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Tour de France 2023: Daily stage results and general classification standings

The latest updates on the winners of each stage and the top contenders for the coveted yellow jersey in the 110th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July.

Jonas Vingegaard claimed back-to-back Tour de France titles beating main rival Tadej Pogacar into second place in a repeat of the 2022 result.

Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) produced the best result of his career, winning the final stage on his Le Tour debut. He triumphed in a photo finish beating Jasper Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen into second and third place, respectively.

The 2023 Tour de France , the second and most prestigious Grand Tour of the year in the men’s road cycling season , started in Bilbao on 1 July.

Check out the daily results and the general classification standings after each stage right here.

• Tour de France 2023 preview: Full schedule and how to watch live

Sunday July 23: Stage 21 - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées, 115.1 km

The final stage of the 2023 Tour de France came to a climactic end with Belgium’s Jordi Meeus claiming a surprise victory in a sprint for the line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Meeus won by the narrowest of margins in a photo finish edging Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco Alula) into second and third place, respectively.

Meeus celebrated an emphatic end to his debut while Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard claimed a second consecutive Tour de France title. Vingegaard finished seven minutes, and 29 seconds ahead of Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar with Adam Yates of Great Britain taking third overall.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 21 Results - Sunday 23 July

Saint-quentin-en-yvelines - paris champs-élysées, 115.1 km.

• Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA-hansgrohe) 2h 56’13’’
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco-AIUla) +0"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, LidI-Trek) +0"
• Cees Bol (NED, Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0"
• Biniam Girmay (ER, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) +0"
• Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +0"
• Søren Wærenskjold (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Corbin Strong (NZ, Israel-Premier Tech) +0"
• Luca Mozzato (ITA, Arkéa-Samsic) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 21

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 82h 05'42"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +7:29"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10:56"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +12:23"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +13:17"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +13:27"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +14:44"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +16:09"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +23:08"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +26:30"

Saturday 22 July: Stage 20 - Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering, medium mountains, 133.5 km

Despite failing to regain the yellow jersey he won in 2020 and 2021, Tadej Pogacar  ended his Tour de France on a high note.

In his last Tour de France mountain stage before retirement, home favourite Thibaut Pinot went on a solo attack to the delight of the French fans.

But the climbing specialist was unable to stay in front with first Tom Pidcock and Warren Barguil catching him before Pogacar made his bid to bridge the gap.

Overall race leader Jonas Vingegaard covered the move with Felix Gall , and the three forged clear on the closing Col du Platzerwase climb.

As things became tactical at the front, the Yates brothers - Adam and Simon - made it a lead group of five.

Vingegaard made his bid for the stage win with 250m to go, but Pogacar was too strong this time with the Dane losing second to Gall on the line.

Pinot received a hero's welcome as he crossed the line in seventh place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 20 Results - Saturday 22 July

Belfort - le markstein fellering, medium mountains, 133.5 km.

• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 3h 27'18"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +0"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +7"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +33"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +33"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +33"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +50"
• Rafał Majka (POL, UAE Team Emirates) +50"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 20

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 79h 16'38"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +12:57"

Friday 21 July: Stage 19 - Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny, hilly, 172.8 km

Matej Mohoric denied Kasper Asgreen a second consecutive win at the 2023 Tour de France after a thrilling photo-finish sprint in Poligny.

The two riders emerged from a three-man breakaway and outsprinted Australia's Ben O'Connor, with Mohoric narrowly beating Asgreen to the finish line.

Throughout the 172.8km stage, there were numerous fragmented attacks across the field, leading to an intense pursuit among different breakaway groups in the final 20km.

Overall leader Jonas Vingegaard finished with the main peloton and kept his seven-and-a-half-minute lead on Tadej Pogacar in the general classification (GC) with just two stages remaining

2023 Tour de France: Stage 19 Results - Friday 21 July

Moirans-en-montagne - poligny, hilly, 172.8km.

• Matej Mohoric (SLO, Bahrain-Victorious) 3h 31'02"
• Kasper Asgreen (DEN, Soudal - Quick Step) +0"
• Ben O'Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroen Team) +4"
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) +39"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +39"
• Christophe Laporte (FRA, Jumbo-Visma) +39"
• Luka Mezgec (SLO, Team Jayco AlUla) +39"
• Alberto Bettiol (ITA, EF Education-EasyPost) +39"
• Matteo Trentin (ITA, UAE Team Emirates) +39"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +39"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 19

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 75h 49'24"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +7:35"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10:45"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +12:01"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +12:19"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +12:50"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +13:50"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +16:11"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +16:49"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +17:57"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 19 - Moirans-En-Montagne to Poligny - France - July 21, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Matej Mohoric crosses the finish line to win stage 19

Thursday 20 July: Stage 18 - Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse, flat, 184.9 km

Kasper Asgreen surprised the sprinters and claimed stage 18 of the Tour de France after a long day in the breakaway.

Following several mountain stages in the Alps, a flatter stage awaited the peloton on Thursday. A breakaway of four rider with Kasper Asgreen , Jonas Abrahamsen , Victor Campenaerts, and later Pascal Eenkhoorn managed to just stay clear of the sprinters that were breathing down their necks on the finish line.

Asgreen of Denmark proved to be the fastest of the riders in the breakaway, and he secured his team Soudal Quick Step their first stage win of this year’s Tour de France.

Jonas VIngegaard held on to the leader's yellow jersey and maintains his 7:35 advantage to Tadej Pogacar .

2023 Tour de France: Stage 18 Results - Thursday 20 July

Moûtiers to bourg-en-bresse, flat, 184.9 km.

• Kasper Asgreen (DEN, Soudal - Quick Step) 4h 06'48"
• Pascal Eenkhoorn (NED, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Jonas Abrahamsen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +0"
• Jordi Meeus (BEL, BORA - hansgrohe) +0"
• Matteo Trentin (ITA, UAE Team Emirates) +0"
• Christophe Laporte (FRA, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Luca Mozzato (ITA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 18

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 67h 57'51"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 18 - Moutiers to Bourg-En-Bresse - France - July 20, 2023 Soudal–Quick-Step's Kasper Asgreen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 18 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 19 July: Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - Courchevel, high mountains, 165.7 km

Felix Gall claimed a dramatic queen stage of the Tour de France 2023, where Jonas Vingegaard cracked Tadej Pogacar to gain more than five and a half minutes on the Slovenian. The Dane is now seven minutes and 35 seconds clear in the overall lead, and looks very likely to win his second consecutive Tour de France.

The stage winner Gall attacked his breakaway companions with six kilometres remaining of the final climb Col de la Loze. Simon Yates tried to chase down Gall, but the AG2R Citroën Team rider managed to maintain a small gap to the Brit, and he crossed the finish line solo.

The general classification leader Vingegaard dropped Pogacar 7.5 kilometres from the summit of Col de la Loze, and while the Slovenian tried to limit his losses, last year’s winner did what he could to gain as much time as possible. His lead seems unassailable with four stages remaining.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 17 Results - Wednesday 19 July

Saint-gervais mont-blanc to courchevel, high mountains, 165.7 km.

• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) 4h 49'08"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +34"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +1:38"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +1:52"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +2:09"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +2:39"
• Chris Harper (AUS, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:50"
• Rafał Majka (POL, UAE Team Emirates) +3:43"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:43"
• Wilco Kelderman (NED, Jumbo-Visma) +3:49"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 17

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc to Courchevel - France - July 19, 2023 AG2R Citroen Team's Felix Gall celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 17 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Tuesday 18 July: Stage 16 - Passy - Combloux, individual time trial, 22.4 km

Jonas Vingegaard took a big step toward reclaiming his Tour de France title, as the Danish rider triumphed on this year’s lone time trial.

