.

And now Julian Alaphilippe goes, quickly surpassed by Wout Van Aert and Alberto Bettiol. Will this hold?

146km to go: Fabio Jakobsen, heavily bandaged, is already off the back. He crashed hard in yesterday's finale. It's going to be a long day for him, but he has a team-mate Michael Mørkøv, to help shepherd him.

144km to go: It all looks to be coming back together. That attack by WVA and co has come to nothing, and even Latour remains a mere eight seconds out front now. 

143km to go: Alaphilippe attacking again now, and Latour has been caught. That was a lot of hard work come to nothing for the Frenchman.

Rigoberto Uran is with Alaphilippe, as are others. But no, you guessed it, it's all back together.

140km to go: Tadej Pogačar has made an appearance at the front now, which of course has set the GC teams into a frantic scrabble to battle stations.

138km to go: Right now, the peloton is all together, save for poor Fabio Jakobsen and his shepherd Mørkøv. There are a few riders that keep appearing again and again, clearly keen to make something of the day. Alaphilippe, Powless, Latour, and Uran spring to mind.

Mark Cavendish and Astana team-mates part of a group that is threatening to lose touch at the back of the race as things get ever more hilly.

136km to go: Looks like there's a sizeable group up the road now. Not by much, but the gap is there. There are 13 riders, including Wout Van Aert, Rigo Uran, Dani Martínez, Jack Haig, Valentin Madouas, Julian Alaphilippe and Kasper Asgreen.

They're 20 seconds ahead.

37 riders in this first group is the latest count, at 22sec. Jai Hindley and Marc Soler are in there too. 

Those climbs again. Let's check out the third climb, the cat-one Col de Marie-Blanque

You can see from the swathe of black gradient that this is going to be a steep climb. It's also narrow and technical, in the typical style of the Pyrenees.

It's the third climb of the day, coming after riders have already tackled the Col de Soudet at 87km and the much smaller cat-three Col d'Ichère at 128km.

The Col de Marie-Blanque is a Tour de France legend, having already been used 15 times since 1978.

The stats Length: 7.7km Average gradient: 8.6% Steepest kilometre: 13.6% (km 6-7) Height: 1,035m

124km: Back to the action. That big group is now at 1.29 and still going out. The peloton seem happy enough to let that stand, even with the presence of GC threats like Hindley.

Further back, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) has hit the deck after what looked like a touch of wheels. His jersey is shredded and he has some nasty road rash, but he's back on the bike.

119km to go: GC favourites Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), not to mention his maillot jaune team-mate Adam Yates, are all now a clear 1.55 behind GC hopeful Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) who, let's not forget, won the Giro d'Italia last year.

116km to go: Four riders have escaped the breakaway: Van Aert, Victor Campanaerts, Mads Pedersen and Bryan Coquard are 13sec out front.

They may, understandably, have felt the original huge group was doomed to failure with a GC rider like Hindley on board.

114km to go: The first, and only, intermediate sprint of the day coming up.

Pedersen goes, Coquard follows... and Coquard comes round the Dane to take the points.

Here's the full sprint result Lanne-en-Barétous, 114km

1. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) 20 pts 2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 17 pts 3. Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 15 pts 4. Victor Campanaerts (Lotto-Dstny) 13

100km to go: This is Vern Pitt taking over from James so he can have a break.

I can't help but wonder if UAE Emirates have made a grave error here. Hindley's group has two minutes and 33 riders in it (plus the ones off the front). He's got two solid domestiques with him and he's a mere 22 seconds off the yellow jersey. 

He won the Giro d'Itlia last year so he's not to be underestimated. 

Plus, Jumbo have Wout van Aert up there and so are wisely, and justifiably, playing the "well we don't have to do any work" card. That might change later if they too start fearing Hindley's position but will the two squads have enough fire-power by then.

Of course the members of the break might start looking at Hindley's Bora-Hansgrohe contingent to work a lot and that might prove their undoing but at least he has something to offer them in the form of a stage win if they work for him. In the peloton it's not so clear cut that Jumbo and UAE will have as much to bargain with.

That said, it's quite possible other teams such as Ineos decide it suits them to chase too and they bring it back.

It's all very delicately poised right now.

99km to go: Quinn Simmon's snazzy stars and stripes outfit (he's American road race champion) has been torn to shreds in a crash earleir nad he's back at the medical car getting some attention.

98km to go: The escapees are losing ground. The big group is only about 1-30 ahead of the peloton now as the break look at Bora-Hansgrohe to set the pace.

And now the attacks are coming in totally destroying the cohesion of the group. Bora have restored order for a bit though. 

Simmons' road rash

88km to go: We're on the climb and the three out front, Van Aert, Pedersen and Campenaerts have slightly extended their advantage on the Hindley group to 46 seconds.

The Hindley group have just under two minutes on the peloton.

87km to go: The weather is fairly grim up the top of this HC climb, with very minimal visibility.

Steve Cummings, Ineos Grenadiers DS, has been o the radio to warn his riders that the GC big hitters might make a move on this climb, even though its quite far out.

86km to go: Remi Cavagna (Soudal - Quick-Step) comes to the front of the Hindley group and pushes the pace out and the gap to the peloton has climbed over the two minute mark.

86km to go: There are, in case you were wondering, 11km to the top of this climb. 

As you can from the profile, the last 5km are the toughest.

85km to go: Mads Pedersen is falling off the back of the front trio, which is now a duo #quickmaths

85km to go: Sprinters are already falling out of the back of the peloton. We just saw Mark Cavnedish back among the cars. 

It's grupetto time!

Pedersen has been caught by the main breakaway group, which is being led by Julian Alaphilippe. 

84km to go: Van Aert looks fairly comfortable out front, Campenaerts less so, but is hanging on just fine.

Lidl-trek, who have Giulio Ciccone in the breakaway, have come to the front of that group.

The gap is now 2-30 to the peloton.

83km to go: Pogačar had to get a bike change a few kilometers ago but he's back at the front of the peloton now.

83km to go: The leading duo's margin is shrinking, it's come down to just 19 seconds.

82km to go: The race might be in France now but it's still fairly close to the Basque country and there are a few Basque flags at the side of the road still.

81km to go: Wout van Aert doesn't seem to be getting many turns from Campenaerts . 

That's not overly surprising given the Lotto-Dstny rider is much more a time trialist (he's a former hour record holder) than a climber but he's putting in a good uphill showing here staying with van Aert.

80km to go: Lidl-Trek continue to work on the front of the break as it approaches the hardest section of this HC climb.

79km to go: Marc Soler (UAE Emirates) has been recalled form the break to the peloton to work for his team leader(s) Tadej Pogacar and yellow jersey wearer Adam Yates.

78km to go: There are now just over 3km to the top of the climb for those out front.

77km to go: The break is really thinning down with Lidl-Trek atill o nthe front its close to just ten in the main part of it though those of the back are not far behind.

Wondering what this climb is like to ride? Let me colleague, Cycling Weekly contributor and Pyrenees resident/evangelist Peter Cossins tell you...

The Soudet is a beautiful climb up a very quiet valley. Consistently hard on the stretch up to the Col de Suscousse. Turn right at the top of the pass and the road leads to La Pierre St Martin, where Chris Froome annihilated his rivals in the 2015 Tour #TDF2023 July 5, 2023

77km to go: 2km to the top now and Felix Gall (AG2R Citroen) clips off the front of the main break group in a bid to get the KOM points. They overtake Van Aert. Only Ciccone, Hindley and Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) can go with him.

Gall goes again!

76km to go: Just 1km to the top of the climb now and Gall is on his own. He'll claim the KOM jersey, virtually, if he makes this.

75km to go: Gall comes over the top first. Ciccone and Dani Martinez sprint for second and Martinez gets it.

Hindley is still with this lot. I expect they'll bridge to Gall on the descent.

72km to go: Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) is flying down here and there's a gap to the rest.

70km to go: Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) is also there as this group out front has grown to about 10 or so. He's driving the pace for his leader. 

They have four minutes on the peloton now. That would give Hindley a commanding GC lead were it to remain that way (it wont' of course).

69km to go: The descent is twisty but the roads are pretty wide so it's being taken fairly swiftly.

67km to go: Wout van Aert, who'd fallen of the back of the break, is making his way back on on the descent.

64km to go: The front group has 14 riders now. There's a further trio with Alaphilippe about 20 seconds back.

Hindley is on the front railing this descent.

Jasper Philipsen's green machine

I missed this this morning and it's glorious.

The green machine 💚@JasperPhilipsen’s #CanyonAeroad ahead of stage 5️⃣ in @LeTour 🤤#AlpecinDeceuninck #JasperPhilipsen #TDF2023 #Canyon #MyCanyon #RoadCycling 📷 Stefan Rachow (Mr. Pinko) pic.twitter.com/snd8DVPfCp July 5, 2023

59km to go: There have been a few attack in the break now. Martinez is having to close a split.

53km to go: It has all calmed down a bit in the front group as Hindley comes to the front.

As soon as typed that Neilands goes off the front.

52km to go: That attack by the Israel-Premier Tech rider aside, it seems a little chilled, probably too chilled for Hindley's liking. They're not exactly working together right now.

51km to go: Neilands has built a gap of 27 seconds. Meanwhile the gap from the break to the peloton has fallen to around 3-30.

50km to go: It's noteworthy that Wout van Aert is willing to work in the break containing Hindley, despite his team leader Vingegaaard being in the peloton further back down the road. 

UAE are still chasing in the peloton.

48km to go: UAE Emirates still have numbers in the peloton, so the firepower is there.

48km to go: We're approaching the bottom of the third category Col d'Ichere, which is 4.2km long and has an average of 7%. 

45km to go: The peloton is strung out in one long line under the pressure of UAE Emirates here.

But there are attacks going off all the time in the front group now. Alaphilippe is the latest (I think).

Hindley is having to close gaps.

43km to go: Jonathan Vaughters who has joined the GCN commentary team, says a day like this is the only way any of the GC riders have of beating Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.

41km to go: The break come onto the bottom of the third cat climb. The gap to the peloton behind is fluctuating all the time. It's not just over 3 minutes.

Neilands is still up front but van Aert and Alaphilippe are now in the gap between him and the break.

39km to go: Hindley and co are losing a bit of ground to those out front. Their gap to Neilands is 43 seconds.

36km to go: James back with you now for what should be an extremely watchable final 35km of stage five.

Van Aert, Neilands and Alaphilippe descending the narrow and sinuous Ichère. 

30km to go: Fraile pushing hard on the front of group two, presumably in the service of Ineos team-mate Dani Martínez. They remain 19sec behind the leading trio, with the major hurdle of the Marie-Blanque to come in around 10km.

Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar and their teams are going to have go hell for leather on the Marie-Blanque in an attempt to catch this big group out front and, most pertinently, Jai Hindley. 

At the moment the Aussie has more than three minutes on those big GC rivals, and if he is allowed to take anything like that to the end of the stage, Pog and Vingegaard are going to have what might be termed 'a situation' on their hands.

With the caveat that there is, of course, a long way to go.

23.5km to go: Unsurprisingly the UAE team is indeed working hard on the front right now, with Pogačar sitting pretty in fourth wheel. The gap to the Hindley group is coming down steadily – it's now 2.40, so 40sec has been wiped off in recent kilometres.

Fraile's work is done – he has dropped off the back. 

"Dani, the floor is yours", he may or may not have said to his team-mate.

