The first major mountain stage of the 2025 Tour de France was won by Tadej Pogacar. On the final climb to Hautacam, the Slovenian launched an early attack and immediately dropped his biggest rival Jonas Vingegaard, who lost over two minutes. Pogačar also took over the yellow jersey from Ben Healy.
The first Pyrenean stage of this Tour started relatively easily, with no categorized climbs in the first 90 kilometers. Then came a fourth-category climb, but the real climbing began 46 kilometers from the finish. That’s when the riders reached the Col du Soulor, a climb of nearly 12 kilometers at 7.6%. After that, there was a short climb, the Col des Bordères (3.3 kilometers at 8.1%), as a prelude to the final ascent: Hautacam, with 13.5 kilometers of climbing at 7.9%.
Right from the start, there were plenty of attack attempts. Sprinters like Biniam Girmay and Jonathan Milan were active, as well as Victor Campenaerts. None of them, however, made it into the eventual breakaway, which included no less than fifty (!) riders. This half peloton broke away after about fifteen of the total 180 kilometers, featuring one rider from each of the major GC teams. Visma | Lease a Bike was represented by Tiesj Benoot, UAE Emirates XRG by Tim Wellens, and Soudal Quick-Step counted on Maximilian Schachmann.
Van der Poel in the breakaway - photo: Cor Vos
Among the Dutch and Belgians at the front, we also saw Mathieu van der Poel, Thibau Nys, Dylan Teuns, Steff Cras, and Thymen Arensman. The latter was one of as many as five riders from INEOS Grenadiers in the break. This group also included Carlos Rodríguez, the highest-placed rider in the breakaway. The Spaniard was twelfth overall before the stage, just under six minutes behind yellow jersey Ben Healy. Other contenders looking to regain time were Ben O'Connor, Guillaume Martin, Emanuel Buchmann, and Mattias Skjelmose.
The attackers quickly built a two-minute lead over the peloton, where Uno-X Mobility started working for Tobias Halland Johannessen’s GC ambitions. UAE Emirates and EF Education-EasyPost also helped control the pace. This took them toward the Côte de Labatmale, where Fred Wright claimed the only KOM points, and the intermediate sprint in Bénéjacq. Van der Poel was targeting full points here but had to settle for second, behind Girmay’s teammate Laurenz Rex. Still, the Dutchman scored seventeen points in the points classification.
Soon after, the Soulor loomed. On the tough approach to the climb, several riders dropped off, including Nys and Van der Poel. Once on the main slopes of the col, riders like Benoot and Schachmann were left behind. Meanwhile, Julian Alaphilippe led the pace for Michael Storer—though that didn’t last long, as Axel Laurance soon took over at the front. The INEOS Grenadiers Frenchman pushed the pace hard. Climbers like Cras, Martin, and mountains jersey holder Lenny Martinez soon fell off the back.
photo: Cor Vos
In the peloton, which started the climb over two minutes later, Visma–Lease a Bike took control. Victor Campenaerts led the Dutch team’s train. Even here, there were casualties. After just four kilometers of climbing, none other than Remco Evenepoel struggled. The leader of Soudal Quick-Step had a tough moment but managed to limit the damage on the Soulor. With teammate Ilan Van Wilder’s help, he reached the summit less than a minute behind the favorite group.
In that group, Benoot—who had held back from the breakaway—shortly after Evenepoel’s struggles, took over the pace from Campenaerts. Sepp Kuss was next in line. The American increased the tempo further, forcing even yellow jersey Healy to drop off. The next big name to struggle was Matteo Jorgenson. This of course wasn’t Visma–Lease a Bike’s plan, so Kuss eased the pace. Jorgenson was able to rejoin the group of about fifteen riders.
Up front, Arensman continued to thin out the breakaway. This lasted until five kilometers from the summit, when Skjelmose attacked. Both Arensman and his team leader Rodríguez had to fall back. However, Michael Woods was unsatisfied with the pace and launched two attacks, eventually cresting the summit first. On the descent, he was caught again by Skjelmose and Bruno Armirail. The latter then created a gap and was the first to start the climb of the Col des Bordères.
Visma–Lease a Bike pushed on the Soulor - photo: Cor Vos
The Frenchman also reached the top first. He extended his lead over the first chasers to a minute. In the favorites group, Jorgenson struggled again but didn’t drop off definitively. Simon Yates appeared to be done for good but came back on the descent, rejoining with... Evenepoel. After a long chase, the Belgian started Hautacam with the favorite group—now controlled by UAE, who had taken over from Visma.
Armirail, the last escapee, had just under two minutes on the GC contenders at the foot of the Hautacam climb. At the front of the favorites, Tim Wellens set the early pace. Evenepoel was already struggling here, as were many others. When Jhonatan Narvaez took over, only Pogacar and Vingegaard remained on his wheel. It became clear UAE was setting up an attack for Pogacar.
Bruno Armirail - photo: Cor Vos
The move came quickly, with almost twelve kilometers to go. Pogačar immediately opened a gap on Vingegaard, who, however, held on. The Dane stayed within sight of the Slovenian. Both riders passed Armirail from eleven kilometers out, so the two GC titans were battling not only for time gains but also for the stage victory—at least for a while. It soon became evident, however, that Vingegaard was no match for Pogacar today. The UAE leader rode away steadily and ended up winning the stage by a huge margin.
Behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, a group initially formed including Roglic, Lipowitz, Onley, and Johannessen. With five kilometers to go, Lipowitz accelerated within this group. Onley was able to follow initially but soon had to drop back. Not surprising, as Lipowitz seemed to have wings. The German even closed in on Vingegaard, who ultimately secured second place—though more than two minutes behind Pogacar. Lipowitz finished thirteen seconds behind Vingegaard in third.
Behind Johannessen (fourth) and Onley (fifth), Vauquelin and Evenepoel crossed the line sixth and seventh. Roglic faded in the last kilometers, falling behind Felix Gall and finishing ninth.
Auch) Hautacam)Tour de France| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04:21:19 | |
| 2 | + 02:10 | |
| 3 | + 02:23 | |
| 4 | + 03:00 | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | + 03:33 | |
| 7 | + 03:35 | |
| 8 | + 04:02 | |
| 9 | + 04:08 | |
| 10 | + 07:26 |