The yellow jersey wearer gained an astonishing one minute and 38 seconds to his biggest rival Tadej Pogacar , who finished second on the stage.

Before Wednesday’s queen stage, the Dane now has an advantage of 1:48 to his Slovenian rival.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 16 Results - Tuesday 18 July

Passy to combloux, individual time trial, 22.4 km.

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 32:26
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:38"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +2:51"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +2:55"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:58"
• Rémi Cavagna (FRA, Soudal - Quick Step )+3:06"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:12"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +3:21"
• Mads Pedersen (DEN Lidl - Trek) +3:31"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +3:31

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 16

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 63h 06'53"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:48"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +8:52"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +8:57"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +11:15"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +12:56"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +13:06"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +13:46"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +17:38"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +18:19"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 16 - Passy to Combloux - France - July 18, 2023 Team Jumbo–Visma's Jonas Vingegaard wearing the yellow jersey crosses the finish line after stage 16 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Sunday 16 July: Stage 15 - Les Gets les Portes du Soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc, mountain stage, 179 km

Wout Poels took the first Tour de France stage win of his career, as he crossed the finish line alone at Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc on stage 15.

The 2016 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner dropped his breakaway companions Wout van Aert and Marc Soler 11 kilometres from the finish and managed to maintain his advantage.

Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar fought another alpine duel, but neither rider could get the better of the other, and they crossed the finish line together.

The yellow leader’s jersey therefore remains with Vingegaard. His advantage to Tadej Pogacar is 10 seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 15 Results - Sunday 16 July

Les gets les portes du soleil to saint-gervais mont-blanc, mountain stage, 179 km.

• Wout Poels (NED, Bahrain - Victorious) 4:40:45
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +2:08"
• Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) +3:00"
• Lawson Craddock (USA, Team Jayco AlUla) +3:10"
• Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +3:14"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +3:14"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +3:32"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +3:43"
• Simon Guglielmi (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +3:59"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +4:20

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 15

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 62h 34'17"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +10"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +5:21"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:40"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +6:38"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +9:16"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +10:11"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +10:48"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +14:07"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +14:18"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 15 - Les Gets Les Portes Du Soleil to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc - France - July 16, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Wout Poels celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 15 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Saturday 15 July: Stage 14 - Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil, mountain stage, 151.8 km

Carlos Rodriguez claimed the biggest victory of his career, marking the second consecutive win for his team INEOS Grenadiers, on stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France after crossing the finish line alone in Morzine.

The 22-year-old Spaniard took advantage of the mind games between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, who were the strongest riders during the ascent on the Col de Joux de Plan.

The Slovenian secured second place, beating his Danish rival, but now trails Vingegaard, who picked up an extra bonus second, by 10 seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 14 Results - Saturday 15 July

Annemasse - morzine les portes du soleil, mountain stage, 151.8 km.

• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) 3:58:45
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +5"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +5"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +10"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +57"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:46"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +1:46"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +3'19"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +3'21"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +5'57"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 12

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 46h 34'27"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:43"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, BORA - hansgrohe) +4:44"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:20"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +8:15"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +8:32"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +8:51"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +12:26"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +12:56"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 14 - Annemasse to Morzine Les Portes Du Soleil - France - July 15, 2023 Ineos Grenadiers' Carlos Rodriguez celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 14

Friday 14 July: Stage 13 - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier, mountain stage, 137.8 km

Michael Kwiatkowski of INEOS Grenadiers secured a remarkable solo victory on stage 13 of the 2023 Tour de France, conquering the iconic Grand Colombier.

The Polish rider made a decisive move with 11km to go annd successfully maintained his lead over the pursuing riders, securing his third career stage win at La Grande Boucle.

Tadej Pogacar launched a late but blistering attack to finish third and narrow the gap to overall leader Jonas Vingegaard , with the Danish rider now leading by just nine seconds.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 13 Results - Friday 14 July

Châtillon-sur-chalaronne - grand colombier, mountain stage, 137.8 km.

• Michal Kwiatkowski (POL, INEOS Grenadiers) 3:17:33
• Maxim Van Gils (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +47"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +50"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +54"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) 1'03"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 1'05"
• James Shaw (GBR, EF Education-EasyPost) 1'05"
• Harold Tejada (COL, Astana Qazaqstan Team) 1:05"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) 1'14"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 1'18"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +9"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:51"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:22"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +5:03"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +5:04"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious) +5:25"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:35"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +6:52"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +7:11"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 13 - Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne to Grand Colombier - France - July 14, 2023 Ineos Grenadiers' Michal Kwiatkowski celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 13

Thursday 13 July: Stage 12 - Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais, medium mountains, 168.8km

Ion Izagirre of Cofidis claimed a stunning solo victory on stage 12 of the Tour de France 2023. The 34-year-old Spaniard made a daring move from the breakaway 30 kilometres before the finish line and successfully fended off the chasing pack to claim his second stage win in the prestigious French grand tour. The Basque won his first stage in 2016.

Mathieu Burgaudeau took the second spot on the stage, while Matteo Jorgenson was third.

Jonas Vingegaard maintained his hold on the yellow leader's jersey, with the Danish rider maintaining a 17-second lead over  Tadej Pogacar in second place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 12 Results - Thursday 13 July

Roanne to belleville-en-beaujolais, medium mountains, 168.8km.

• Ion Izagirre (ESP, Cofidis) 3:51:42
• Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) +58"
• Matteo Jorgenson (USA, Movistar Team) +58"
• Tiesj Benoot (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +1:06"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team +1:11"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +1:13"
• Guillaume Martin (FRA, Cofidis) +1:13"
• Dylan Teuns (BEL, Israel - Premier Tech) +1:27"
• Ruben Guerreiro (POR, Movistar Team) +1:27"
• Victor Campenaerts (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +3:02"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +17"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:40"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious +4:36"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +4:41"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:46"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:28"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama) +6:01"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +6:47"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 12 - Roanne to Belleville-En-Beaujolais - France - July 13, 2023 Cofidis' Ion Izagirre Insausti celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 12 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 12 July: Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins, flat, 179.8km

Jasper Philipsen secured his fourth stage win of this year’s Tour de France, as the Belgian once again proved to be the fastest rider of the peloton in a bunch sprint.

The green jersey wearer Philpsen won ahead of Dylan Groenewegen and Phil Bauhaus .

Jonas Vingegaard is still in the yellow leader’s jersey, after a stage that saw no changes in the top ten of the general classification.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 11 Results - Wednesday 12 July

Clermont-ferrand to moulins, flat, 179.8km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:01:07
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Phil Bauhaus (GER, Bahrain - Victorious) +0"
• Bryan Coquard (FRA, Cofidis) +0"
• Alexander Kristoff (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Peter Sagan (SLK, TotalEnergies) +0"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +0"
• Sam Welsford (AUS, Team dsm - firmenich) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 11

• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +4:24"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand to Moulins - France - July 12, 2023 Alpecin–Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 11 REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

Tuesday 11 July: Stage 10 - Vulcania - Issoire, medium mountains, 167.2km

Pello Bilbao of Bahrain-Victorious claimed the first Spanish Tour de France stage win in five years as he outsprinted his breakaway companions in a thriliing finale on stage 10.

Prior to the sprint finish, Krists Neilands of Israel-Premier Tech was caught just three kilometres from the finish line after the Latvian tried to go solo 30 kilometres earlier.

Several riders from the breakaway attacked in the final, where Bilbao broke free with Georg Zimmermann of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. Ben O'Connor of AG2R Citroën Team managed to bridge accross right before Bilbao launched his sprint.