22km to go: On the lower slopes of the Marie-Blanque now and the break is splitting. Van Aert, Alaphilippe and Neilands have been absorbed and the gap to the break (which includes Hindley, don't forget) is 2.29.

21km to go: Wout Van Aert has dropped off the front half of the break now. It's not going to be his day after all, it would seem.

Back in the peloton, Adam Yates is up at the front of the peloton too, and all the while the break is still around 2.30 ahead. 

It seems there was team strategy behind Van Aert dropping back – he took to the front of the bunch with the rest of the Jumbo-Visma team, pulling hard to help Vingegaard back up towards Hindley. 

Hindley, as if in response, has ridden away from Felix Gall, with whom he was riding off the front of the race. He has several seconds.

19km to go: WVA all done now, and Sepp Kuss is pacing a strong looking Vingegaard with Pogačar on the Dane's wheel.

No one else can live with them.

19km to go: 1km to the top of the Marie-Blanque for Hindley, who is alone but looking strong and has nearly three minutes over Vingegaard and Pogačar.

Vingegaard attacks!

Pogačar has no response.

It looks as though Pogačar is doing his level best to match the Jumbo-Visma rider but he is 6sec back already. Perhaps the Slovenian is starting to rue the training missed due to his wrist injury.

18.5km to go: Hindley now over the top of the Marie-Blanque, and the gap now appears to be 1.11 to Vingegaard. Some timing issues with the coverage earlier I think. 

Pogacar now over the top, around 25sec behind Vingegaard. Huge crowds at the top of this climb.

16.5km to go: It's now a common-or-garden 10 miles to the finish, a distance many reading this will be well familiar with riding against the clock. 

There is of course the small matter of the descent of the Marie-Blanque to be dispatched as part of it. How much time can Hindley conserve ahead of Vingegaard?

Right now the gap is 57sec.

9km to go: Tadej Pogačar now exactly a minute behind Vingegaard, who is now making very little headway against Jai Hindley, who is still 54sec ahead of the Dane.

5km to go: Vingegaard has now picked up Gall, Ciccone and Buchmann from the earlier break. The chances of them having the energy, or even the inclination to work with him now seem slim.

4.5km to go: The gap to Hindley has now been reduced to 43sec. In fact it's coming down fast enough that the Aussie will be far from totally confident in victory at this point.

Into the final kilometre for Hindley now. He's got this.

And Hindley wins! He'll be very, very happy with his ride today.

The Aussie wins the first major mountains day of his first Tour de France. Great ride.

Vingegaard comes in at the back of the foursome 34sec behind.

And now here's the Pogačar group – he's lost 1.38 on Hindley today, 1.04 on Vingegaard.

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Results and Highlights From the 2023 Tour de France

Stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from this year’s race.

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. How we test gear.

Read below for stage-by-stage updates, results, and highlights from each stage of the 2023 Tour de France

Stage Winner : Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe)

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) was a surprise winner of Stage 21 of the 2023 Tour de France. Meeus won a sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées over the Tour’s top sprinters, Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen, and Mads Pedersen.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) enjoyed some champagne on the ride in and was officially crowned winner of the Tour de France for a second year, winning by 7 minutes, 29 seconds over second place Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)—by the largest margin of victory since 2014.

Final General Classification Standings

• Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma): 82:05:42
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): -7:29
• Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates): -10:56
• Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla): -12:23
• Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers): -13:17

Stage Winner : Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won Stage 20 of the 2023 Tour de France. Pogačar was able to outsprint Jonas Vingegaard and a few other strong riders at the on the flat drag at the top of the Col du Platzerwasel. The win was Pogačar’s second stage win of the this Tour and his 11th career Tour stage win. Vingegaard was third to Pogačar (Stage 17 winner Felix Gall was second), losing just a few bonus seconds, and maintaining his lead in the yellow jersey competition heading into the mostly ceremonial final Stage 21.

The Winner of the Day

He won’t win the yellow jersey in this year’s Tour de France, but Tadej Pogačar was able to go out with a bang on Saturday. Pogačar won a sprint to the finish on a mountain stage—something he’s done many times in the Tour de France. But this win comes only a few days after Pogačar cracked on Stage 17 and effectively lost the GC to Vingegaard. Pogačar never lost faith, securing his 11th TdF stage win and his fourth white jersey of his still very young career.

The Other Winner of the Day

Of course, we be remiss not to mention Jonas Vingegaard, who did exactly what he needed to do on the penultimate stage to win the 2023 Tour de France—barring a Sunday disaster. Stage 20, in fact, mirrored a lot of what Vingegaard was able to do during the middle portion of the Tour, prior to his big gains on the Stage 16 TT and the Stage 17 mountain stage. He hung right with Pogačar and never let his top rival’s advantage on a given stage swell too much. Vingegaard, of course, is a worthy champion that will enjoy some champagne on the Champs-Élysées.

And One More Winner of the Day

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Lidl) earned maximum points on the first four categorized climbs of the stage, and with it, claimed the King of the Mountains classification at the 2023 Tour de France (as long as he crosses the finish on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday). Ciccone seized the polka dot jersey on Stage 15 and rode brilliantly to pick up points where he could throughout the Tour’s final week. Ciccone becomes the first rider to win the KOM and not win the GC in the same Tour since Romain Bardet in 2019. Sometimes it’s more fun when we spread the wealth.

Best Moment of the Day

It wasn’t a big surprise to see Thibaut Pinot get in the breakaway on the last mountain stage of his storied Tour de France career. And I guess it’s not much of a big surprise that Pinot launched a solo attack with over 30K to go in the stage. The three-time TdF stage winner put on a show for the home fans in France on Stage 20, and what a sight it was to see his supporters on his solo ride up the Petit Ballon. The dream wasn’t to be though, as the yellow jersey group caught Pinot up the Col du Platzerwasel. Merci, Thibaut. Merci.

Stage Winner : Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious)

It doesn’t get any closer than that! Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) took a sprint finish to win Stage 19 of the 2023 Tour de France. Mohorič got in a breakaway that included many of the top sprinters and classics riders. That breakaway included the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen, so Mohorič knew he had to make a move early and that’s exactly what he did, breaking free, along with Stage 18 winner Kasper Asgreen and Ben O’Connor, of that breakaway with 30K to go in the stage.

Despite a good effort by the chasers—including Philpsen, his Alpecin teammate Mathieu van der Poel, and Pederson—to try and bring back the three attackers, they ultimately couldn’t gain ground and seemed to lack full cooperation. But the pure strength of Mohorič, Asgreen, and O’Connor showed through. Down the final stretch, O’Connor, knowing his speed couldn’t match that of Mohorič or Asgreen, made his move, but that was quickly answered by the pair and it was a drag race between Mohorič and Asgreen, who gapped O’Connor and made their dash for the line. It was a photo finish, but Mohorič narrowly edged out Asgreen for the stage win.

Stage Winner : Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step)

Kasper Asgreen won Stage 18 of the Tour de France in dramatic fashion. Asgreen got in the original breakaway of the day at kilometer zero. On a stage that seemed destined for a sprint finish out of the peloton, Asgreen and the others in the break managed to fend off the hungry peloton. Asgreen outsprinted Pascal Eenkhoorn (Lotto-Dstny) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) for the win at line.

The Biggest Winner of the Day

It’s no secret that it’s been a rough Tour de France for the Soudal Quick-Step team. The team’s top sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, withdrew from the race after Stage 12. The squad’s top stage hunting threat, Julian Alaphilippe, has struggled to be a factor in any stage. But Asgreen got Soudal Quick-Step off the schneid Thursday, winning in the most unlikely of ways. Asgreen got himself in the early break and held out just long enough to claim the Stage 18 victory—the first grand tour stage win of his career.

The Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to anyone from the peloton that was hoping to get the stage win today. The flat stage was tailor-made for the pure sprinters, but the peloton struggled to pull back the four-man breakaway. It seemed in the last 10K that a catch was inevitable, but the break stayed strong and held out just long enough. Alpecin-Deceuninck, which has already racked up four stage wins this Tour, is the team that loses the most on the day. Their top sprinter Jasper Philipsen—responsible for those four wins—was fourth on the stage and the top finisher from the peloton. It would have been his stage to win—if the peloton caught the break, that is.

Stage Winner: Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën)

Felix Gall won Stage 17 of the Tour de France, a stage that ended up being the craziest of the 2023 Tour so far. Gall made his move from the breakaway and rode away from a talented group of riders to claim the first grand tour stage win of his career.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of fireworks behind Gall. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) cracked on the stage losing well over five minutes to Jonas Vingegaard in the yellow jersey. Vingeagaard placed fourth on the stage and gained a significant amount of time that will likely carry him to Paris in the maillot jaune.

We’ll get to the stage winner shortly, but first we must acknowledge that Vingegaard won the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. First, Pogačar massively cracked on the Col de la Loze, then Vingagaard went on the offensive to deliver the dagger. Vingegaard finished fourth on the stage, 1:52 back of the stage winner Gall, but more importantly, he gained 5:45 on the man that was by his side for the first 15 stages of the Tour, Pogačar. With just four stages remaining, Vingegaard now leads by a whopping 7:35 over Pogačar. Assuming he stays upright, Vingegaard will win his second straight Tour de France on Sunday.

The Other Biggest Winner of the Day

Felix Gall has been one of the Tour’s revelations, and on Wednesday he confirmed that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with for the future in the WorldTour. The 25-year-old, who entered the day in 10th place in the GC, conquered the Col de la Loze and rode to the win on the stage that many have called “the hardest of the Tour.” Gall emerged on the radar after he took the polka dot jersey after Stage 5 of this year’s Tour. But now he earned his signature moment, winning on an absolutely brutal day in France. Gall moves up the eighth in the GC, but more importantly, he’s etched his name into TdF history forever.

After losing over a minute and a half to the yellow jersey on Tuesday, Pogačar effectively lost the 2023 Tour de France on Wednesday. Pogačar didn’t ride a bad individual time trial on Tuesday’s Stage 16, despite losing 1:38 to Vingegaard. But on Wednesday’s Stage 17, Pogačar had the worst day we’ve ever seen the 24-year-old have at the Tour de France. “I’m gone. I’m dead,” Pogačar said to his team over the radio during the stage after he cracked and lost over five minutes to Vingegaard ending what was a terrific GC battle through the first 16 stages of the Tour.

Other Notable Gains from a Wild Stage

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) made the day’s biggest jump within the top 10 of the GC. While he was second on the stage for the second time this Tour (though this time it was to someone other than his twin brother), Yates moved from eighth to fifth. He’s 12:19 behind the yellow jersey, but just 18 seconds behind Carlos Rodriguez for fourth place in the GC. Simon’s twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), meanwhile, was able to further solidify his spot on the podium. Adam Yates is in third place with a 1:16 advantage on Rodriguez, who lost time today.

Stage Winner : Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) roared to the Stage 16 win in the 2023 Tour de France’s lone individual time trial. Vingegaard put down an incredible TT over 22.4km and he won the stage by 1:38 over second place Tadej Pogačar, who also happens to be his biggest rival in the GC battle. Vingegaard earned his Jumbo-Visma team its first stage win of the Tour, and more importantly, he made the most significant time gains of the Tour so far.

Jonas Vingegaard is the clear winner of the stage and quite likely the entire 2023 Tour de France after Tuesday. Vingegaard, the defending Tour champion, put down the individual time trial of his life on Tuesday—a day after the rest day—providing further evidence of the Magic of the Yellow Jersey. Vingegaard’s hold on the yellow jersey was just 10 seconds entering Stage 16, but it ballooned all the way to 1:48 after the time trial—a margin that will most likely prove decisive in the battle for the maillot jaune. After a lot of back and forth between Vingegaard and Pogačar in the mountains during the first 15 stages, Vingegaard dealt Pogačar the first major blow of this Tour.

