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How Yorkshire won the 2014 Tour de France: the Grandest Départ’s legacy

F or the 4.8 million people who lined England’s streets for the first three stages of the Tour de France this summer, the race itself was a fleeting affair. But while the peloton whizzed by in seconds, the memory lives on of what the Gallic organisers called the “grandest” Grand Départ in the 111-year history of the event.

The roads of Yorkshire are still marked with graffiti urging on the Brit favourite, Mark “Cav” Cavendish – a poignant reminder that the Manx sprinter didn’t even make it to stage two after crashing at the first finish in Harrogate.

The Bank View Cafe at Langsett, on the edge of the Peak District, is still covered with the same red polka dots that adorn the King of the Mountains jersey, which is awarded to the best climber; sad to report, though, the sheep in Killinghall that were sprayed yellow and green to match the other jerseys are now back to their normal hues.

Stage three of this year’s Tour went from Cambridge to London, but Yorkshire, which hosted the first two legs, was the real winner.

A recent report estimated that the race generated £128m for God’s Own County , compared with just £30m for Cambridgeshire, Essex and London. The sourpusses down south failed to embrace the Tour with the same enthusiasm as their northern counterparts – just 78% of those surveyed around stage three said the race had been good for their local area, compared with 94% of those on stage two, which wound from York to Sheffield via the West Yorkshire Brontë Country.

In Harrogate, an initiative to create bunting out of knitted yellow jerseys proved so popular that organisers had to beg locals to put down their needles after 22,000 miniature jumpers had been sent in three months before the race even started . In Otley, all 19 pubs translated their names into French to welcome the race , while at Appleton’s butchers in the market town of Ripon, the elite riders were welcomed with a bicycle made from pies . A team of 12 staff spent 24 hours perfecting their creation, using enormous pork pies for wheels, black pudding for handlebars, chipolatas for the chain and a gammon joint for the saddle.

On the Yorkshire legs, particularly on the big climbs of Holme Moss and Butter Tubs Pass, spectators cheered with such gusto that one British rider, Geraint Thomas, later said: “It was like being in a disco for four hours.”

British Cycling insists the three-day cycling jamboree has left a legacy of active cyclists across the nation. More than 95,000 people took part in British Cycling-registered events in the regions touched by the Tour de France in 2014 – a year in which total participation across all British Cycling’s recreational programmes increased by 64%.

A new international three-day stage race in Yorkshire has also been announced for 2015, with the Tour de Yorkshire cementing the region as a host of major international bike racing.

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Tour de France Yorkshire 2014: 15 memorable moments from the Tour's history

Great wins, record-breakers, injuries and more

• 19:30, 20 JUN 2014
• Updated 17:47, 3 JUL 2014

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The Tour de France has had 100 Grand Departs, 100 winners - and produced a wealth of memorable moments.

As host city Leeds gets ready for the Yorkshire Grand Depart on July 5 , we've taken a look at some of the iconic tournament's most memorable moments since its 1903 debut.

The cyclists will whizz though Huddersfield , Holmfirth and up to Holme Moss on July 7 - while we countdown to the Yorkshire leg of the Tour de France, take a look at some stand out moments from the last 100 races.

• Pyrenees added to the route The mountains made their debut on the Tour de France route in 1910, with the introduction of the Pyrenees. Today the mountain stages are an impressive spectacle - but back then they added to what was already a brutal course and an extremely tough race. The roads of the time were so poor most riders were forced to push their bikes up the mountains. The 1910 winner Octave Lapize crested the Col d'Aubisque on foot, and famously shouted at the race organisers: "You're all murderers!" The Alps became part of the Tour in 1911.  
• The first Yellow Jersey Now an iconic part of the Tour de France, the yellow jersey was not introduced until 1919, after the press pressured organisers to make the race leader more visible in the throng of riders. The winning jersey was yellow to reflect the colour of the newspaper that first organised the Tour de France - L'Auto. The first ever yellow jersey was awarded to Eugene Christophe, one of the top riders of his generation.  