Neither Zimmerman nor O’Connor could respond, and the 33-year-old Spaniard could take his first-ever Tour de France stage win. A victory he dedicated to his former teammate Gino Mäder, who tragically lost his life last month after a crash at the Tour de Suisse.

In the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard crossed the finish line alongside the other favourites, and he retains his 17-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar in second place. Bilbao advanced from 11 th to fifth position in the overall standings.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 10 Results - Tuesday 11 July

Vulcania to issoire, medium mountains, 167.2km.

• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious 3:52:34
• Georg Zimmermann (GER, Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) +0"
• Ben O'Connor (AUS, AG2R Citroën Team) +0"
• Krists Neilands (LAT, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Esteban Chaves (COL, EF Education-EasyPost) +0"
• Antonio Pedrero (ESP, Movistar Team) +3"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +27"
• Michał Kwiatkowski (POL, INEOS Grenadiers) +27"
• Warren Barguil (FRA, Team Arkéa Samsic) +30"
• Julian Alaphilippe (FRA, Soudal - Quick Step) +32"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 10

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 42h 33'13"
• Pello Bilbao (ESP, Bahrain - Victorious +4:34"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +4:39"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:44"
• Tom Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +5:26"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +6:45"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 10 - Vulcania to Issoire - France - July 11, 2023 Team Bahrain Victorious' Pello Bilbao Lopez celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 10 REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Sunday 9 July: Stage 9 - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme, 182.4km

The iconic finish at Puy de Dôme , a 13.3 km stretch at 7.7% average gradient, returned to the race for the first time since 1988.

The stage was forecast to be a battle between overall leader Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar but it turned into a heartbreaking loss for Matteo Jorgenson. The U.S. rider who was stung by a wasp and needed to be attended to by the race doctor with 72km to go, produced a brave 50km solo effort and was caught 450m from the finish by Canada's Michael Woods.

Meanwhile, Pogacar gained eight seconds on Vingegaard. 

2023 Tour de France: Stage 9 Results - Sunday 9 July

Saint-léonard-de-noblat to puy de dôme, 182.4km.

Michael Woods (CAN, Israel Premier Tech) 4:19:41

Pierre Latour (FRA, TotalEnergies) +28

Matej Mohoric (SLO, Bahrain - Victorious) +35

Matteo Jorgensen (USA, Movistar) +35

Clement Berthet (FRA, AG2R Citroën) + 55

Neilson Powless (USA, EF Education-EasyPost) +1:23

Alexej Lutsenko (UKR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) + 1:39

Jonas Gregaard (DEN, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +1:58

Mathieu Burgaudeau (FRA, TotalEnergies) + 2:16

David de la Cruz (SPA, Astana Qazaqstan Team) + 2:34

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 9

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 38h 37'46"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +6:58"

Saturday 8 July: Stage 8 - Libourne - Limoges, hilly, 200.7km

Mads Pederson held off triple stage winner Jasper Philipsen and Wout van Aert to clinch stage eight of the Tour de France in 4:12:26.

Van Aert had looked to be in a position to take the stage but was forced to apply the brakes after getting blocked by his own Jumbo-Visma teammate Christophe Laporte . The Belgian was able to recover to catch third.

Earlier in the race, joint record holder for stage wins Mark Cavendish was forced to abandon his 14th and expected last Tour after he was caught in a crash with 63km to go.

The Manx Missile appeared to have injured his shoulder after a touch of wheels in the peloton forced him off his bike and onto the tarmac.

It's been a heartbreaking 24 hours for Cavendish who was denied a record win yesterday (Friday) after suffering a mechanical issue in his sprint showdown with Philipsen.

In the GC, Jonas Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, while Great Britain's Simon Yates slid two places into sixth following his crash with just 5km of the race left to go.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 8 Results - Saturday 8 July

Libourne to limoges, hilly, 200.7km.

• Mads Pederson (DEN, Lidl - Trek) 4:12:26
• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin - Deceuninck) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Jayco AlUla) +0"
• Nils Eekhoff (NED, Team DSM - Firmenich) +0"
• Jasper De Buyst (BEL, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Rasmus Tiller (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +0"
• Corbin Strong (NZL, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 8

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 34h 10'03"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +25"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:34"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +3:30"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:40"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +4:01"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +4:03"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +4:43"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, INEOS Grenadiers) +4:43"
• Sepp Kuss (USA, Jumbo-Visma) +5:28"

Friday 7 July: Stage 7 - Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux, flat, 169.9km

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck got his hat-trick, as he claimed his third sprint victory on stage 7 of the 2023 Tour de France.

The points classification leader won ahead of Mark Cavendish of Astana Qazaqstan Team and Biniam Girmay of Intermarché - Circus - Wanty.

A breakaway tried to challenge the peloton for the stage win, but it was inevitable that the sprinters were going to battle it out in the end.

The GC favourites, including Jonas Vingegaard , crossed the finish line in the peloton, and the Jumbo-Visma rider retained the yellow leader’s jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 7 Results - Friday 7 July

Mont-de-marsan to bordeaux, flat, 169.9km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 3hr 46'28"
• Mark Cavendish (GBR, Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0"
• Biniam Girmay (ERI, Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 7

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) 29h 57'12"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +3:14"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 7 - Mont-De-Marsan to Bordeaux - France - July 7, 2023 Alpecin–Deceuninck's Jasper Philipsen celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 7 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Thursday 6 July: Stage 6 - Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque, high mountains, 144.9km

Tadej Pogacar of UAE Emirates won the mountainous stage 6 in the Pyrenees ahead of reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard , who took over the leader’s jersey.

The first part of the stage was dominated by Jumbo-Visma and Vingegaard, who put pressure on the penultimate climb Col du Tourmalet. First, overnight leader Jai Hindley  was dropped by the pace of Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).

Shortly after, Vingegaard attacked on climb, and only Pogacar could follow. The Dane’s teammate Wout van Aert got into the early breakaway and was waiting on the descent to pilot his captain into the final kilometres of the last climb - Cauterets-Cambasque.

Defending champion Vingegaard attacked again on the final climb with 4.5 kilomtres to the finish, but Pogacar stayed in his wheel. Two kilometres later, the Slovenian opened up a gap to the Dane. The two-time Tour de France winner managed to stay and claim his tenth Tour de France stage win.

In the GC, Vingegaard now leads by 25 seconds to Tadej Pogacar in second place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 6 Results - Thursday 6 July

Tarbes to cauterets-cambasque, high mountains, 144.9km.

• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) 3hr 54'27"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +24"
• Tobias Halland Johannessen (NOR, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) +1:22"
• Ruben Guerreiro (POR, Movistar Team) +2:06"
• James Shaw (GBR, EF Education-EasyPost) +2:15"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:39"
• Carlos Rodríguez (SPA, INEOS Grenadiers) +2:39"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco AlUla) +2:39"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +3:11"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm - firmenich) +3:12"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 6

• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma)
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team dsm - firmenich) +4:43"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 6 - Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque - France - July 6, 2023 UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 6 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Wednesday 5 July: Stage 5 - Pau to Laruns, high mountains, 162.7km

General Classification podium contender Jai Hindley of BORA-Hansgrohe claimed the first mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France. He also took over the leader’s yellow jersey from Adam Yates . Australian rider Hindley had sneaked into a big breakaway, where he attacked on the last categorised climb, Col de Marie Blanc. Hindley managed to maintain a gap to the GC favourites to take his first ever Tour de France stage.

Behind the stage winner, reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard had dropped two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and others on the last steep climb, and the Dane started the final descent with a 40-second advantage to the Slovenian.