Tadej Pogačar had the second best time of the day on Stage 16—a minute and 13 seconds ahead of Wout Van Aert!—but he may have lost the 2023 Tour de France Tuesday. Very little has separated Vingegaard and Pogačar during the first two weeks of the Tour, but Vingegaard tacking 1:38 in addition to his 10-second advantage on the individual time trial may prove to be decisive in the GC battle. It’s, of course, never over until it’s over. Pogačar will have two significant mountain stages before the Tour reaches Paris on Sunday, so the chances are there. But psychologically, it will be tough for Pogačar to regroup after Tuesday’s time trial.

While it’s clear that Jumbo-Visma’s energy at the 2023 Tour de France has been focused on helping Vingegaard win the yellow jersey—something they’ve been very successful at!—it was still surprising to see the Dutch superteam without a stage win through the first two weeks of the Tour. That changed on Tuesday, thanks to the maillot jaune himself. Vingegaard rode an unbelievable TT to Stage 16 to claim the stage win by 1:38. Surely, the GC gains are the most important, but Jumbo-Visma won’t be too upset to finally snag a TdF stage win in 2023.

Stage Winner : Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious)

Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) won Stage 15 of the 2023 Tour de France, capturing the win from the breakaway and beating a talented group to claim the first TdF stage victory of his career.

Poels spent a lot of time in the breakaway on Sunday, but his strength showed throughout the entire day. He stayed patient in the break and joined an attacking group with around 35K to go in the stage. That quartet included Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Krists Neilands (Israel-PremierTech), and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates). In the early parts of the final climb of the day—Mont Blanc—Poels made his move on Van Aert and extended his lead from there.

The Biggest Loser of the Day

Normally we call this section”The Biggest Loss of the Day” because it sounds nicer. But we’ll throw that out of the window for this one. The biggest loser of the day on Sunday was the fan that interfered with the peloton early in Stage 15, causing a massive crash.

It’s got to be the fans! Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) battled up the Mont Blanc and finished together at the finish of Stage 15. Vingegaard’s yellow jersey advantage remains at 10 seconds as we enter the rest day on Monday before the final week of the Tour de France. The margins couldn’t be closer, and who doesn’t love a tremendously close GC battle in the Tour de France? Fans will enjoy an action-packed—and surely attack-filled—final week of this Tour.

Stage Winner : Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Spain’s Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France during a wild day in the GC. Rodriguez was dropped on the final climb up the Joux Plane, but he was able to return on the ensuing descent, and gap the two GC leaders and ride to the stage win—the second in as many days for INEOS—and improve his own GC positioning.

We expected to see GC fireworks on Stage 14 and we got exactly that. But at the end of the stage, there ultimately wasn’t a ton of change at least as far as the top two in the Tour were concerned. So therefore, the biggest winner of the day is Carlos Rodriguez and his INEOS Grenadiers team. Rodriguez capitalized on Pogačar and Vingegaard focusing on the overall GC situation. He seized his opportunity on the descent in the run-in to the finish and claimed victory on the day and moved into the podium, now sitting in third place overall in the GC, 4:43 back of the yellow jersey.

As we watched the absolute most thrilling stage of the 2023 Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar had Jonas Vingegaard on the ropes and was ready to launch an attack as they approached the top of the Col de Joux Plane. But that plan was foiled. Pogačar attacked, but was forced to stop his acceleration when the motorbikes got in the way. Eventually, Vingegaard was the one to attack and gain the time bonuses on offer at the top of the climb. You can blame the fans. You can blame the motorbikes. But maybe your blame should go to the race organizers, who should have had barrier set up to remove the chance of any interference with the battling riders.

The Other Biggest Loss of the Day

With 146K to go in Stage 14, a massive crash involved a majority of the peloton, leading to the abandonment of five riders. The race was also neutralized—a good decision by the race officials given that there wasn’t even a breakaway formed at the time of the crash. After losing GC hope Richard Carapaz, EF Education EasyPost’s Esteban Chaves and James Shaw were caught up in the crash and forced to abandon the Tour. Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) also abandoned.

And How About One More Winner of the Day

Despite the motorbikes/fans/race organizers spoiling what could have been a perfect day for Pogačar, the Solvenian’s ability to withstand the torrid pace set all day long by the Jumbo-Visma squad is a big win. Ultimately, Pogačar lost one second to Vingegaard and now trails by 10 seconds in the GC standings, but he’s shown that he may hold a slight advantage in form over Vingegaard. It’s going to be a wild last week of racing.

Stage Winner

Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers) won Stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France, The 33-year-old won the stage atop the “Beyond Category” Grand Colombier after spending all day in the breakaway and then attacking what was left of it on the lower slopes of the final climb. It was clear throughout most of the 137.8km ride from Châtillon-Sur-Chalaronne to the summit of the Grand Colombier that UAE Team Emirates wanted to set-up Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar for the win. But Kwiatokoski, a super-domestique with an impressive resume of his own, proved too strong to catch, holding-off Belgium’s Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Soudal) and then Pogačar to take the second Tour de France stage victory of his career.

Biggest Winner of the Day

While they didn’t win the stage, UAE Team Emirates has to be feeling good about its chances of winning its third Tour de France in four years. The team rode an impressive race from start to finish, lined-up at the front of the peloton throughout much of the day and setting a ferocious pace on the final climb to whittle down the yellow jersey group. But that was just an amuse bouche, as Great Britain’s Adam Yates attacked the group about 2 kilometers from the summit, drawing out Vingegaard’s teammate Sepp Kuss, and then Vingegaard and Pogačar themselves. Pogačar saved his own attack for the final ramp to the finish line, and while Vingegaard was able to follow at first he soon succumbed to the Slovenian’s acceleration. Jumbo-Visma clearly thinks the Alps will prove to be the Tour’s most important battlegrounds, but UAE is confident, strong, and looks to have all the firepower they need to win the Tour.

Gutsiest Ride of the Day

Kwiatkowski seems to have been given a free role at INEOS, chasing breakaways despite the fact that the team has two riders, Spain’s Carlos Rodríguez and Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock, in the top-10 overall. The 33-year-old rewarded the team’s faith today, ensuring that no matter what happens with its young GC riders, the team won’t go home from the Tour empty-handed.

Unsung Hero/Head-Scratcher

If you watched earlier seasons of the Movistar documentary “The Least Expected Day” on Netflix, then Spain’s Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) should be a familiar name to you. (And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?) The mercurial rider is immensely talented, but he often gave his directors and teammates headaches by making some bone-headed decisions from time to time. After transferring to UAE Team Emirates after the 2021 season, the 29-year-old is now one of Pogačar’s most important domestiques, which he showed with his pace-setting midway up the Grand Colombier. But just for good measure, he also showed why Movistar found him so frustrating: once he pulled off from the yellow jersey group, he caught back on to the back of it, which meant he must have had a little left in the tank that he could have given while he was on the front. His directors will certainly discuss this with him before tomorrow’s stage.

What Were They Thinking?

Intermediate sprints are usually designed for, um, sprinters. But today’s came in the town of Hauteville-Lompnes, midway up a long, gradual climb. We get that these are business decisions (towns pay lots of money to host the Tour’s intermediate sprints), but we can’t help but wonder what the Tour organizers were thinking today. Our best guess is that there were few bidders to host the sprint, leaving ASO with no other choice but to put it on a plateau.

Biggest Loser of the Day

Today was Bastille Day and the French were out in force on the Grand Colombier–so much so that the ascent was closed to anyone hoping to climb it early in the morning. But they had little to cheer for thanks to a lackluster showing from the Tour’s French riders. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) did his best, attacking on the lower slopes of the Grand Colombier only to be caught by Kwiatkoski and others a little while later.To make matters worse, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Romain Bardet (DSM-firmenich) were both dropped from the yellow jersey group thanks to the pace set by UAE Team Emirates, leaving David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) as the home nation’s best chance for a high finish in Paris (although that’s a bit of stretch given the fact that he’s ninth overall and almost 7 minutes beyond Vingegaard).

Best North American

Sepp Kuss rode valiantly on behalf of Vingegaard, covering Yates’ attack near the top of the Colombier and then hanging on to finish twelfth on the stage. He’s now back into the Tour’s top-10 overall, but will likely sacrifice himself for the sake of Vingegaard in the Alps, where his team thinks the race will be decided.

Rookie of the Day

Riding his first Tour de France and only his second grand tour, Rodríguez maintained his position on the Tour’s General Classification, ending the day fourth overall, 4:48 behind Vingegaard. INEOS is happy to let the 22-year-old (and Pidcock) follow wheels in the yellow jersey group, giving them the space and the freedom to ride their best Tours possible without any pressure from the team.

There’s still a lot of race left, but Rodríguez looks to be a true podium contender–if he can somehow overcome the nearly two minutes that separate him from Australia’s Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), who currently sits third overall.

Another Two Bite the Dust

Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan (Lotto Destny) was dropped about 55km from the end of the stage and abandoned the Tour soon after. Ewan barely survived the time cut on Stage 13 and was seen clutching his abdomen after getting dropped. Once thought to be a rider who would dominate Tour field sprints for years, Ewan now hasn’t won a stage at the Tour since 2020. INEOS also lost one its domestiques: Great Britain’s Ben Turner. It’s a good thing Kwiatkowski won a stage today, because without Turner, the team will need him to stay back and support Rodríguez and Pidcock in the Alps.

Stage Winner : Ion Izagirre (Cofidis)

Make it two stage wins for the Cofidis team in the 2023 Tour de France. That’s thanks to a brilliant Stage 12 ride by Ion Izagirre. With 30K to go on the final climb of the day, Izagirre broke free of the breakaway that included the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, riding to the day’s stage win. For Izagirre, it’s his second career stage win—he won

Let’s hear it again for Cofidis! The French team ended a 15-year Tour de France stage win drought on Stage 2 when Victor Lafay rode to the victory. But they weren’t finished there. Izagirre made his move on the Mathieu van der Poel and the rest of the breakaway at the perfect time and rode clear to the win. Cofidis also had Gui Martin positioned nicely in that select breakaway as a backup plan. It was terrific execution on the day during what has been a dream Tour for Cofidis.

Thibaut Pinot was surely going for a stage win on Thursday; it was not to be. But the 33-year-old from Groupama-FDJ, riding in his final Tour de France, made the move into the top ten of GC. He shot up from 15th overall, 9:36 behind the yellow jersey to tenth overall, 6:30 down. It’s likely not the last we’ve seen of Pinot’s stage win attempts in this year’s Tour, but regardless, it’s cool to see the veteran in the top ten overall.

The Heartbreak of the Day—and the Whole Tour (So Far)

It’s been a strong couple weeks for American Matteo Jorgensen. But unfortunately for the Movistar rider, he doesn’t have a stage win to show for it. Few riders—if any—have spent more time in the breakaway during the first 12 stages of the Tour, but the big win has been just out of his grasp. No defeat was more heartbreaking than Sunday’s Stage 9 on the Puy de Dôme. On Stage 12, Jorgensen appeared to be the strongest rider in the group chasing Izagirre, but he left it too late. He launched a number of (ultimately futile) attempts to try and bridge the gap, but it wasn’t to be. The good news for the American is that there are plenty of pro-breakaway stages remaining for him to try and claim his well-deserved glory.