• Charley Gaul beats the odds In 1958 cyclist Charley Gaul actually managed to reduce one of his opponents to tears during his incredible journey to win the Tour de France. Following the climb of the Ciol de Lautaret, a small group of riders had broke clear on the others and had eight minutes on the rest. Gaul began the chase and overtook rider after rider. Spaniard Salvador Botella, in eighth place, stopped when Gaul passed him and wept - his team mates turned back to encourage him to continue, but he burst into tears again before climbing into the race ambulance. Gaul eventually crossed the finish line of that stage in Bourget-en-Aix 15 minutes ahead of the leader, Raphael Geminiani.  
• The first ever Champs Elysees finish It's now an iconic scene in the Tour de France - competitors speeding past the Arc de Triomphe and round to the Champs Elysees finishline. In 1975 Tour organisers made an agreement with the city of Paris to host the final stage - eight laps around the city, passing the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. Belgian sprinter Walter Godefroot won the first mass finish in Paris, whole Bernard Thevenet won the overall race that year.  

• 'Super Mario' wins four stages in a row The 1999 Tour de France saw sprinter Mario Cipollini dominate the sprint stages in flamboyant style, living up to his 'Super Mario' nickname. He won four consecutive sprint stages, something never before achieved. The Italian was known for his longevity - his first professional win was in 1989, his last in 2005. He retired in April of that year, after participating in the ceremonial prologue of the Giro d'Italia, wearing a fluorescent pink skin suit which listed his 42 stage wins.  

• Erik Zabel's green jersey record Sprinter Erik Zabel made other cyclists green with envy (ho ho) by winning the green points jersey six years in a row from 1995-2001, an absolute Tour de France record. The green jersey is awarded to the race leader in the points competition - points are awarded for high finishes in a stage and for winning intermediate sprints. Zabel was called the most consistent sprinter of his generation.  

Wiggins does it for Britain Bradley 'Wiggo' Wiggins became a national hero and made history for Great Britain in 2012 when he became the first Brit to win the Tour de France for Team Sky. The 32-year-old finished with a winning margin of three minutes and 21 seconds, with his teammate Chris Froome coming in second place. Wiggins is not entering this year's Tour de France - but he has earned his place in the race's prestigious history.

Lance Armstrong's downfall A dark moment for the Tour de France, but a memorable one none the less. Former champion Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in August 2012 and given a lifetime ban from competitive cycling by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The cyclist opted not to contest the drugs charges, saying he was tired of fighting the allegations - but confessed to using drugs to win his seven titles in an interview of the Oprah Winfrey Show in January last year.

Chris Froome wins the 100th race Team Sky set an ambitious aim in 2010 to create the first British winner of the Tour de France within five years - little did they know they were going to achieve their goal twice over in that time period. Christ Froome followed Wiggo's footsteps in 2013 to become the second Brit to achieve Tour de France glory, after coming second the year before. Chris took the title in the 100th edition of the race by more than four minutes, and linked arms with his teammates as he crossed the line in Paris.

Yorkshire awarded the Grand Depart Yorkshire became part of Tour de France history when it was chosen for this year's Grand Depart, with two stages of the race snaking through Yorkshire towns, cities and countryside. The race begins outside France every second year - and host city Leeds will kick off the action outside its town hall on Saturday July 5. The successful bid for the honour by Welcome To Yorkshire has seen the country celebrate with a 100-day long Yorkshire festival, yellow bicycles dotted along the routes and plans for a spectacular opening ceremony headlined by Brighouse band Embrace .

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Tour de France: A review of the 2014 race

Matt Westby looks back on an incident-packed three weeks

Wednesday 30 July 2014 15:30, UK

The 101st Tour de France had it all. Scorching heat, driving rain, cobbles, crashes galore, enormous crowds and even yellow sheep animating what developed into one of the most compelling editions of cycling’s greatest race in years.