Vingegaard crossed the finish line in fifth place, 34 seconds behind Hindley but gained more than a minute on his biggest rival for the overall win, Pogacar. Last year’s winner moves up to second place in the GC, 47 seconds behind Hindley, who was awarded 18 bonus second on the stage. Pogacar is in sixth place, 1:40 behind the leader’s jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 5 Results - Wednesday 5 July

Pau to laruns, high mountains, 162.7km.

• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 3hr 57'07"
• Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl - Trek) +32"
• Felix Gall (AUT, AG2R Citroën Team) +32"
• Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA - hansgrohe) +32"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +34"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +1:38"
• Daniel Felipe Martínez (COL, INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama - FDJ) +1:38"
• Carlos Rodríguez (ESP, INEOS Grenadiers) +1:38"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 5

• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) 22hr 15'12"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +47"
• Giulio Ciccone (ITA, Lidl - Trek) +1:03"
• Emanuel Buchmann (GER, BORA - hansgrohe) +1:11"
• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) +1:34"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +1:40"
• Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) +1:40"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +1:56"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +1:56"
• David Gaudu (Groupama - FDJ) +1:56"

Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 5 - Pau to Laruns - France - July 5, 2023 Bora–Hansgrohe's Jai Hindley celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 5 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Tuesday 4 July: Stage 4 - Dax to Nogaro, flat, 181.8km

Jasper Philpsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinted to his second consecutive stage win on stage four of this year's Tour de France. In a close sprint finish, the Belgian threw his bike at the finish line to win right ahead of the Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny).

A few crashes on the final kilomtres did not change anything among the GC favourites. Adam Yates crossed the finish line within the peloton, and the UAE Emirates rider retained the yellow leader's jersey.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 4 Results - Tuesday 4 July

Dax to nogaro, flat, 181.8km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hr 25'28"
• Caleb Ewan (AUS, Lotto Dstny) +0"
• Danny van Poppel (NED, BORA - hansgrohe) +0"
• Luka Mezgec (SLO, Team Jayco AlUla) +0

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 4

• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 9hr 09'18"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +6"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +6"
• Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) +12"
• Wout van Aert (BEL, Jumbo-Visma) +16"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +17"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +22"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel-Premier Tech) +22"
• Mattias Skjelmose (DEN, Lidl - Trek) +22"
• Carlos Rodriguez Cano (ESP, Ineos Grenadiers) +22"

• Jul 3, 2023 Foto del lunes del pedalista del Alpecin–Deceuninck Jasper Philipsen celebrando tras ganar la tercera etapa del Tour de Francia REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Monday 3 July: Stage 3 - Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne, flat, 193.5km

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck claimed the first sprint stage finish of the 2023 Tour de France, as the peloton left Spain to finish in Bayonne, France. It was the third Tour de France stage win for the Belgian sprinter.

The leader's yellow jersey stayed with Adam Yates, who came through the stage unscathed. He has a six-second lead to UAE Emirates teammate Tadej Pogacar.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 3 Results - Monday 3 July

Amorebieta-etxano to bayonne, flat, 193.5km.

• Jasper Philipsen (BEL, Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4hr 43'15"
• Fabio Jakobsen (NED, Soudal - Quick Step) +0"
• Dylan Groenewegen (NED, Team Jayco AlUla) +0

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 3

• Mikel Landa (ESP, Bahrain Victorious) +22"

Sunday 2 July: Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Saint-Sébastien, hilly, 208.9km

Frenchman Victor Lafay (Cofidis) timed his attack to perfection pulling away from the peloton with a kilometre left to sprint to a maiden Tour de France stage win in Saint-Sébastien.

Lafay’s brave sprint to the finish gave Cofidis their first win since 2008 with Wout van Aert finishing a few bike lengths behind him in second place.

Tadej Pogacar , bidding for a third yellow jersey after losing his title to Jonas Vingegaard last year, again crossed the line in third place for second in the general classification.

First-stage winner, Adam Yates , held onto the yellow jersey finishing the stage in 21st place, one spot behind brother Simon .

2023 Tour de France: Stage 2 Results - Sunday 2 July

Vitoria-gasteiz to saint-sébastien, medium mountains, 208.9km.

• Victor Lafay (FRA, Cofidis) 4hr 46'39"
• Thomas Pidcock (GBR, Ineos Grenadiers) +0"
• Pello Bilbao Lopez (ESP, Bahrain Victorious) +0"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel - Premier Tech) +0"
• Romain Bardet (FRA, Team DSM - Firmenich) +0"
• Dylan Teuns (BEL, Israel - Premier Tech) +0
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora - Hansgrohe) +0"
• Steff Cras (BEL, Totalenergies) +0"

2023 Tour de France: General Classification standings after Stage 2

Saturday 1 july: stage 1 - bilbao to bilbao, medium mountains, 182km.

Britain's  Yates twins  pulled away from the lead group inside the last 10km of the Grand Départ with  Adam  easing clear of  Simon  inside the final kilometre to take his first Tour de France stage win in Bilbao.

Tadej Pogacar , bidding for a third yellow jersey after losing his title to  Jonas Vingegaard  last year, won the sprint for third and punched the air as he celebrated gaining a four-second time bonus on his rivals as well as a stage win for his UAE Team Emirates colleague in northern Spain.

Thibaut Pinot  was fourth with reigning champion Vingegaard safely in the lead group in ninth place.

2023 Tour de France: Stage 1 Results - Saturday 1 July

Bilbao to bilbao, medium mountains, 182km.

• Adam Yates (GBR, UAE Team Emirates) 4hr 22'49"
• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +4"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +12"
• Thibaut Pinot (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +12"
• Michael Woods (CAN, Israel-Premier Tech) +12"
• Jai Hindley (AUS, Bora-Hansgrohe) +12"
• Skjelmose Mattias Jensen (DEN, Lidl-Trek) +12"
• Jonas Vingegaard (DEN, Jumbo-Visma) +12"
• David Gaudu (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +12"

Tour de France 2023: General Classification standings after Stage 1

• Simon Yates (GBR, Team Jayco Alula) +8"
• Tadej Pogacar (SLO, UAE Team Emirates) +18"
• Thibault Pinot (FRA, Groupama-FDJ) +22"

Day-by-day route of the 2023 Tour de France

• Saturday 1 July: Stage 1 - Bilbao-Bilbao (182km)
• Sunday 2 July: Stage 2 - Vitoria-Gasteiz - Saint-Sebastian (208.9km)
• Monday 3 July: Stage 3 - Amorebieta - Etxano-Bayonne (187.4 km)
• Tuesday 4 July: Stage 4 - Dax - Nogaro (181.8 km)
• Wednesday 5 July: Stage 5 - Pau - Laruns (162.7 km)
• Thursday 6 July: Stage 6 - Tarbes - Cauterets-Cambasque (144.9 km)
• Friday 7 July: Stage 7 - Mont-de-Marsan - Bordeaux (169.9 km)
• Saturday 8 July: Stage 8 - Libourne - Limoges (200.7 km)
• Sunday 9 July: Stage 9 - Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat - Puy de Dôme (182.4 km)
• Monday 10 July: Rest Day
• Tuesday 11 July: Stage 10 - Vulcania - Issoire (167.2 km)
• Wednesday 12 July: Stage 11 - Clermont-Ferrand - Moulins (179.8 km)
• Thursday 13 July: Stage 12 - Roanne - Belleville-en-Beaujolais (168.8 km)
• Friday 14 July: Stage 13 - Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne - Grand Colombier (137.8 km)
• Saturday 15 July: Stage 14 - Annemasse - Morzine Les Portes du Soleil (151.8 km)
• Sunday 16 July Stage 15 - Les Gets les portes du soleil - Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc (179 km)
• Monday 17 July: Rest Day
• Tuesday 18 July: Stage 16 - Passy - Combloux (22.4 km individual time trial)
• Wednesday 19 July: Stage 17 - Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc - Courchevel (165.7 km)
• Thursday 20 July: Stage 18 - Moûtiers - Bourg-en-Bresse (184.9 km)
• Friday July 21: Stage 19 - Moirans-en-Montagne - Poligny (172.8 km)
• Saturday July 22: Stage 20 - Belfort - Le Markstein Fellering (133.5 km)
• Sunday July 23: Stage 21 - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris Champs-Élysées (115.1 km)

How to watch the Tour de France 2023

The Tour de France will be shown live in 190 countries. Here is a list of the official broadcast partners across different territories.