Stage Winner : Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 11 of the 2023 Tour de France, picking up his fourth stage win so far and continuing to assert his dominance in the sprints. It was a wet and technical finish in Moulins on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop Philipsen, who sprinted past Dylan Groenewegen in the closing meters to claim win No. 4 of the Tour.

Philipsen has proven himself to be the king of the sprints in this year’s Tour de France, capturing his fourth stage victory in the first 11 stages. Additionally, he improved upon his lead in the green jersey points competition. He now leads that by a staggering 145 points. What’s perhaps most impressive about his Stage 11 victory was that he did it without the aid of his top Alpecin-Deceuninck comrade Mathieu van der Poel, who was not spotted up front in the run in to the finish. Philipsen has proven that he can win in multiple different ways and he could be well on his way to a second straight Stage 21 victory in Paris.

Another day, another goose egg in the stage win column for Soudal-QuickStep. The QuickStep team was right at the head of the peloton for much of the ride into the finish in Moulins, working for Fabio Jakobsen, but in the final sprint, Jakobsen was a non-factor sitting on the back of the bunch and ultimately finishing 16th on the day. Jakobsen crashed during the tricky Stage 4 finish, and it appears the sprinter hasn’t fully recovered from those injuries.

The Close Call of the Day

Well, that could have been bad. As the pace ramped up with just over 5K to go in the stage, the Jumbo-Visma train was at the front with Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe sandwiched in between then. The yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard made his way along the edge of the road next to Alaphilippe and—perhaps not noticing him—Alaphilippe drifted towards Vingegaard and the pair nearly collided. Thankfully, nothing happened and Alaphilippe gave the maillot jaune an apologetic tap of the back and the run into the finish continued.

Stage Winner : Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

Pello Bilbao won a sprint out of the breakaway to claim the Stage 10 victory after a thrilling of racing.

Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) takes his first Tour de France stage win at 33-years-old. This is the first win by a Spanish rider in 100 stages. He also slides into the top 5 for the overall standings. Bilbao rode an incredibly smart sprint, shielding himself with Zimmermann and O’Connor as long as possible before throwing the hammer down. Bilbao becomes the 5th first-time stage winner of the tour. In his post-ride interview he dedicated his ride to Gino Mäder, who died recently after suffering a terrible crash in the Tour de Suisse.

Krists Neilands (Israel–Premier Tech) rode a perfectly aggressive race, earned the KOM points on Côte de la Chapelle-Marcousse (Cat 3), and just kept building his lead in front of the two chase groups. With 10 km to go, the team radio told him, “It’s the day of your life, the day of your life, let’s go.” But with less than a kilometer to go, he couldn’t hold off the chasers. He put up an incredible battle and came away with 4th place.

Biggest Villain(s) of the Day

The road and the heat. Man-eating speed bumps, loads of gravel, and chipped pavement all made fast descents even more dangerous than usual. And by the end of the race, temperatures soared to 97-degrees and riders had a hard time staying hydrated. Groups of 4-5 stuck together just to survive.

Newest Race Strategy?

Sometimes race leaders wait until the last mile to make their move. And sometimes they do it with 100 miles to go. Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard went on the attack early in the race to split the peloton. That set the pace for an aggressive day. Still with 48 miles to go there was a 14-man breakaway that took off. The pace throughout the stage was bonkers, making it difficult for such riders as Wout van Aert, who always wants to be the one to set an ambitious pace. Riders started dropping like flies with 30 km to go.

The peloton eventually calmed down and came together, led entirely by Jumbo-Visma.

Cutest Couple

Frenemies and cyclocross stars Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert worked together for a bit to attack out of the peloton with 40 km to go. They broke up after 10 km of riding together as Wout dropped Mathieu to ride on. They proved that when conditions are tough, working with anyone is better than no one.

Stage Winner: Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech)

Canada’s Mike Woods (Israel-PremierTech) won Stage 9 atop the Hors Categorie (“Beyond Category”) Puy de Dôme, one of the most famous climbs in Tour history. The 36-year-old from Toronto paced himself from the base of the climb, catching four riders on his way to his first Tour de France stage victory.

France’s Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) finished second and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) finished third. After an aggressive day of racing from the breakaway, American Neilson Powless held on to finish sixth on the Puy de Dôme, extending his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. He’ll wear the polka dot jersey into the first rest day and to start the Tour’s second week

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) clawed back 8 more seconds, and now sits just 17 seconds behind Denmarks’ Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on the Tour’s General Classification. It seems like an eternity since the two-time Tour winner lost over a minute to Vingegaard at the end of Stage 5, and he’s now regained almost all the time he conceded. More importantly, after gapping the Dane on Stage 6 and Stage 9’s summit finishes, he clearly has a mental edge of his biggest rival to win the Tour.

American Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) attacked the 14-rider breakaway with about 40km to go, heading up the road on his own and slowly extending his lead. Helped by the fact that the four riders chasing him weren’t working well together, it looked for a while as if the 24-year-old from Boise, Idaho was about to take his first Tour de France stage win.

But as the climb steepened, word came that Woods was steadily closing the gap from further down the mountain, and before we knew it, there he was. Jorgenson was clearly running on fumes as first Woods and then France’s Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Slovenia’s Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) caught the American. He ended the day one spot away from the podium, a painful result considering how close he came to winning–and his two fourth-place finishes in last year’s Tour.

Best Mathlete

American Neilson Powless went on the attack again today, joining the breakaway in an attempt to pad his lead in the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. Well, Powless needs to send a thank you note to his elementary school math teacher (or at least his director sportif): by winning each of categorized climbs in the middle of the stage, Powless ensured that he had enough points to keep the polka dot jersey–no matter what happened on the Puy de Dôme, which awarded 20 points to the rider who was first to the summit. Powless’ sixth-place finish on the stage earned him another six KOM points, extending his lead even more.

Powless now leads Austria’s Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) by 18 points and with only 16 points available between Stages 10 and 11, the American is guaranteed to wear the jersey through Thursday. Look for him to continue his polka dot assault: Gall might be given more freedom to fight for the jersey himself after his captain, Australia’s Ben O’Connor, lost more time at the end of Stage 9, meaning his team might be shifting its goals to fight for stage wins–and the King of Mountains prize.

Unsung Hero

American Sepp Kuss and Belgian Wout van Aert get all the prestige as Vingeggard’s top two domestiques (deservedly so), but let’s take a minute to recognize the pace-setting done by Dutchman Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma). Today he took over after van Aert pulled off and before Kuss took his turn, shedding more riders from the GC group. It’s too bad that Pogačar seems to be profiting from the hard work being done by Vingegaard’s team. Perhaps we won’t see so much of Kelderman, Kuss, van Aert, and co. at the front during the Tour’s second week.

Eeriest Moment

One of the conditions of the agreement that allowed the Tour to revisit the Puy de Dôme was that fans would not be allowed to line the climb’s upper slopes, which meant an eerie almost awkward silence as the riders tackled the final portion of the ascent. In a Tour that’s already seen overzealous fans cause some mayhem, the silence was likely a welcome treat for riders annoyed by fans getting in their faces during the Tour’s most important–and painful–moments.

Worst Luck?

Jorgenson needed a bottle at about 33km to go, but was unable to get one because the cars and motorbikes had been moved out of the gap as his pursuers dangled close behind. On a sweltering day that asked a lot of the riders in terms of hydrating and fueling, those few minutes without a bottle–and without his team car–might have made the difference between winning and losing the stage.

A day after they won Stage 8, today could have been another chance for Lidl-Trek, with Denmark’s Martin Skjelmose and Italy’s Giulio Ciccone contenders to win on the Puy de Dôme. But the team missed the move, a tactical blunder that cost them a chance to take a historic victory. To his credit, Skjelmose tried to bridge up to the move after it escaped, but he was joined by Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), who already had Powless up the road and was ordered not to work with the Dane.

And to the idiot gentleman who brought a clothesline to the roadside of the Tour de France: Please leave your laundry at home!

Stage Winner : Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won a Stage 8 sprint, holding off Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to win his first stage of the 2023 Tour de France. The run-in to the finish saw some punchy climbs, but the top sprinters were all there and Pedersen took the win in the end.

Pedersen claimed his second career Tour de France stage win. It was stage that was designed nicely for his strengths with some climbs near the end and a technical finish. The Lidl-Trek team was perfectly positioned to springboard Pedersen to the finish. Alpecin-Deceuninck had a strong leadout train as well, putting Philipsen in good position to win his fourth stage of the Tour. But Pedersen had the advantage from the start of the sprint and was able to hold off Philipsen in what seemed like an impossibly long final stretch to the line.

Stage 8 saw the withdrawal of Mark Cavendish, one of the all-time great Tour de France riders. Cav suffered a collarbone injury and was forced to abandon , ruining his chance of breaking the all-time TdF stage wins record. It’s an especially hard pill to swallow for Cavendish and cycling fans alike, with the crash coming a day after the Manx Missile nearly captured his record-breaking stage win were it not for a mechanical issue in the closing meters. Although he announced his retirement at the end of the season in May, maybe there’s a chance

Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla) was the lone GC rider to lose time on Saturday, crashing with about 6K to go in the stage—outside of the 3K safe zone where riders don’t lose any time for crashes.. Simon Yates entered the stage in fourth place in the GC, 3:14 off the yellow jersey and now he sits in sixth place, 4:01 back and now behind Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) and his twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates).

The Run-Through-A-Brick-Wall Moment of the Day

How about the reaction from the Lidl-Trek team car after Pedersen’s epic Stage 8 win? Listen for yourself and get pumped up on this Saturday.

This was a stage that had cycling fans screaming at the top of their lungs at the finish. After a long, sleepy, and mostly flat stage, all the action was crammed into the last 3K. Why all the screaming? Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) came this close to winning the stage and breaking the TdF stage wins record, only to be passed by the seemingly unstoppable Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with 500 meters to go.

Philipsen was once again positioned perfectly for the win by his leadout ace during this year’s Tour, Mathieu van der Poel, in what he referred to as the team’s “dream Tour” during post race interviews. Cavendish, however, made it very clear that he is more than capable of winning a stage this year, with a second place finish being his best one yet. If Cav keeps getting stronger as he seems to be, there will very likely be more screaming fans tomorrow.

Biggest Winners of the Day

The Alpecin lead out train offered another masterclass in how to win stages in this year’s Tour, with Mathieu van der Poel delivering Jasper Philipsen to another stage win. The other big winner for us during this stage was the one and only Mark Cavendish, who almost made it to the line first before Philipsen overtook him at the last moment. The fact that the Manx Missile’s finish position has come closer and closer to number one with every sprint stage, we think he has the power and form necessary to win number 35 this year. For today, Philipsen keeps the green jersey for another day.

Biggest Surprise of the Day

On a stage that often resembled a recovery ride until the last 10km as the riders gave their legs a bit of a break after two stages in the Pyrenees, the commentary surrounding Wout van Aert and whether he’s on the wrong team was loud and impossible to miss. Christian Vande Velde openly questioned on air what Wout would be able to do if he were on a team he could lead during the Tour instead of having to work for Jonas Vingegaard. With persistent media speculations about tension between Van Aert and Vingegaard on the Jumbo-Visma squad, the riders have routinely denied that anything is amiss, but the questions about whether that’s true have never been this blunt.