It ended with Vincenzo Nibali standing on the top step of the podium on the Champs-Elysees, but the three-week journey from Leeds to Paris was about much more than just the yellow jersey.

Here, we reflect on the 2014 race…

Yorkshire Grand Depart a resounding success

When bidding to host the start of the Tour de France in Yorkshire, Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity promised race director Christian Prudhomme the grandest Grand Depart in history of the race.

Given that millions of fans had taken to the streets of London to see the Tour on its previous visit to Britain, in 2007, it was a bold statement, but Verity, his team and the people of England, more than delivered.

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Estimates suggested that up to five million people lined the route of the opening two days of the race in Yorkshire, with hundreds of thousands more then greeting the peloton as they made their way from Cambridge to London on stage three.

Jens Voigt, one of the most experienced and respected riders in professional cycling, tweeted afterwards: “What a success was this England adventure for @letour and @letouryorkshire!! All of us loved every minute of it. Honoured that I was there. The pure amount of people on the roads and in the cities was just unheard of, this 3 days put bike racing into a whole new dimension.”

More from Tour De France 2014

Andy Schleck announces retirement aged 29 due knee injury sustained at Tour de France

Chris Froome in line to ride Vuelta a Espana after Sir Dave Brailsford drops hint

Tour de France: Vincenzo Nibali says win was inspired by losing to Bradley Wiggins in 2012

Tour de France: Vincenzo Nibali completes victory as Marcel Kittel wins stage 21 in Paris

Marianne Vos wins inaugural La Course by Le Tour de France as Lizzie Armitstead crashes

Key moments

Cavendish crashes out

The race was littered with incident, and it didn’t take long for the first major story to break. Mark Cavendish had been hoping to win the opening stage into Harrogate – a town where he has close family ties – and claim the yellow jersey for the first time in his career, but his dreams turned into a nightmare when he crashed into Simon Gerrans and fell heavily on his shoulder. He was able to finish the stage, but quit the race the next morning with a severe tear of the ligament connecting his shoulder and collarbone.  

Froome’s falls

Stage four should have been an uneventful sprint stage, but instead, it turned into a disaster for defending champion Chris Froome. He crashed heavily when a rider veered across his path and clipped his front wheel, leaving him with widespread road rash but, more significantly, a badly-injured wrist. He managed to take to the start line of stage five, but with heavy rain turning the road surfaces into a skid pad and Froome struggling to handle his bike, he crashed twice more – his second and third falls in 24 hours – and was forced to quit the race mid-stage. Subsequent scans revealed he had fractured his left wrist and right hand.

Nibali flourishes on the cobbles

The fifth stage, from Ypres to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, contained 13km of cobbles and had been highlighted as a day on which survival was the only priority for the favourites for overall victory. However, Nibali had other ideas. Shepherded by his brilliant Astana team-mates, particularly Jakob Fuglsang, the Italian danced over the pave and even dropped cobbled Classic experts such as Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan on the way to finishing third on the stage, more than two and a half minutes ahead of a far less comfortable Alberto Contador. It was, quite simply, a masterpiece.

Contador breaks leg

Although he had sustained heavy losses on stage five, Contador’s favoured hunting grounds of the high mountains were still to come, and he hinted that he had the better of Nibali going uphill by dropping the Italian close to the finish line on stage eight. However, he didn’t get the chance to show his class, because on stage ten he followed Froome by crashing out of the race. The Spaniard hit a blemish in the road surface while reaching into his jersey pocket and fractured the tibia in his right leg in the resulting fall. Although he remounted his bike and rode on for the best part of 20km, he was unable to continue, climbed into the Tinkoff-Saxo team car and left Nibali without his two main rivals.