• Basque Country - EiTB
• Belgium - RTBF and VRT
• Czech Republic - Česká Televize
• Denmark - TV2
• Europe - Eurosport
• France - France TV Sport and Eurosport France
• Germany - Discovery+ and ARD
• Ireland - TG4
• Italy - Discovery+ and RAI Sport
• Luxemburg - RTL
• Netherlands - Discovery+ and NOS
• Norway - TV2
• Portugal - RTP
• Scandinavia - Discovery+
• Slovakia - RTVS
• Slovenia - RTV SLO
• Spain - RTVE
• Switzerland - SRG-SSR
• United Kingdom - Discovery+ and ITV
• Wales - S4C
• Canada - FloBikes
• Colombia - CaracolTV
• Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN
• South America - TV5 Monde
• United States - NBC Sports and TV5 Monde

Asia Pacific

• Australia - SBS
• China - CCTV and Zhibo TV
• Japan - J Sports
• New Zealand - Sky Sport
• South-East Asia - Global Cycling Network and Eurosport

Middle East and Africa

• The Middle East and North Africa - BeIN Sports and TV5 Monde
• Subsaharan Africa - Supersport and TV5 Monde

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Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen wins stage three – as it happened

Adam Yates remains in yellow, while Jasper Philipsen had to survive a trip to the stewards’ room before being confirmed the winner of stage three

• Read Jeremy Whittle’s stage three report
• 3 Jul 2023 Philipsen prevails in chaotic finish at Bayonne
• 3 Jul 2023 General Classification: top five after stage three
• 3 Jul 2023 Stage three: top five finishers
• 3 Jul 2023 Jasper Philipsen is confirmed the winner of stage three!
• 3 Jul 2023 Stage three: Jasper Philipsen wins!
• 3 Jul 2023 Jasper Philipsen wins the stage!!!
• 3 Jul 2023 Intermediate sprint
• 3 Jul 2023 Stage three is under way ...
• 3 Jul 2023 Tour de France 2023: the jerseys
• 3 Jul 2023 Stage two report: Lafay wins as Yates remains in yellow
• 3 Jul 2023 Stage three: Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne (187.4km)

Philipsen prevails in chaotic finish at Bayonne

Stage three report: Jasper Philipsen of Belgium, riding for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, won the 193.5km third stage of the 2023 Tour de France after a bunch sprint finish in Bayonne.

General Classification: top five after stage three

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 13hr 52 min 33sec

Tadej Pogacer (UAE Team Emirates) +06sec

Simon Yates (Jayco–Alula) +06sec

Victor Lafay (Cofidis) +12sec

Wout van Aert +16sec

Stage three: top five finishers

1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) 4hr 43min 15sec 2. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) 3. Caleb Ewan (Lotto–Dstny) 4. Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quick Step) 5. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

💛 @AdamYates7 retains the @MaillotjauneLCL of the race, and @TamauPogi keeps the ⚪ jersey following today's stage! 💛 @AdamYates7 conserve le @MaillotjauneLCL , et @TamauPogi conserve le maillot ⚪ à l'issue de l'étape d'aujourd'hui ! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/FShdRfTTeB — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

🔥He won the last #TDF2022 sprint, he wins the first #TDF2023 sprint today in Bayonne ! Well done to @JasperPhilipsen 👏 🔥Il avait gagné le dernier sprint du #TDF2022 , il gagne le premier sprint du #TDF2023 . Bravo @JasperPhilipsen 👏 pic.twitter.com/gIef1z9cBi — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

Jasper Philipsen speaks: He’s naturally delighted with himself but isn’t asked to talk about what happened in the jury room as the interview is conducted by the official Tour TV feed. “I can be really happy with our team performance today, they gave me a great leadout,” he says. “I’m really happy to keep it to the finish line. I tried to take the shortest route to the finish and fortunately I was first over the line.”

Jasper Philipsen is confirmed the winner of stage three!

It’s no disaster for Jasper as he leaves the jury trailer with a big grin on his face that confirms he has won his third Tour de France stage.

Philipsen is summoned to the jury room: Looking grim, he makes his way before the race beaks. On Eurosport, Robbie McEwan says that doesn’t bode well for his chances of keeping the stage.

No word from Jasper Philipsen yet: The stage winner hasn’t been interviewed by Tour TV yet, which suggests he could yet lose it in the stewards’ room. He’s waiting alongside his girlfriend in the hut, watching a replay of the finish on a screen with Tadej Pogacar. He’s looking quite apprehensive.

It’s a little difficult to describe exactly what did for Van Aert in the end – in my completely unbiased opinion, it was a kink in the layout of the barriers that meant he simply couldn’t follow his racing line as long as Philipsen didn’t deviate from his, because he simply ran out of road. If anyone is to blame for Van Aert’s defeat, it’s the race organisers, specifically whoever erected the barriers in such a way that they created a kind of funnel in the closing stages.

Wout van Aert: You can probably expect more angry bidon-flinging from the Belgian, who will see today’s stage as another opportunity lost. He was practically alongside Philipsen with 20 or so metres to go, but the manner in which the barriers were laid out meant that Philipsen only had to keep his racing line to ensure the door was shut on Van Aert, who was forced to sit up. We may have a stewards enquiry, whether or not Jumbo Visma complain, although I don’t think Philipsen did anything wrong. “I would be both surprised and completely dismayed [if Philipsen loses this],” says Robbie McEwan in the Eurosport studio.

Stage three: Jasper Philipsen wins!

After holding off a challenge from Wout van Aeert, who came up his inside but was forced to back off when it became apparent he might end up in the barriers, Philipsen beats Bauhaus and Ewan. He wins by a wheel. Hats off to Mathieu van der Poel, who finished a perfect Alpecin-Deceuninck lead-out by leaving Philipsen in a perfect position to win the stage. Mark Cavendish finished sixth.

Jasper Philipsen wins the stage!!!

Alpecin–Deceuninck give their Belgian rider the perfect lead-out and he wins stage three of this year’s Tour by half a wheel from Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Caleb Ewan.

2km to go: The riders negotiate the hairpin before taking a tricky left-hander. Mark Cavendish is still in the mix on the right-hand side of the road behind several team-mates, with Philipsen and Ewan also well placed.

4km to go: The riders negotiate a gentle left-handed turn with another roundabout to negotiate. Uno X-Pro, the team of Alexander Kristoff, are lined up on the right side of ther road.

6km to go: Wout van Aert, Caleb Ewan, Mark Cavendish and Jasper Philipsen are all in good positions but there’s a long way to go.

7km to go: All the big-hitters look well placed with several roundabouts to come. Jasper Philipsen, one of the favourites for today’s stage, gets squeezed after finding himself on the wrong side of the road on his way into one of them and loses several places. Mark Cavendish is on Philipsen’s wheel.

11km to go: The riders of Jumbo Visma are hogging the right-hand side of the wide road, where six different teams can be spotted lined up near the front of the bunch.

14km to go: It’s not looking good for Team Lotto Dstny, as Caleb Ewan’s leadout man Jasper De Buyst is at the back of the bunch struggling, clearly suffering the after effects of a crash yesterday.