Gutsiest—Erm, or Maybe Stupidest—Ride of the Day

With approximately 20K to go, French riders Pierre Latour, the white jersey winner of 2018, and Nans Peters, a 2020 Tour stage winner, took off, working together in an attack that it seemed impossible to hold to the line. This didn’t seem to phase these two, as they spiced up an otherwise sleepy stage, putting up to 40 seconds on the peloton. Eventually Latour went solo in an all out effort, putting the sprinters on notice before blowing up with 3.5K to go.

Strongest American Rider of the Day - Nielsen Powless

Polka Dot Powless kept the King of the Mountains jersey for another day after recapturing it yesterday. The California native has become the de facto team leader for EF Education-EasyPost after Richard Carapaz crashed during Stage 1 and was forced by his injuries to leave the race. Powless went after the KOM competition right out of the gate during this year’s Tour, and so far he’s worn polka dots six out of the seven stages.

Tadej Pogačar won Stage 6 of the 2023 Tour de France, and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) took the yellow leader's jersey during an busy day in the Pyranees. While Vingegaard took over the GC lead, Pogačar made the biggest statement of the day, passing and gapping Vingegaard on the final climb of the day. Pogačar won the stage and narrowed the gap to Vingegaard.

Tadej Pogačar, who made us think that maybe he was playing with us all day. He saved it all for the last 2 km. taking even Jonas Vingegaard by surprise. He took back much of his deficit on the yellow jersey today. He put himself back in the race.

With 2.5K to go on the climb to Cauterets up the Plateau du Cambasque, Tadej Pogačar attacked Vingegaard with a huge surge. Today’s final stretch hints that this whole tour might come down to seconds. Pogačar ended up 24 seconds ahead of Vingegaard on the stage.

Wout van Aert can lead a race forever. The super-domestique did so much work to set the pace for this entire stage. The pacemaking was literally perfect, many times looking like the only one working. With 4.4 km. to go he finally pulled over and left it up to Vingegaard looking like he had given it every ounce of his being.

Strongest American Rider(s) of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education–EasyPost) had a very strong day earning the overall KOM on the climbs.

And Sepp Kuss has been wildly consistent through the tour so far. Today, as usual, he dropped every one of his competitors to bring Jonas Vingegaard up the climbs. He’s easily one of the most valuable riders for Vingegaard.

Stage Winner : Jai Hindley (Bora–Hansgrohe)

Jai Hindley won Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France, claiming the yellow leader’s jersey along with it. It was an eventful first day in the Pyrenees as the top climbers in the world shined and shook up the GC in a big way. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) was second in the stage and Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) came across third on the day. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora–Hansgrohe) was fourth and Jonas Vingegaard was fifth on the stage. Ciccone, Gall, and Buchmann were all 32 seconds behind Hindley and Vingegaard was 34 seconds behind the stage winner.

Jai Hindley put himself in the right breakaway and made all the correct moves on Stage 5 to rocket himself to the stage victory and the yellow jersey. It was an absolutely brilliant day in the saddle for the Australian, who said after the race that he was merely “improvising.” Hindley is no stranger to wearing the leader’s jersey at a Grand Tour; he won the 2022 Giro d’Italia. This may not necessarily be just one quick day in yellow tomorrow for Hindley. More on that in a bit.

When Jonas Vingegaard attacked off the wheels of his teammate Sepp Kuss on the Col de Marie Blanque with 19K to go in the stage, it was our first opportunity of the Tour to see if co-favorite Tadej Pogačar had the legs to match him. He did not. Vingegaard blazed ahead up the climb and maintained that advantage even on the descent of the Col de Marie Blanque. All told, Vingegaard finished 1:04 ahead of Pogačar on the stage, and is 53 seconds up on him in the GC.

Pogačar is in a tough position after Stage 5, now 53 seconds behind the reigning Tour champion Vingegaard. Pogačar, who won the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks to attempt a comeback on Vingegaard. Pogačar suffered a fractured wrist in April and lost some time on the bike while he recovered. Is that lost fitness the difference maker here?

Could it be the 47 seconds that Vingegaard surrendered to Hindley? Hindley is, of course, a former Grand Tour winner and not a rider to be taken lightly. It may have been a bit surprising that the Bora–Hansgrohe rider was allowed to get in the breakaway that eventually launched Hindley to the win. But that was the calculation that the Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates squads made. It’s possible that Thursday’s stage—once again in the Pyranees— is Hindley’s lone day in the yellow jersey. It’s also possible that Hindley is in yellow for much longer than that. Never doubt the power of the maillot jaune.

The Moment of the Day

The official Tour de France YouTube has made some great highlight videos. But they’ve also been great about showing fans the terrific raw—erm, unedited—emotion that the Tour brings out. Take the above video of Hindley after the stage as evidence.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed his second stage win of the 2023 Tour de France, sprinting to the Stage 4 victory on Tuesday. It was a crash-marred last 5K after a very slow day in the peloton. Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck team once again delivered a great leadout and Philipsen had the legs at the end to hold off a hard-charging Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was third across the line to make for the same three men on the podium as Stage 3 (just flip Ewan and Bauhaus).

Alpecin-Deceuninck continued to assert its dominance, claiming the stage win for a second straight day. But Stage 4 was a lot different than Stage 3, despite both days being relatively flat stages. The Stage 4 finish on the motorsport track, Circuit Paul Armagnac created plenty of chaos, which saw three different crashes in the final 2K. But the Alpecin team once again held strong and Mathieu van der Poel emerged at just the right moment to deliver Philipsen to his second win in as many days.

Jasper Philipsen won Stage 3 of the Tour de France, capturing a sprint victory over Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). Philipsen received a terrific leadout from his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel and was delivered to the finish in great position to use his power to take the stage win.

It was a bit of a controversial finish, as race organizers took a little while after the finish before declaring Philipsen as the stage winner officially. There was some question about whether Philipsen drifted into Wout Van Aert’s line in the closing meters of the finish. Ultimately, there would be no relegation and Philipsen was given the stage victory.

Winner of the Day

It’s Alpecin-Deceuninck. Who is going to be able to beat this team when Mathieu freakin’ van der Poel is providing a picture perfect leadout? Meanwhile, Philipsen’s speed these days seems to be the best in the world. Between Philipsen and MVDP, we likely haven’t seen the last stage win for Alpecin in this Tour.

Biggest Loss of the Day

This goes to Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma for a second straight day . After a miscalculation in the sprint finish on Sunday’s Stage 2, Van Aert missed out on another good opportunity to grab a stage win on Monday’s Stage 3. This sprint, however, was a little different—and maybe he has a complaint for the ASO. Neck and neck with Philipsen in the closing meters, Van Aert looked to be running out of room between Philipsen and the barriers. Van Aert let up—possibly to avoid a crash?—and Philipsen rode to the stage win (though there was a fairly lengthy delay before race officials declared Philipsen the winner). Did Philipsen impede Van Aert? Watch for yourself and you be the judge.

Touching Moment of the Day

This came from the Arkéa–Samsic team car as the lone holdout of the breakaway, Laurent Pichon, rode solo through the streets of Spain. Over the radio the team told Pichon: “I’m so proud of you. You are a warrior. You give us so much great emotion. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I love you very much.”

Pinchon, for his efforts on the day, was given the combativity award—and rightfully so. How can you not get emotional about the Tour de France?

Celebration(s) of the Day

Nothing against Philipsen’s fist pump as he crossed the finish line of Stage 3, but let’s give it up for Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost). The American, once again, spent the majority of the day in the breakaway to gain precious King of the Mountains points to retain his polka dot jersey. He summiting all four climbs first and gave the fans a nice waving of his arms at the top—a rare mid-race celebration that we can all appreciate! Powless claimed the maximum seven KOM points on offer on Stage 3 and extended his lead in the competition as we head into another sprint stage on Tuesday.

Stage Winner : Victor Lafay (Cofidis)

Victor Lafay won Stage 2 of the 2023 Tour de France. The Cofidis rider broke free of the lead group of riders that included many of the race favorites with 1K to go in the Tour’s longest stage (208.9K). It was a surprise victory for Lafay, who managed to hold off a hard-charging Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar in the waning meters to capture his first-career stage win.

Victor Lafay and the whole Cofidis team are easily the biggest winners of the day. It’s been 15 years since the French team has won a stage in the Tour de France, and on Sunday, Lafay came through in thrilling fashion to get Cofidis the win on the day. With Van Aert in the reduced peloton coming to the finish, Lafay knew his only shot of taking the stage would be by launching an early attack. He went with 1K to go, and thanks to a bit of misjudgement on Van Aert’s part and some pure guts on Lafay’s part, he won the sprint and earned the first stage win for Cofidis since Sylvain Chavanel in 2008.

It’s unquestionably Wout Van Aert and the Jumbo-Visma squad for missing a surefire opportunity at a stage win. Jumbo had both the numbers and the speed in the reduced peloton for the bunch sprint at the end. But the tactics just weren’t there for the Dutch superteam. Van Aert made his emotions known just as he crossed the finish line, slamming his handlebars, knowing full well he left it too late to take his tenth career TdF stage win.

Another Big Day for the American

Neilson Powless will keep the polka dot jersey for another day—and it’s been well-earned. The American riding for EF Education-EasyPost got himself in the break and banked key King of the Mountains points. Powless was first over four climbs that offered points and he now holds a four-point lead over Tadej Pogačar in the KOM competition. It looked for a time that Powless might be able to hold out for the stage win—and perhaps a shot at the yellow jersey. But a motivated peloton brought him back on the last major climb of the day.

Carapaz Abandons

After a Stage 1 crash involving Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) forced Mas to abandon the 2023 Tour de France, Carapaz was able to limp to the finish of the opening stage. But unfortunately for the Ecuadorian national champion, he wouldn’t start Sunday’s second stage, suffering a fractured kneecap. It’s never fun to see two of the peloton’s top stars leave the Tour after just one stage.

Stage Winner : Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

Adam Yates (UAE team Emirates) claimed Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour de France, winning an unusually difficult opening stage and claiming the race’s first yellow jersey. Adam Yates outlasted his twin brother, Simon Yates (Jayco–AlUla), as the two riders broke free after the final climb of the day.

It’s gotta be the Yates family, right? There simply cannot be a better feeling for Adam and Simon’s loved ones than watching the two twin brothers battle it out for not only a stage win in the Tour de France, but also the maillot jaune.

Who Was the Other Biggest Winner of the Day?

We’ve never seen a Grand Départ this tough before—and we’re better for it. An opening stage prologue or short time trial always felt like a bit of a tease. It was always the Tour, but was it really the Tour?

Instead this year, we didn’t have to wait too long for the fireworks. There was a nervousness in the peloton that is normally reserved for later in the race. With the prize of a guaranteed yellow jersey for the stage winner at the end, anything could happen. The punchy climbs of the Basque region of Spain—particularly the last three—provided some terrific Stage 1 excitement.

The downside of an action-packed first stage is the inevitability of a crash and that’s just what we saw on the descent of the Côte de Vivero. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) went down with around 23K to go in the stage. Mas entered the Tour as a top podium threat and was ultimately forced to abandon, while Carapaz managed to get back on his bike and finish the stage, but lost enough time to take him out of podium contention.

Top American of the Day

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) will become the first American to wear the polka dot jersey since Nate Brown in 2017. Powless, who very nearly claimed the yellow jersey at the Tour last year, was first across the top of the second category Côte de Vivero. Powless figures to be a major player in the mountains classification—and Saturday marks a strong start for him.