Nibali soars to Chamrousse

Although Froome and Contador were no longer in the picture, Nibali still faced competition from the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet. He had already dropped all of those riders on the way to winning stage eight at the mountain-top finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, but it was stage 13’s summit finish at Chamrousse where he stamped his authority on the general classification and showed emphatically that he was the outstanding rider in the race. He put 50 seconds into Valverde that day, 53 seconds in Pinot, 1min 23sec in Bardet, and a huge 2min 09sec into Jean-Christophe Peraud, who would go on to finish second overall. It was the day he broke his opponents’ spirit and effectively sealed victory.

Key talking point

Nibali’s triumph was an exhibition of all-round brilliance. His opportunist win on stage two in Sheffield, his superb display on the cobbles, his imperious performances in the mountains and his fourth-place finish in stage 20’s time-trial showed the Italian to be the master of all terrains, scenarios and conditions. However, as glorious and impressive as his victory was, it will always be dogged by the caveat that Froome and Contador – the two pre-race favourites – were not there to challenge him.

Would Nibali have won if they had not crashed out? It is obviously an impossible question to answer, but there is room for evidence-backed speculation.

Contador’s case is the easiest to assess given that the Spaniard finished the cobbled fifth stage, whereas Froome didn’t. Contador trailed Nibali by 2min 37sec overall after that stage, but went on to drop Nibali close to stage eight’s finish at Gerardmer, and although that he only put three seconds into the Italian, it was ample proof that Contador was the stronger climber of the two. Over the remaining five summit finishes, would Contador have continued to whittle away his remaining 2min 34sec deficit? Possibly. Probably. That could well have set up a shootout in the stage 20 time trial, a discipline in which the pair have been closely matched on the few occasions they have faced each other in recent years. Overall conclusion: it would have been very close.

Froome’s case is far more hypothetical, because we don’t know how much time he would have lost – or gained, for that matter – on Nibali on stage five. What we can predict is that given Froome was so evenly matched with Contador in the mountains at the Criterium du Dauphine that he too would likely have had the narrow beating of Nibali uphill. Froome has also proved a superior time triallist this year – defeating Nibali by 13 seconds over 10.4km at the Dauphine and by 43 seconds over 18.5km at the Tour de Romandie – so would have edge in the stage 20 time trial as well. Admittedly, Nibali wasn’t in his best form in either of those races, but it would nevertheless be realistic to suggest than Nibali would have been losing time to Froome from stage six onwards.

While those theories are speculative and open to criticism, what cannot be questioned is that Nibali's win was well-rounded, emphatic and, ultimately, thoroughly deserved.

Lessons learnt

Nibali should race the cobbled Classics

The sight of Nibali riding away from Cancellara and Sagan towards the end of the cobbed fifth stage was arguably the most remarkable image of the whole Tour, even more so than Froome and Contador crashing out. Admittedly, the playing field was levelled somewhat by the wet weather, which meant Cancellara and Sagan had to favour careful bike handling over putting the power down, but Nibali faced the same conundrum and the fact that he prevailed suggested he could be an accomplished performer in cobbled Classics such as Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders in the future.

The French Revolution has begun

France has not had a Grand Tour winner since Laurent Jalabert claimed victory at the 1995 Vuelta a Espana, and has not had a Tour de France winner since the great Bernard Hinault in 1985. A promising crop of young climbers have shown signs in recent years that they could bring that barren run to an end, but until this month, they had not fulfilled their potential.

That all changed at this year’s Tour, though, with French riders finishing second, third and sixth in the general classification. Jean-Christophe Peraud was the runner-up, but at the age of 37, it is fair to say that might be as good as it gets for him. However, third-placed Thibaut Pinot, 24, and sixth-placed Romain Bardet, 23, both produced breakthrough performances that suggested the promise they showed as youngsters is now manifesting itself into two credible Grand Tour contenders.

Sagan may never give up green

Peter Sagan may have missed out on a stage victory at this year’s Tour, but compensation came in the form of a third consecutive green jersey as the Slovak once again topped the points classification by a resounding 149 points over his nearest rival. Incredibly, he finished in the top five on all of the opening seven stages – the first man to achieve that feat since Charles Pelissier in 1930 – and took nine top fives in total, including five top threes. Given his continued ability to challenge on such a wide variety of stages, it seems more infeasible than ever that he will anyone will beat him to the green jersey in the foreseeable future. 