16km to go: On assorted team radios, assorted team directors are giving assorted riders the same instruction: “Get to the front and make a bubble”, to help surround and protect their sprinters. There isn’t room up there for all of them, hence the “washing machine” effect.

20km to go: That downhill negotiated, the speed is more sedate 36km per hour. Mark Cavendish is up there among the first 30 riders, surrounded by Astana teammates.

21km to go: Inside the final five kilometres of this stage, the riders will have to tackle three roundabouts, a nightmarish hairpin bend and a bridge before they hit the finish line. They’re currently travelling at 70km per hour. .

25km to go: The bunch continues on its way to Bayonne with the end-of-stage “washing machine” winding up towards it’s spin cycle as riders try to get to the front, get pushed backwards by other riders trying to get to the front etc, and so on.

36km to go: At the end of a largely uneventful day, we’re getting towards the business end of the stage. The bunch is compact, speeding along with the benefit of a tailwind and the teams of assorted sprinting heavyweights trying to hold position at the front. Towards the end of the stage, at the two-kilometre mark, they’ll have to negotiate a hairpin bend that could ruin the chances of many competitors.

38km to go: Laurent Pichon is nothing if not stubborn and continues to give it his all, jaw set in a grimace and knees pumping furiously. He’s about to be swallowed up by the bunch follwing a fine solo effort. Chapeau Lauent! Somewhere in heaven your little piglets are looking down with pride … and possibly a little resentment.

An email: “A pedant writes,” says Dan Levy. “The Tour isn’t leaving the Basque Country today. Part of the Basque country is in France and part in Spain. You will still see signs written in Basque on the way into the Basque city of Bayonne. And I expect the camera will pick out pelota courts on French side of the border too.”

45km to go: The gap is into 38 seconds and Laurent Pichon’s lead is not long for this world. After a long but ultimately doomed day in the spotlight, one suspects he’ll consider it an act of mercy when he is inevitably reeled in by the bunch.

52km to go: Laurent Pichon’s lead is whittled down to a little over one minute as he continues to plough his lone furrow. If he doesn’t win today’s combativity prize and the place on the podium that goes with it, it will be a complete travesty of justice. The official rules say the prize rewards “the rider who gives the biggest effort and shows the best sportsmanship”. It is awarded by a jury chaired by the race director and an online poll. The fact that he is a Frenchman won’t do Laurent’s chances any harm.

❤️ Best team radio ever 🎙 🇫🇷 @lauPichon - @Arkea_Samsic va tout donner ! #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/v5imUyXr5P — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

61km to go: Another dispatch from the team Arkea Samsic race radio and this one is specifically for Laurent Pichon. We don’t know who it is but it’s a woman’s voice and I suspect it might be from his wife.

“I’m so proud of you, you’re a warrior,” she says. “You give us so much great emotion! Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! I love you very much!” Pichon is abojut to leave the Basque country and if he achieves nothing else today, Pichon gets the honour of leading this year’s race into France.

64km to go: Having been left to his own devices by Neilson Powless, Laurent Pichon continues his lonely solo effort with the gap at 2min 11sec. On the subject of yesterday’s sabotage, French Intermarché–Circus–Wanty rider Lilian Calmejane posted this footage of the damage inflicted upon one of his tyres by roadside vandals.

His tweet reads: ““Thank you for this kind of human bullshit. I don’t think I was the only victim of a puncture in the end … know that you can fall and get really hurt with your bullshit you morons.”

Merci pour ce genre de connerie humaine … je pense ne pas avoir été le seul victime de crevaison dans le final … sachez qu’on peut tomber et se faire très mal avec vos conneries bande d’abrutis … 🤬 pic.twitter.com/IoTMolFKgO — Lilian Calmejane (@L_Calmejane) July 2, 2023

74km to go: Neilson Powless is swallowed up by the peloton as Astana rider Alexey Lutsenko punctures and stops to get a replacement back wheel. With a couple of spectators peering on out of curiosity, he points out the offending tack which seems to have been thrown on the road in scenes reminiscent of yesterday, when up to 30 riders punctured after somebody scattered tacks on the road. Apparently some of the locals are unhappy with the road closures prompted by the Tour.

79km to go: Neils Powless and Laurent Pichon continue to motor along, milking the applause of the crowds as they pedal through the streets of San Sebastian. Powless is having the time of his life, waving to the crowd and blowing them kisses.

He decides he’s had enough of being out in front in the breakaway, bumps fists with his French companion, then sits up and waits for his team car to pull alongside him. One of its occupants hands him a musette which he slings over his shoulder before stuffing his pockets with its contents. Laurent Pinchon is now out in front on his own with almost 80 kilometres to go and a lead of 2min 11sec.

🔴⚪️ @NPowless 🇺🇸 gets all mountain points of today' stage! 🗻 Neilson Powless remporte tous les points de la montagne du jour ! #TDF2023 | @maillotapois pic.twitter.com/D2FWu1HpQh — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

90km to go: The road is narrow and the climb steep as Neilson Powless moves ahead of Laurent Pichon to take another KOM point, the final one up for grabs today. This time he punches the air repeatedly for the benefit of the cheering crowds and gets a pat on the back from Pichon. Let’s see what happens, now that Powless has nothing left to ride for today. There are still 90 kilometres to go but the Eurosport commentary team have exhausted so many avenues of conversation that they are now completely bogged down in a long and very boring debate about the merits of various cycling shoes.

93km to go: With the leaders well on their way up the final climb, Wout van Aert drops out of the bunch to have running repairs done on one of his cleats. He remounts, pedals back on his way, takes a drink from his bidon and chucks in the direction of a few kids standing on the side of the road with nowhere near the force he angrily hurled one of its predecessors to the floor upon being beaten in yesterday’s stage finish.

96km to go: There is one categorised climb remaining in today’s stage, the Category 3 Côte d’Orioko Benta. Neilson Powless is almost certain to take the two points on offer again and it will be interesting to see what he does once he’s crossed the line. The gap from he and his fellow escapee Laurent Pichon back to the peloton is two minutes and neither of the two leaders has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the stage. Do they soldier on together in an exercise in total futility? Does Powless leave Pichon to his own devices and sit up to conserve energy for the challenges ahead? Or do both riders allow the peloton to catch them?

An email: “The death of Scarponi was a sickener,” writes Francis Barbuti. “He was run over by a friend of his father’s and left two very small children. Life can be very cruel sometimes. He was also one of the good guys of the peloton and a good rider.”

• Tour de France 2023
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Who Won the 2022 Tour de France?

Your stage-by-stage guide to the winners of the 2022 Tour.

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Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won the yellow jersey as the overall winner of the 2022 Tour de France. The 25-year-old outlasted two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) of Slovenia to win his first Tour. Pogačar finished second, 2:43 back of Vingegaard, and Great Britain's Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) was third, 7:22 behind the lead, to round out the podium for the Tour's General Classification.

Here’s a look at how every stage of the 2022 Tour unfolded.

Stage 21 - Jasper Philipsen

Who Won the Tour?

Surrounded by his teammates, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) finished safely behind the peloton at the end of Stage 21 in Paris to win the 2022 Tour de France. The Dane won the Tour by 3:34 over Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who started the race as the two-time defending champion, and 8:13 over Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers), who won the Tour in 2018 and finished second in 2019.

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the field sprint on the Champs-Élysées to take the final stage, defeating the Netherlands’ Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) and Norway’s Alexander Kristoff (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) to win his second stage in this year’s Tour.

But the real story was Vingegaard, the 25-year-old from a fishing town in northern Denmark who is only the second rider from his nation to win the Tour de France. He rode an almost perfect race, only losing little bits of time to Pogačar on Stage 1, a rainy individual time trial in Copenhagen, Stage 5, a road stage over the cobbles of northern France, and on Stages 7, 8, and 9, when the Slovenian scored time bonuses at the end of each stage.