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Tour de Suisse: Bryan Coquard wins stage 2 sprint

B ryan Coquard (Cofidis) powered to his first victory of the season on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse, jumping away from Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) in the final 150 metres as the Belgian suffered the most untimely mechanical when starting his sprint.

Coquard was quiet throughout the day, as were his Cofidis teammates, sticking in the wheels until the very best moment after latching onto De Lie’s last lead-out man and outlasting the charge from Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) in second and De Lie after he got going again.

De Lie was the heavy favourite coming into the day and looked set to take the win after his Lotto Dstny team reeled in a late attack from Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) with 1.2km to go, but dropping his chain in the final sprint left him banging the handlebars across the line as he settled for third.

Coquard was yet to win in 2024 despite a whole host of top-five finishes and the win in Regensdorf was his first at WorldTour level since January of last year when he took a stage at the Tour Down Under.

Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) held onto the leader’s yellow jersey after his stage 1 victory, coming home safely just behind the bunch sprint despite some splits forming over the crest of the final climb.

"It's my biggest victory today," said a delighted Coquard post-race. "It's a difficult stage with a hard climb just before the final. Today we knew with the team it was a good opportunity for me.

"I'm a good sprinter but with the big guys it's more difficult for me and today was a perfect opportunity. We arrived with a little bunch and I did a perfect final with a perfect sprint."

Coquard will head to next month's Tour with the aim of fulfilling his career goal of a stage win at the Tour de France, even referencing the closest he has come in the past during an uphill battle to the line with Marcel Kittel in 2016.

"A lot of times I finished second in Tour de France for example, 28mm with Marcel Kittel in Limoges," said Coquard when asked why today was his biggest triumph. "I'm really happy because I went to an altitude training camp for three weeks in preparation for the Tour de France and I won today, it's perfect."

How it unfolded

The longest stage of the 2024 Tour de Suisse kicked off again from Vaduz in Liechtenstein, with 176.9km in the way of a potential chance for the sprinters.

A five-man breakaway formed after an initial attack by Gerben Kuypers (Intermarché-Wanty), Roberto Carlos González (Team Corratec-Vini Fantini) and Félix Stehli (Swiss Cycling) before they were bridged across to by Antoine Debons (Team Corratec - Vini Fantini) and Luca Jenni (Swiss Cycling).

After the short stage 1 individual time trial, Jenni was the closest on GC at 24 seconds and went into the virtual lead as the break built an advantage over the four-minute mark in the opening 50km.

González dropped over the second categorised climb of the day to Ricken (6.1 km at 5.9%) and he was swallowed up with 65km to go, leaving a quartet at the head of the race with a 4:40 advantage to defend.

Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal Quick-Step took up the mantle of pacing on the front around the 60km to-go mark and the deficit started to melt down, reduced by a minute just 10km later.

As the break toiled away in front, mopping up all of the KOM points, intermediate sprints and Tissot bonus second, more teams came to the front - Tudor, Jayco AlUla, EF Education-EasyPost - as the bunch began eyeing up the final climb.

With 25km to go, the pace was heating up and the gap was down to around one minute, causing Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) to drop and fight to get back on as he looks to get some climbing in the legs ahead of the Tour de France.

GC teams began moving up in the kilometres preceding the Regensburg Cat.3 climb but there wasn't too much urgency in the pace with the gap stabilising around 1:14. This was made worse by a small crash in the peloton going through narrow, technical roads and a lot of road furniture making it hard to carry speed through the corners.

Jenni took off from the four-man break as they hit the 3.5km climb which averaged a 5.7% gradient with a 50-second advantage in hand. Behind, EF picked up the tempo on the climb with 13km to go to ensure Marijn van den Berg had an opportunity to fight for victory.

Q36.5 went on the attack with David de la Cruz after no team took up full authority on the lower slopes of the climb. But this prompted Alpecin to get back into gear and really light up the inclines to put the pure sprinters in pain.

De la Cruz and Jenni were quickly reeled in with 11km to go with this new injection of pace and from then on in, Alpecin continued their effort with splits forming all down the climb after the crest.

Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took off on the descent with Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) as those behind fought to get back on. However, they were quickly pulled back once the road flattened out again, giving Bettiol the chance to launch an opportunistic move.

It looked like the Italian had a chance of making it to the line with only splintered groups trying to chase him down. That was until Lotto Dstny came to the fore alongside Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale with De Lie sat in ready to sprint and he was done just before reaching the flamme rouge.

The Belgian squad got the technical run into Regensdorf just right, navigating the multiple 90-degree corners with De Lie still in third wheel. However, the talented young sprinter couldn't finish the job as he dropped his chain, allowing Coquard to get a gap and sprint to victory.

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Sprint | L'Épine (47.5 km)

Finishline points, youth day classification, kom sprint (4) col de serre colon (130 km), kom sprint (4) côte de saint-vincent-de-barrès (167 km), team day classification, race information.

• Date: 02 September 2020
• Start time: 13:20
• Avg. speed winner: 42.01 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 183 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.GT.A.Stage - TM2022
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 31
• Vert. meters: 1388
• Departure: Gap
• Arrival: Privas
• Race ranking: 1
• Startlist quality score: 1662
• Won how: Sprint of large group
• Avg. temperature:

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Tour de Suisse Preview: Big Names Square Off in Major Tour de France Tune-up

Egan bernal, tom pidcock, adam yates and more to blitz climbs, while mark cavendish chases sprint win..

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With a sizeable chunk of the Tour de France peloton currently racing in the Critérium du Dauphiné , a second wave of riders targeting the grand tour will begin their own final preparations at the Tour de Suisse .

Starting on Sunday and running for eight days, the contest will see more of the sport’s top names in action. The top four GC contenders will be missing, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) still recovering from the Giro d’Italia, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) still rebuilding after his Itzulia Basque Country crash on April 4, and both Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in action in the Dauphiné.

In their absence a number of other potential Tour podium contenders will be lighting up the roads in Switzerland, including former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

Five years ago the Colombian became the youngest Tour champion since 1909. Since then he has been blighted by injury, including a near-fatal training crash in 2022, but this season has seen his best form in years.

His results include GC third places in both the Volta a Catalunya and the O Gran Camiño, as well as a number of other top 10 finishes. He will aim for a stirring showing in Switzerland prior to his Tour participation, as will teammate Tom Pidcock .

The Briton won the Amstel Gold Race in April and was fourth in Strade Bianche. He has built his season around a strong performance in the Tour and with leadership in mind, will want to make a statement in Switzerland.

Returning after his overall victory last year will be Lidl-Trek rider Mathias Skjelmose . The Lidl-Trek climber was third in Itzulia Basque Country and will be psyched to repeat his 2023 success.

UAE Team Emirates has a stacked team, with last year’s Tour de France podium-finisher Adam Yates hoping to be back on track after suffering a bad concussion in the UAE Tour. Yates will be joined by Joâo Almeida , who could also be in the running, while their young teammate Isaac del Toro has the talent to do something big.

Movistar will be captained by Enric Mas , three times the runner-up in the Vuelta a España, and EF Education First will feature 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

Cian Uijtdebroeks will hope to be back in form after withdrawing from the Giro d’Italia with illness. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider won’t do the Tour this year, meaning the Tour de Suisse could be a major target in itself.

Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) is another top young talent, and his recent win in the Mercan’Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes hints at the form he could show in the high mountains.

High altitude showdowns plus two stages for sprinters

As expected from a country as mountainous as Switzerland, there will be a major emphasis on climbing in this year’s Tour de Suisse. Four of the eight stages have summit finishes, while the final stage is a time trial finishing with a long uphill.

Stage 1 on Sunday is a 4.8km time trial starting and finishing in Vaduz. It is completely flat, while stage 2 to Regensdorf features three classified climbs and a total of 2,400 meters of ascent. The last climb does top out with about 9km to go, making a big sprint possible.

Day three runs from Steinmaur to Rüschlikon and is another one that could suit the sprinters, although 2,000 meters of climbing plus an uphill ramp to the finish may complicate thing slightly.

Look out for Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) to try to shine on one or both of these days, with a possible morale boost prior to his final Tour de France a big motivation. Also chasing sprint glory are Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech), Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe), and others.

The uphill stars step forward on stage 4, which takes the bunch 170.5km to San Gottardo. The final climbs begin 30km from the finish line and finish with the 8.2km ascent of the Gotthard Pass. That takes the riders to 2,041 meters above sea level, and will be a big test of form.

Stage five continues that climbing requirement and while the first two climbs are followed by a near 100km stretch of downhill and flat roads, it does conclude with the 10.2km ascent to Carì, averaging 8 percent.

Stage 6 was billed as the race’s queen stage but race organizers stated on Friday that problems with snow on the Nufenenpass meant that climb would be excluded. Other alternatives were also ruled out, meaning the race will instead be seriously shortened from 151.4km to just 42.5km.

It will still finish atop the Blatten-Belalp climb, but will total only 848 meters in altitude gain. The planned #RideforGino award in tribute to Gino Mäder moves from the Nufenen Pass to the Gotthard Pass on stage four.

Two further days of racing will follow after that point. Stage 7 is a three-peak day in the mountains, with a climb of the Col de la Croix situated just after the start to put pressure on the riders and again just after halfway through, then a finishing climb at Villars-Sur-Ollon.

The big Tour warm-up race then concludes next Sunday with a 15.7km individual time trial from Aigle to, once more, Villars-Sur-Ollon.

Most of the test is uphill, enabling the climbing specialists to have one final opportunity to chase the race leader’s jersey and to land a major pre-Tour de France morale boost.

Tour de Suisse 2024

Stage 1, June 9: Vaduz to Vaduz (4.8km) Stage 2, June 10: Vaduz to Regensdorf (176.9km) Stage 3, June 11: Steinmaur to Rüschlikon (161.7km) Stage 4, June 12: Rüschlikon to San Gottardo (170.9km) Stage 5, June 13: Ambri to Cari (148.6km) Stage 6, June 14: Ulrichen to Blaten-Belalp (42.5km) Stage 7, June 15: Villars-sur-Ollon to Villars-sur-Ollon (118.2km) Stage 8, June 16: Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollon time trial (15.7km)

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SHOW WHAT YOU CAN DO IN MULTIPLAYER Challenge players from around the world in multiplayer Criterium mode. Take part in online games for up to 6 players and establish your strategy to win the race. Create your own team of 2 riders from over 900 professional cyclists and choose a jersey that sets you apart. Play in Criterium mode each week and try to unlock additional content for your team. New professional riders and World Tour team jerseys will be available so you can modify your team the way you want. Adapt your strategy to the stage. In multiplayer, the Col du Galibier can be climbed with a mountain team as well as a sprint team. Your riders' characteristics are randomly set at the start of the game, to ensure all the players have the same chance. It's then up to you to prove you're the best on all surfaces. Each session is equally important and has to be played to the hilt. Where you finish influences the number of points you win. The better you perform, the faster you will progress towards race victories so you can unlock legendary riders. MORE TEAMS, MORE RIDERS, MORE CHOICES Play as even more riders in Tour de France 2024. In addition to all of the World Tour teams already included in the game, now you can access 15 playable Pro Tour teams and their riders. Burgos-BH, Kern Pharma, Euskatel-Euskadi, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team, Team Novo Nordisk and many more await in the My Tour, Pro Team and Pro Leader modes. Which one will you choose? PRO LEADER | PRO TEAM: TAKE CONTROL OF THE MAJOR TEAMS In Pro Team and Pro Leader mode, take the reins of a professional peloton team while keeping the possibility of creating your own team. You can now choose to play as the team at the top of the UCI rankings or as a fictitious team. Based on your choice, you are free to build your team from the ground up, or you can bring on board the best riders in the peloton. CHOOSE YOUR RULES Explore the new customisation options in My Tour and choose the rules you want. Create your own cycle race from the stages available in the game and change the rules as you wish. Use the Tour de France rules or the Paris-Nice and Critérium du Dauphiné rules to make your Tours different. OTHER NEW FEATURES: • Improved accessibility for people with disabilities • Revised AI for mountain and intermediate sprint stages • The 2024 Tour de France route • Shorter or longer time spent on the ground depending on how serious the fall is • Leaders let their teammates go ahead in the mountains to act as relays • Controller vibrations on dirt roads

As it happened: Philipsen and Van der Poel combine again to win Tour de France stage 4

Ultra-flat stage across southern France could well see fastmen in action again

Tour de France 2023 - Comprehensive team-by-team guide Tour de France 2023 - the definitive guide How to watch the 2023 Tour de France – live streaming Tour de France 2023 – Analysing the contenders Can anyone beat the Tour de France sprinters in Nogaro?