Best photos

The Tour de France always delivers outstanding imagery. Here are a selection of the best photos from this year’s race.

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Yorkshire promises "greatest Grand Départ in the history of the Tour de France”

First details of Tour’s third stage also released at Paris presentation

Yorkshire is aiming to deliver what Welcome2Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity says will be the “greatest Grand Départ in the history of the Tour de France.”

Robinson proud observer for Yorkshire as curtain lifts on Tour de France 2014

Brailsford believes Froome can cope with cobbles at 2014 Tour de France

Stephen Roche: Fairly soft 2014 Tour de France route

Video: Cavendish looks forward to 2014 Tour de France

Nibali could ride Flanders to prepare for the Tour de France

Video: Voigt weighs in on 2014 Tour de France route

Brailsford names Nibali as Froome's biggest rival for the 2014 Tour de France

Tour de France 2015 to start in Utrecht

Welcome2Yorkshire plan for three-day WorldTour race in 2015

Speaking at the 2014 Tour de France presentation in Paris, Verity claimed that “The Grand Départ will put Yorkshire on the map as a destination capable of hosting world class events in a world-class location, providing a springboard to greater things. We are excited, we are proud and we are ready to welcome the world.”

Verity has long insisted that the Tour de France start in Yorkshire will be about much more than the two race days in the county. He and his team are now beginning to release details of how the Tour will be celebrated and leave a lasting legacy. These include way marking the two Tour stages, holding a sportive on those roads prior to the Tour, and a 100-day cultural festival.

“We will raise the bar for all future hosts with our Cultural Festival 100 days before the race, two stunning stages and a legacy that leaves a cycling imprint on the county which lasts for generations,” Verity claimed, admitting to being extremely nervous before delivering his bullish presentation in French at the Palais des Congrés.

The Welcome2Yorkshire chief executive said he believed there will be “a minimum of one million spectators per day and probably closer to two million, that will depend on the weather. People will realise it is a once-in-a-generation thing and they will turn out in big numbers.”

Funding polemic

The morning of the Tour presentation started in a less than ideal way for those involved in Yorkshire’s Grand Départ. BBC Radio Leeds reported that it had seen official papers indicating that former sports minister Hugh Robertson was very concerned the Grand Départ might not happen without Government filling a substantial funding gap. According to Radio Leeds, the papers said Robertson had pushed the Government to reach a rapid agreement on a commitment for a £10 million grant, which makes up almost half of the total cost of hosting the Tour’s start.

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Gary Verity dismissed a suggestion that the Grand Départ might not have taken place without the Government’s financial intervention, describing it as “preposterous”. Verity said the £10 million grant would ensure that what was already set to be a “grand” start to the 2014 race would now be even grander.

A sprint finish in London on stage three

The presentation in Paris also revealed the first details of the race’s third stage between Cambridge and the Mall in London.

What was always likely to be a stage that will suit the sprinters will start with a loop past many of Cambridge’s most famous colleges, before heading south and east through Saffron Walden into Essex. After passing Braintree and Chelmsford, the route dives south and west towards the Olympic Park in East London. It then continues on through the City towards the spectacular finish on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

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Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling . He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014). 

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Tour de Yorkshire to be replaced with new look cycling event in 2024

Tour de Yorkshire not due to return to north of England, although initial plans announced for new cycling event in area

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After a breakdown in negotiations, the hugely successful Tour de Yorkshire event will not be returning to the calendar, but a new race is set to replace it.

The event first ran in 2015, as a legacy from the previous year's Tour de France Grand Depart, in the county. LIke many other events it was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic , but since then has not returned. Past winners of the men’s race include Greg Van Avermaet and Thomas Voeckler. 