But Vingegaard was clearly just biding his time for the Alps, content to let Pogačar make big efforts for only a handful of seconds. And when it mattered most–on the steep slopes of the Col du Granon at the end of Stage 11–Pogačar was unable to respond when Vingegaard attacked to win the stage and take the yellow jersey that’s awarded each day to the rider who leads the Tour’s General Classification.

Pogačar vowed to keep fighting, and he kept his word. But Vingegaard responded quickly to each new assault, never faltering as the riders battled intense heat through the Massif Central. In the end it came down the Pyrenees, where Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates, each depleted due to the loss of key teammates, traded blows in the mountains. Again Vingeggard waited, following each of Pogačar’s accelerations with ease.

He delivered the coup de grace at the end of Stage 18 on the climb to Hautacam, the Tour’s last summit finish. Pulling away from Pogačar with about 4km left to climb, Vingegaard won the stage to put the Tour out of reach before Saturday’s time trial. Not leaving anything to chance, he still finished second in the race against the clock on Stage 20, confirming once and for all that the strongest rider won the 2022 Tour de France.

Pogačar isn’t going home empty-handed: in addition to finishing second overall, the 23-year-old won the white jersey as the Tour’s Best Young Rider and three stages during the Tour’s first week. But more importantly, he learned valuable lessons about how to better gauge his efforts during a Grand Tour. Pogačar remains the best all-around rider in the world, and with a little more tactical nous–and perhaps a bit more humility–he might get even better.

Who Really Won the Tour?

While INEOS-Grenadiers finished the Tour atop the Team’s Classification, Jumbo-Visma was the best team in the 2022 Tour de France.

In addition to winning the yellow jersey, Vingegaard also won the polka dot jersey as the winner of the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition. His teammate, Belgium’s Wout van Aert, won the green jersey as the winner of the Tour’s Points Classification and was also named the Tour’s Most Aggressive Rider. Along the way the team won six stages: three with van Aert, two with Vingegaard, and one with France’s Cristophe Laporte.

Perhaps even more impressive was the manner in which the team defended Vingegaard’s lead in the Pyrenees during the Tour’s third week. The team lost Slovenia’s Primož Roglič and the Netherlands’ Steven Kruijswijk on Stage 15, with Roglič not taking the start and Kruijswijk crashing out on the road to Carcassonne. Two of the team’s strongest climbers, some wondered if this would spell the end of the team’s dominance, but led by van Aert and American Sepp Kuss, the team had all the firepower it needed to defend and then extend Vingegaard’s lead.

Is it the best overall performance by a team in Tour history? It might be–at least in the modern era. In 2012 Team Sky went 1-2 with Britons Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome and took six stage wins. In 1984 Renault-Elf riders finished first- and third-overall (France’s Laurent Fignon and American Greg Lemond) and won an incredible ten stages. Lemond also won the white jersey as the Tour’s Best Young Rider.

But Jumbo-Visma is not a team that cares how it stacks-up against other teams in history–all that matters is that it finally won the Tour de France after several years of near-misses and heartbreak. As fans we’re all in for a treat in the coming years, as Vingegaard and Pogačar are both young and show no signs of letting up any time soon.

Stage 20 Winner - Wout van Aert

Who's Winning The Tour?

Jumbo has absolutely dominated this Tour, with six stage wins from three different riders and taking home three of the four jersey classifications. Much of that is due to van Aert, who was also awarded the race’s “Super Combativity” prize for being the most aggressive rider throughout the race.

A generational talent, van Aert is nearly unmatched in the sport for his versatility; perhaps only Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock—reigning World Cyclocross Champion, Olympic MTB Champion, and Alpe d’Huez stage winner at this year’s Tour—has the same breadth of ability. The Belgian has now won nine Tour de France stages in four years, including time trials, field sprints, breakaways, uphill finishes, and mountain stages. He will also win his first green jersey, setting a record for the highest point total in that competition.

Who’s Really Winning the Tour?

Vingegaard, meanwhile, has cemented his rise to the top of the sport with a convincing Tour win that likely unseats Primož Roglič as Jumbo’s top GC rider. While Roglič has a deeper resumé of results, he’s been hit by bad luck in the Tour and at 32 is seven years older than Vingegaard.

At this year’s Tour, Vingegaard never seemed rattled by Pogačar’s aggressive racing to build an early lead, instead coolly waiting for the second half of the race where the long climbs suited his abilities. He withstood every challenge thrown at him, even when isolated in the Pyrenees on Stage 17 and almost crashing on the descent of the Col de Spandelles on Stage 18. As the strongest rider (this Tour, anyway) on the strongest team in the sport, Vingegaard put a decisive stop to Pogačar’s Tour-winning streak and showed that the foreseeable future of the Tour will be a massive fight between two of the sport’s best young racers, and maybe more.

Stage 19 Winner - Christophe Laporte

Who Winning The Tour?

In normal circumstances, Jumbo’s designated sprinter is Wout van Aert, winner of two stages this Tour, and who is mathematically assured to win the green jersey and score the highest points total ever in the competition. But on Stage 19, it was Laporte, who joined Jumbo in the offseason, who got the leadership nod and delivered the results.

An early breakaway of five was caught well before the finish, which soon triggered a dangerous move from three riders with just over 30km to go. So van Aert put in a powerful dig at the front in the final kilometers to help bring the group almost to the catch and then pulled off. Not long after, Laporte sprung his own perfectly timed move out of the pack, crossing the distance to the leaders and catching the others by surprise. On the slight rise to the finish and with leadouts in disarray behind, Laporte had plenty of room to hold off the chase and celebrate crossing the line.

Well, Jumbo. Entering the Tour, the Dutch powerhouse team was by broad consensus the strongest in the race. And even after losing two key riders to injury, they haven’t disappointed. Laporte’s victory is the fifth stage they’ve won this Tour, by three different riders, and they have excellent chances in the two remaining stages as well. They also will win three jerseys in Paris: van Aert’s green, plus Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow, and the polka-dot jersey for best climber, which Vingegaard also now leads after yesterday’s stage win.

The team is riding with huge confidence, as Laporte’s win shows. The 29-year-old Frenchman is a talented sprinter and Classics rider, but in his first year on Jumbo he’s showed a new level, highlighted by today's career-best moment. In eight previous seasons on Cofidis, his only other pro team, Laporte won 21 races, but it took his switch to Jumbo to get his first victories in WorldTour-level races. That’s a point that’s probably not lost on Cofidis, which is working a 14-year (and counting) dry streak since its last Tour stage win.

Stage 18 Winner - Jonas Vingegaard

Who’s Winning the Tour?

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won Stage 18, the final summit finish of the 2022 Tour de France, to extend his lead at the top of the Tour’s General Classification. With the help of his Belgian teammate Wout van Aert, Vingegaard dropped Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 4.4km from the top of the climb to Hautacam. Van Aert pulled-off a few hundred meters later, leaving Vingegaard alone to take the stage–and barring catastrophe, the Tour.

Vingegaard won Stage 18 by 1:04 over Pogačar, extending his GC advantage to 3:26 over the Slovenian. Van Aert, wearing the green jersey as the leader of the Tour’s Points Classification, finished third on the stage, pumping his fist as he crossed the finish line.

Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) finished fourth on the day, losing more time to Vingegaard and Pogačar, but cementing his hold on the Tour’s final podium spot, a whopping 8:00 behind Vingegaard, but more importantly 3:05 ahead France’s David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) who moved up to fourth overall by finishing fifth on Stage 18.