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France!

Today's stage should provide another chance for the sprinters to battle it out on a 181.8km route that runs from Dax to Nogaro. We'll be heading east out of Dax, a place known as a spa destination, and it should certainly be a relaxing ride for those in the peloton with only one category 4 climb on the menu. 

Yesterday saw the first bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour de France with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) taking the win ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny). It wasn't a stage without controversy, however, as Philipsen had to wait for the UCI commissaires to review the sprint footage after there were questions raised over whether he deviated and impacted Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the sprint. He was eventually confirmed as winner and will be looking to double his stage win tally today. 

Riders complained yesterday over safety after Philipsen's move to close the door on Van Aert was mainly down to the design of the finish. There was a chicane inside the final kilometre which cause Philipsen to go for the shortest line to the finish, as sprinters should, and the barriers curved meaning Van Aert actually hit by a spectator's phone and stopped his sprint to fight another day. One of the most outspoken was Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step). Catch up with what he had to say after the finish below. Fabio Jakobsen calls out dangers of Tour de France chicane sprint finishes

Here's an early look at Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) from the start today. He's been enjoying nearly every moment of his final Tour de France and could be well in the fight for today's stage victory. Read below his reaction to finishing sixth yesterday and his thoughts on today's finish as he tries to again overtake Eddy Merckx for the most stage wins in Tour history. No record but promising signs for Mark Cavendish on first sprint stage

All of the riders and teams are currently completing sign-ons in Dax as they prepare for the start of stage 4. This will be the last flat stage before we enter the gates of the Pyrenees and start tackling the mountains that straddle the French and Spanish border.

The riders are making their way to the start line now. We've got the same four leaders in each of our classification: Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) in yellow, Victory Lafay (Cofidis) in Green, Neilson Powless (EF-Education EasyPost) in polka-dots and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in White. Laurent Pichon (Arkéa Samsic) is also on the front row after being awarded yesterday's combatively prize. 

We will, of course, have our neutralised roll-out of 4.5km behind the lead car in southwestern France before the flag is waved. 

Early mechanical issue for Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in the neutral zone. He's back on his back and getting back in now. 

181.8KM TO GO

We're underway with stage 4 of the 2023 Tour de France! We've got no one fancying an early attack as of yet, and it's no surprise given just how absolutely flat today's parcours is. 

Here's a look at Lafay before the stage in what will likely be his final stage in the green jersey as he is tied on points with Philipsen on 80, who likely be in the top three in the finale. He's pictured here with legendary Tour de France sprinter, André Darrigade, who won 22 stages of the Tour in his career and the points classification twice. He would have certainly fancied a finished such as today's into Nogaro. 

💚 Le maillot vert @victorlafay, en compagnie d’une légende du sprint à domicile à @VilledeDax : le Lévrier des Landes André Darrigade, lui même double vainqueur du classement par points et de 22 étapes sur le Tour ! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/q0VDINasRa July 4, 2023

It must be said, the parcours is delivering as expected, a very calm start with no one wanting to neither push the pace nor get into any sort of early breakaway that certainly won't make it. 

It's all smiles for now in the bunch with all the riders enjoying a second calm day on the bike after the explosive opening duo of stages. Perhaps a bit of a surprise to see not a single rider from a French team trying to get away if not at least for the TV time.

Cavendish is having a very friendly chin-wag with former teammate Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-Quick Step). Both have the World Champions bands on their jerseys and both should be involved in the day's final, Cavendish in the sprint and Alaphilippe in the lead-out for Jakobsen. 

165KM TO GO

Status quo remains in a very relaxed Tour de France peloton. 

Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-Samsic) is back at the doctors car getting some more dressings for the injuries he sustained after crashing on stage 2. He finished 12th in the sprint yesterday. 

Happy 4th of July! Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) is looking good in his US national champion's jersey. There are six US riders at this years Tour: - Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) - Lawson Craddock (Jayco-AlUla) - Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) - Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) - Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) - Kevin Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich) 

150KM TO GO

Well the situation is largely the same with no one yet moving off the front and the riders just taking a moment to have a nature-break and chill out in the bunch before any sort of real racing kicks off. 

While there is a moment, make sure to read Stephen Farrand's stage preview for the day which explains the possible sprint finish and explores options for a late attack. Can anyone beat the Tour de France sprinters in Nogaro?

Dsm-firmenich are even joking over the race radio for their riders to get into position. Matt Winston is having fun with it and making sure the riders don't lose focus. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal-Quick Step are currently leading the peloton through Saint-Sever as they continue traversing east. 

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) is giving the cameras a smile on a day I'm sure he would appreciate before we enter the Pyrenees. This isn't a day for him, but the end of the week should be his chance to shine. 

Make sure to read what Cavendish's team manager, Alexander Vinokourov had to say on his sprinter's chance of taking the record that everyone keeps talking about. Vinokourov: The most important thing is that Cavendish keeps calm

120KM TO GO

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Vimsa) has decided it's time to liven up. Have we got the Belgian attack once again? Paris-Nice 2021 we saw a similar Belgian coup and we're seeing something similar now. Just a little something to make the legs feel awake. 

There are gaps in the peloton now, here we go. From nowhere we've come to life. Van Aert is joined by the likes of Naesen and Devenyns at the front just kicking on. Campenaerts and Hermans are making their presence known as the pace rises. 

Things have calmed again after that small section of action. 

We're back to the status quo of before as things now calm down. We're gradually going north-east towards the intermediate sprint at Notre-Dame des Cyclistes. 

It's time to grab a musette and some bidons as the peloton heads past some soigneurs. 

100KM TO GO

Hopefully the upcoming intermediate sprint will kick the stage into life after a slow day. With no breakaway up the road, there will be 20 points available in the green jersey competition, so the sprint teams with be enthusiastic to go for it. 

Jakobsen is showing himself at the front alongside Mikel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates). There's still time for chit-chat as we still aren't properly racing yet. 

Take a look below at some of the finishing corners for today's stage which ends in Nogaro on the Circuit Paul Armagnac, a motor racing circuit, from the view of the Jayco AlUla team bus. 

#TDF2023 Bike race or bus race!? 🚌 🚎 🤪 pic.twitter.com/IxnS2RoYak July 4, 2023

The sprint teams are just beginning to sort out their trains with the intermediate sprint closing in. Alpecin-Deceuninck has occupied the left-hand side of the road as they try to put Philipsen into the virtual lead of the green jersey competition. All he needs to do is score more points that Lafay as they are on the same total of 80 for now. 

We've just dipped past the halfway mark of the stage!

It's an arrow straight run into the intermediate sprint so we should see the pace slowly ramping up now. Van Aert is still not contesting for points as he said he wouldn't.

Philipsen takes the full haul of 20 points at the intermediate sprint. The Belgian made it look easy after another great show of strength from the Alpecin-Deceuninck lead-out. That was quite the warm-up for the end of the day. 

Top five of the intermediate sprint (points): - Philipsen (20) - Coquard (17) - Ewan (15) - Pedersen (13) - Meeus (11)

Finally, we have an attack! It's only taken 100km, but two riders from Normandy have taken their chance to get out in front: Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) and Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic).

Surprise, Surprise. A breakaway goes and gets a gap that is approaching the minute mark and Tim 'El Tractor' Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) has taken up his usual position on the front to begin the chase. 

Philipsen has moved into the lead of the green jersey competition ahead of the sprint, and should definitely be wearing it tomorrow unless Lafay somehow wins the stage or he scores 0 points in the final sprint and either Pedersen or Van Aert cleans up the full 50 awarded for victory. Current standings: - Philipsen - 100 points - Lafay - 80 points - Van Aert - 52 points - Pedersen - 52 points - Cavendish - 46 points

Today's peloton has been incredibly calm and we're just starting to build up to what is set to be an electric sprint finish. Those with the best sprinters are making their way to the front to start the controlling phase. Soudal-QuickStep for Jakobsen, Jayco AlUla for Groenewegen and Alpecin-Deceuninck for Philipsen, yesterday's winner. 

Cosnefroy and Delaplace have a 0:54 advantage over the peloton for now.

We've been heading east all day up to now, but in around 10km, we will change direction and start heading south before the peloton turns back on itself and heads west to the motor racing circuit in Nogaro. There will be a change in wind direction which could make some of the riders and teams nervous. 

We've just seen one of the classics sights on the Tour de France on the side of the road! Didi the Devil! 

Our two escapees for the day: Cosnefroy and Delaplace. 

There is talk of a narrow-ish entrance onto the finishing motor circuit which will come around 3km from the line. We should see an almighty fight to be near the front once they enter the circuit. Things should start heating up nicely from here on in. 

The lead for the two men out in front has decreased to just 37 seconds now, and we are about to turn right and begin our journey west towards Nogaro. The only categorised climb of the day crests around 10km from now on the Côte de Dému. It's a category 4 climb and only offers one point for the first rider to reach the top. 

The nervousness is rising with the peloton closing in on the break and approaching the important moments of the stage. Everyone will want to stay safe after such an easy day and the mountains awaiting them in the coming days. 

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Qazaqstan) is having issues at the back of the peloton with his chain and isn't able to re-string it yet. He's back on his bike now and on his way back to the bunch after nicely being helped by a Cofidis mechanic. 

With a finish on a motor racing circuit today, avid fans will remember recent finishes into the Imola track in Italy for the 2020 World Championships and the use of the Fuji International Speedway in the latest olympic road race. Both of those finishes were preceded, however, by much more difficult routes than today and today should see a big bunch fighting for the win on the wide and winding road. Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) has also won a sort of sprint stage into the Imola motor racing circuit in the past at the 2018 Giro d'Italia, but he of course isn't here today and it will be instead the man he beat on that Giro stage, Danny van Poppel (Bora-hansgrohe), doing the lead-out for Jordi Meeus (Bora-hansgrohe) who was preferred over the Irishman for this Tour. 

EF Education-EasyPost have decided not to chase the singular KOM point if the break stay ahead, but if they are reeled back in then expect the American to fly off the front. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck still has their full train in formation working at the head of the race. They are clearly carrying a lot of confidence after their near flawless performance yesterday to take the win. 

Delaplace takes the only KOM point of the day on the Côte de Dému.

Cosnefroy and Delaplace are all smiles out in front and merci to both of them for choosing to give the race some life after the intermediate sprint. Van der Poel is stretching at the back of the peloton before he readies himself for another huge lead-out for Philipsen. 