After the pandemic, talks took place between Silicon Dales (a group which bought the rights to the race) and the owners of the Tour de France, Amaury Sports Organisation. 

Both groups looked to continue the partnership which has previously delivered the race, however it has now been revealed that the talks have failed to find a resolution to bring back the event. 

This morning, the Yorkshire Post revealed that the organisers of the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour, SweetSpot, have been part of an agreement in principle to deliver a new race in Yorkshire in 2024. 

The two groups plan to deliver a new race in the region to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the popular Grand Depart of the Tour de France in the area. The original Tour de Yorkshire was a four-day race for the men, with a two day event for the women’s equivalent, although the new race is likely to be a one-day classics style race. 

According to the Yorkshire Post, it is hoped that the event will be able to carry the same UCI ranking. It is also believed that the new race will include both a men’s and women’s race, both of equal standing. Due to ASO currently owning the Tour de Yorkshire name, organisers of the new race are seeking to create a new name in order to help shape an identity for the event. 

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Silicon Dales, which gained a number of Welcome to Yorkshire’s assets earlier this year when the company was put into administration, has sought to reform the agency and prepare to deliver other cycling events in Yorkshire. The company have been trading again as Welcome to Yorkshire since earlier this month. 

The company’s owner, Robin Scott, told the Yorkshire Post: “We couldn’t have tried any harder to get an agreement with ASO for the Tour de Yorkshire event, but we needed a partner on the delivery side who wanted the event to go ahead in the future. In SweetSpot, who organise the Tour of Britain, we have found a partnership which will be good for Yorkshire.”

The deal with SweetSpot has not been completely finalised and signed off, although it’s likely that any arrangement would also see stages of both the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour visit Yorkshire in 2023. The Tour of Britain is due to visit Yorkshire in September this year, with stage four taking place between Redcar and Helmsley.

Scott added: “In 2024, we’re hoping to deliver a marquee event for the region which evokes a similar energy to the amazing 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart we remember so fondly.”

On the return of the Tour of Britain to Yorkshire, Hugh Roberts of SweetSpot said: 

"We are looking forward to returning to Yorkshire this September for what is going to be one of the toughest stages of this year’s race. The route takes in the beautiful coastline around Whitby and the tough climbs of the North York Moors so it will be great way to return in style!"

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Tom joined Cycling Weekly in early 2022 and his news stories, rider interviews and features appear both online and in the magazine. 

He has reported from some of professional cycling's biggest races and events including the Tour de France and the recent Glasgow World Championships. He has also covered races elsewhere across the world and interviewed some of the sport's top riders. 

When not writing news scoops from the WorldTour, or covering stories from elsewhere in the domestic professional scene, he reports on goings on at bike shops up and down the UK, where he is based when not out on the road at races. He has also appeared on the Radio Cycling podcast. 

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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.

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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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Giro: Big lead means I can save energy for Tour says Pogacar

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 20 - Slovenian two-time Tour de France winner and two-time runner-up Tadej Pogacar said on Monday's Giro d'Italia second and last rest day that his 6'41'' lead over second-placed 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas of the UK after Sunday's monster mountain stage was big enough for him to save some energy as he aims to become the first rider to do the Giro-Tour double since the late Marco Pantani in 1998. "We have an excellent advantage in the classification," said the 25-year-old, who won the 2020 and 2021 Tours and came second the next two years to Dane Jonas Vingegaard, and who consolidated his grip on this year's Giro by crossing the fearsome Mortirolo first Sunday after coming second to Italian time trial star Filippo Ganna in the race's second test against the clock Saturday, having won the first one. "In this last week we'll try not to spend too much energy in view of the Tour de France, but always respecting the race and the Giro d'Italia. "I've never done the Giro and the Tour in the same year, but everyone says that finishing the Giro well enables you to have good legs in the Tour too. Let's hope so. Now we need to end the race with our morale high, confident and in good shape to then start to prepare the Grand Boucle from next week on". (ANSA).