Runner-up on yesterday's sprint, Phil Bauhaus, praised his more GC-focused teammates for giving their all in aid of his sprint ambitions and you can see why as Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) is once again doing the work at the head of the peloton for the German sprinter on Tour de France debut. 

We're getting a look at the finishing straight which is, in stark contrast to yesterday, very wide and open, so it should be a pure test of sprinting speed and lead-out organisation. We've got a head crosswind in the straight, so the left-side will be the desired side for shelter. The tension continues to build.

Take a look at all the sprint teams getting into colour order in anticipation of the second big bunch sprint of the 2023 Tour de France. 

🏁 23 KM The sprint race starts now 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Le sprint commence dès maintenant 🚴🚴🚴#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/OnKlQyTzB7 July 4, 2023

The pace is increasing as we head towards our big finale. With such a narrow entrance to the motor racing circuit, we'll see the GC teams in and amongst it with the big sprinter. Hopefully everyone stays rubber-side down and safe. 

Sam Welsford (dsm-firmenich) wasn't as close to the front as he may have been touted before the day in 13th. His whole team are now setup on the right-hand side of the road and will want to execute their lead-out much better today to give the rapid Aussie a chance at victory. 

There will be a tricky left hand turn with around 7km to go and all the teams will want to be out in front at that crucial moment to ensure they can then lead into the Circuit Paul Armagnac.

Speeds are very high as we are heading downhill for the moment. There's some road furniture causing the peloton to split and reform. They are racing full gas for positions at the moment. US national champion Simmons is doing a fantastic job on the Fourth of July for Lidl-Trek and Mads Pedersen. 

Luis Leon Sanchez is looking after Cavendish for now as the peloton is shredding the pace in anticipation for this left-hand turn. Some dsm-firmenich riders have missed it and their train is completely shot to pieces. They are all looking around and has Sam Welsford had a disaster?

Bora-hansgrohe are setting up their train nicely for the Van Poppel and Meeus combo. Jumbo-Visma are looking after Vingegaard and fighting with Lotto-Dstny. 

We've had another roundabout with a faster side which has dropped some more riders out of the positions they wanted. Nils Politt is driving it on the front for BORA but all the teams are getting desperate for that front spot. 

Jumbo-Visma hit the front and are doing a fantastic job for both Vingegaard but not Van Aert. Cavendish is being piloted well by Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan) for now, but he'll want to keep this position for the final. 

Here we go onto the circuit! Alpecin are moving up with heir big train as the riders compete a right turn and then enter the circuit. van Hooydonck and Laporte are looking for Van Aert, but they cannot see him. Bahrain have done a great job for now but is Bauhaus in the right position? 

Cavendish is in fantastic position now! The Brit will want to latch onto the right wheel for the finale to launch out of the slipstream. Mohoric is on the front for Bauhaus with Vingegaard in second wheel. 

Crash for Jakobsen in the final 2km!

Disaster for Soudal-QuickStep and its Cofidis doing a great job for now.

We're on the big straight now for the final sprint. Here comes Van der Poel and Philipsen. 

Ewan and Philipsen to the line! What a horrible, chaotic finish that was. We've had an absolute disaster on stage four of the Tour de France. So many riders crashed in the hectic corners and there will be a lot that comes out in the wash after this stage. 

It was very close between Ewan and Philipsen, so we will wait for confirmation. 

STAGE FINISH

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wins stage 4 of the Tour de France ahead of Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) by half a wheel. Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) had another strong finish in third as we have the same podium as yesterday in a different order. Two from two for Philipsen. Van der Poel did an incredible lead-out that speared through the rest of the bunch and gave Philipsen enough of a launch to hold off the charging Ewan. 

Take a look at how close it was on the line for Philipsen and Ewan. Van der Poel again proved to be the difference for the Belgian sprinter. Jakobsen is giving a thumbs up to the cameras thankfully after his high-speed crashed. He's visibly injured but hopefully it's not much more than a cosmetic issue.

Here's what stage winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) had to say after his second victory in as many days: "It was close in the end, I was happy they confirmed quickly. It was a really easy stage, I think everybody wanted to save legs for the Pyrenees tomorrow and the day after." "In the final kilometres entering the circuit in the final, I heard some crashes around me, so I hope everybody is ok, but it was a bit of a hectic final with the turns in the end." "I lost my team as well, but in the final straight I found Mathieu van der Poel again and he did an amazing pull to get me to victory, but my legs were cramping and Caleb were coming close." "It's a nice finish but I thought it would be a bit more safe with wide roads, but the turns were also tricky, especially going full gas in the turns. Luckily the tyres were good enough and I didn’t slip away. It was a nice finish, but I hope everyone who crashed is ok." Philipsen also moved into a comprehensive lead in the green jersey competition with his haul of 70 points in the stage. "I thought I had it, but I was not sure but quickly after I got confirmation," he said. "I think it’s looking good for green but it’s only four stages and the Tour is a long, long way, but we’ll try to defend it."

Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) was unable to break the record and win his 35th stage again, but he did take another promising 5th place. "Carnage it was. Every team would've had a plan for that final and I bet you there wasn't any that it went right for, apart from Jumbo [Visma] getting the guy into the narrow roads early, Cavendish said after the finish. "It was a real mixing point of riders, I was constantly analysing who was there and who had other teammates, jumping from train to train." "When I saw Mads [Pedersen] had Stuyven for him, that's the one. Stuyven's gonna lead him out, Mads is gonna go early and it's a headwind finish on a long straight. I though I'd use that, but they just didn't go." "At one point I was like okay 350 [metres], maybe you should just hit now, sure someone would pass me, but you just limit your losses, but it's the Tour so you gamble." "I'm most worried about Luis Leon Sanchez, I think he's gone down."

Here's Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) after his crash. He got back on his and finished the stage thankfully, but there was a whole host of other riders who hit the deck in this crash-marred finish. Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Qazaqstan) was one of those to fall and his team have tweeted that he has gone to hospital for check. Axel Zingle (Cofidis) tangled in the final lead-out with Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X) and they both crashed by the barriers on the final straight. Jacopo Guarnieri (Lotto-Dstny) is also reported to have crashed in the chaotic final kilometres. 

Van der Poel has proved the difference for Philipsen on both today's and yesterday's stage. He bullied Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) out of his way on the final straight and launched Philipsen to the line with tremendous speed. "A circuit is not safer than a road to finish I can tell you this, but it was really fast and the corners are quite difficult to judge in the bunch and you also have nowhere to go so I'm really happy I managed to stay upright, Van der Poel said after the stage. "In the end I found a gap at the perfect moment with Jasper [Philipsen] and I think I dropped him off like he wanted to and it was close I think, but he managed to finish it off again so it's gonna be nice again in the room tonight." "The confidence is there now and there's a little pressure now and I think Jasper and I together with the rest of the team and Jonas as well, at the moment as a lead-out, we are really well-oiled and I think I'm a really good last man for him. It's just a good team combination." 

Van der Poel also commented on the safety after a crash-marred finale, he said:  "I enjoy it afterwards, but during it could have been me on the ground afterwards, it's just super dangerous, even more than so in other races and its nice that he finishes it off and that we took the risk for something today."

Neither Astana Qazaqstan nor Lotto-Dstny have confirmed as of yet, but Luis León Sánchez and Jacopo Guarnieri are reported to have broken their collarbones and will play no further part in this year's Tour de France. This would be a big loss for Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) and Mark Cavendish's (Astana-Qazaqstan) sprint ambitions for this race as they both play important roles in the final few kilometres for their respective sprinters. 

Make sure you read Cyclingnews' full stage report below and check out the growing picture gallery from the day's action. Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen wins two in a row in crash-marred stage 4

There were no changes to the general classification as the overall contenders avoided the chaos of the final 3km and with all the crashes, they would have been pleased to arrive at the finish in Nogaro unscathed before a battle in the Pyrenees begins tomorrow. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) remains in the yellow jersey, six seconds ahead of his brother Simon (Jayco AlUla) and his teammate Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). Last year's winner, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), sits in sixth overall, 22 seconds down on the Brit. 

I'll leave you with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in his new green jersey after overtaking Victor Lafay (Cofidis) by a huge margin with his win in the final sprint and the intermediate sprint. Alpecin-Deceuninck have shown their dominance in the first two bunch sprints of this Tour, but tomorrow will be the first full chance for the climbers to stretch their legs as we enter the Pyrenees. Stage 5 is 162.7km from Pau to Laruns and we will hit the first hors categorie climb of this year's Tour de France at the Col de Soudet, before tackling two more categorised climbs, including the Col de Marie Blanque. If you want some overnight research to do, this is almost a copy, paste of stage 9 of the 2020 Tour de France, which was actually the first Tour stage won by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), so expect to see the Slovenian in full attack mode. Come back to Cyclingnews' for the live report and a whole host of other content being produced on the ground at the race. 

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'Perfect' - Primoz Roglic celebrates 'beautiful' title win at Criterium du Dauphine ahead of Tour de France

Published 09/06/2024 at 14:32 GMT

Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) began the final stage of the 2024 Criterium du Dauphine over a minute ahead of his closest rival, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a bike) on Sunday. However he saw his lead chipped away as Jorgenson was part of a trio to attack with five kilometers remaining of the stage and the race. He was able to hold onto an eight-second gap in his favour.

Highlights: Roglic emerges victorious on Stage 6 as Evenepoel falters

Roglic extends lead at top of Dauphine with Stage 7 win, Evenepoel drops to fifth

08/06/2024 at 19:25

‘This is bad news for Remco Evenepoel’ – Belgian dropped from Dauphine lead group

Geoghegan Hart latest to withdraw from Dauphine after big Stage 5 crash

08/06/2024 at 12:42

‘Beautiful’ and ‘quite crazy’ – Roglic sums up what winning Dauphine means

Rodriguez beats jorgenson to stage 8 sprint finish, roglic wins overall.

Tour de France 2023: Lafay retains green jersey

Points competition stage 3 1. Victor Lafay 80 2. Jasper Philipsen 80 3. Wout van Aert 52 4. Tadej Pogacar 42 5. Mads Pedersen 39 6. Mark Cavendish 36 7. Neilson Powless 32 8. Michael Woods 31 9. Jordi Meeus 31 10. Adam Yates 30 11. Phil Bauhaus 31

Intermediate sprint, at kilometre 65.8: 1. Laurent Pichon 20 2. Neilson Powless 17 3. Victor Lafay 15 4. Mads Pedersen 13 5. Jordi Meeus 11 6. Biniam Girmay 10 7. Jasper Philipsen 9 8. Mark Cavendish 8 9. Caleb Ewan 7 10. Bryan Coquard 6 11. Mathieu van der Poel 5 12. Dylan Groenewegen 4 13. Peter Sagan 3 14. Alex Kirsch 2 15. Fabio Jakobsen 1

Finish: 1. Jasper Philipsen 50 2. Phil Bauhaus 30 3. Caleb Ewan 20 4. Fabio Jakobsen 18 5. Wout van Aert 16 6. Mark Cavendish 14 7. Jordi Meeus 12 8. Dylan Groenewegen 10 9. Mads Pedersen 8 10. Bryan Coquard 7 11. Biniam Girmay 6 12. Luca Mozzato 5 13. Sam welsford 4 14. Alexander Kristoff 3 15. Søren Wærenskjold 2

Another interesting read: KOM competition stage 3.

Tour de France 2023, stage 3: routes & profiles

Click on the images to zoom