With three days left in the 2022 Tour de France, Vingegaard looks assured of standing on the top step of the podium in Paris. Barring a crash, a mechanical, or a terrible ride in Saturday’s 40km individual time trial, the Dane’s lead is too much for Pogačar to overcome. Pogačar and Thomas look certain to stand next to Vingegaard on the Tour’s final podium. Thomas is one the Tour’s better time trialists, and there’s little chance of Gaudu overtaking him.

By winning the Tour’s final summit finish atop the Hors Categorie climb to Hautacam, Vingegaard also took the lead in the Tour’s King of Mountains competition. He won’t get a chance to wear the polka dot jersey as the leader of the classification, but with only three Category 4 climbs left in the race, he’s assured of taking the prize.

In the end, Stage 18 capped a legendary team performance for Jumbo-Visma, who looks set to go home with the yellow, green, and polka dot jerseys and at least four stage wins. And with two more stages expected to end in sprints and a long time trial on Saturday–all of which suit van Aert–the team’s tally could increase.

Stage 17 Winner - Tadej Pogacar

Two days in the Pyrenees down, one to go: Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) once again held on to the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France after finishing second on Stage 17 in Peyragudes. Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won the stage, outsprinting Vingegaard to win his third stage of this year’s Tour. Pogačar’s teammate, the United States’ Brendan McNulty, finished third after doing much of the work in the latter parts of the stage.

Pogačar trimmed four seconds from Vingegaard’s lead thanks to the 10-second time bonus he earned for winning the stage. (Vingegaard took six seconds of his own by finishing second.) The Dane now leads the Slovenian by 2:18 on the Tour’s General Classification. Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) lost time to both riders, but remains third overall, 4:56 behind Vingegaard.

Once again Vingegaard and Pogačar proved to be the two best riders in the 2022 Tour de France. Despite winning the stage, the long-range attacks that we expected from Pogačar never materialized. This has been the fastest Tour in history (so far), and given the intense heat the riders have faced and the tenacity with which Pogačar has raced since the Tour started almost three weeks ago, we suspect he’s simply running out of gas he needs to make large gains on Vingegaard.

Even after losing Poland’s Rafa Majka to a thigh injury before the start of the stage, leaving him with only three teammates, Pogačar’s team was the strongest on Stage 17, with McNulty setting a pace that dropped everyone but Vingegaard. With one more day in the Pyrenees with three categorized climbs including two “Beyond” Category ascents, Pogačar will need a similar performance from the American if he’s to have any chance of gaining more time on Vingegaard.

Thomas looks firmly entrenched in third. Despite losing time to Vingegaard and Pogačar on Stage 17, he gained time on everyone behind him. He now sits 2:57 ahead of Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Arkéa–Samsic), and with a long individual time trial on Saturday, he should have no problems defending his place on the podium.

So tomorrow, all eyes will be–again–on the Tour’s top-2 riders, with one day left for Vingegaard to solidify his lead before the time trial, and one day left for Pogačar to get close enough to give himself a chance of winning a third consecutive Tour de France.

Stage 16 Winner - Hugo Houle

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) survived the first of three days in the Pyrenees to hold on to the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France. The 25-year-old finished safely in a small group of GC contenders and their teammates in Foix at the end of Stage 16, maintaining his 2:22 advantage over Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), the two-time defending champion. After getting gapped on the final climb of the stage, Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) managed to rejoin the group of favorites on the long road down to the finish. He remains third overall, 2:43 behind Vingegaard on the Tour’s General Classification.

It was a bigger day for Canada and Israel-Premier-Tech, though as Canadian Hugo Houle won the stage and his teammate and compatriot, Michael Woods, finished third. A career domestique who usually spends his time sacrificing his own chances for the sake of other riders, Houle crossed the line pointing to the sky in honor of his brother Pierrik, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2012 while out for a run. Houle’s win is only the second Tour de France stage win for a Canadian in Tour history. Steve Bauer, Houle’s team director, won the nation’s first stage back 1988.

As expected, Pogačar started his assault on Vingegaard’s yellow jersey with a series of attacks on the day’s penultimate climb, the Category 1 Port de Lers. Accelerating multiple times on both the climb and the descent after the summit, the Slovenian was matched each time by Vingegaard, gaining no time on the yellow jersey. By the time the riders reached the day’s final climb, the Category 1 Mur de Péguère, Pogačar seemed happy to let others set the pace, resigned to the fact that Vingegaard wasn’t budging–at least not today.The stage a tactical battle between the Tour’s three best teams as Jumbo-Visma, UAE Team Emirates, and INEOS Grenadiers all sent riders on the attack early in the hopes that their team leaders would have an extra support rider for the long descent from the top of the final climb to the finish in Foix at the end of the stage. The plan worked well as Vingegaard had Belgium’s Wout van Aert (along with American Sepp Kuss, who stayed with Vingegaard over the final climb), Pogačar had American Brendan McNulty, and Thomas had Colombia’s Dani Martinez waiting to help. France’s Romain Bardet (Team DSM) was the day’s biggest loser. The former podium finisher entered the day fourth overall, but lost over 3:36 on the stage to fall to ninth, 6:37 behind Vingegaard. The Tour’s best Frenchman is now David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) who moved up to fifth overall (4:24 behind the leader) with another strong ride. And last but not least, there’s Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) who was the only rider able to hang with Vingegaard, Pogačar, and Kuss to the top of the Mur de Péguère. Currently fourth at 4:15, a podium finish might be a stretch given the fact that there’s a long individual time trial on Saturday. But a top-5 finish would be a fine result for the 32-year-old–especially if he’s somehow able to combine it with a mountain stage win on one of the next two stages. With Vingegaard and Pogačar locked in at the top of the GC, Quintana might be given a little bit of breathing room to go for the win on one the upcoming summit finishes.

Stage 15 Winner - Jasper Philipsen

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) survived a long, hot day in the saddle to retain the yellow jersey as the overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France. The 25-year-old finished safely with the leading group at the Stage 15 finish in Carcassonne, but the day also saw the departure of two of his most important teammates. Heading into the second Rest Day, the top-3 riders on the Tour’s General Classification remain unchanged with Vingegaard leading Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) by 2:22 and Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) by 2:43.

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the stage in Carcassonne, outsprinting Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Denmark’s Mads Pedersen to take the first Tour de France stage win of his career.

Despite defending Vingegaard’s lead for another day and van Aert’s second-place finish, Stage 15 was a day to forget for Jumbo-Visma. It began with the announcement that Slovenia’s Primož Roglič would not be starting the stage. The 32-year-old began the Tour as one of the favorites to win the race overall, but he crashed hard on the cobbled Stage 5, separating his shoulder and losing several minutes to the other GC contenders. With his own GC chances gone, he became a super-domestique on behalf of Vingegaard, and played a large role in helping his Danish teammate take the yellow jersey on Stage 11 in the Alps. But this morning he abandoned the race to begin recovering from the injuries he sustained, a calculated risk with three days in the Pyrenees still to come.

As if to emphasize that gamble, a crash with about 67km to go brought down the Netherlands’ Steven Kruijswijk, who was forced to abandon the race with a suspected broken collarbone. Another top climber for Jumbo-Visma, Kruijswijk was 13th overall at the start of the stage and his good form was likely one of the reasons why the team felt comfortable letting Roglič head home.

And then the unthinkable almost happened: as Kruijswijk was being lifted into an ambulance, another crash brought down Vingegaard and Belgium’s Tiesj Benoot, one of the team’s top all-rounders. The yellow jersey was quickly able to rejoin the peloton, but Benoot struggled behind, obviously hurting from the fall.

The loss of Roglič and Kruijswijk will be felt most in the Pyrenees, leaving the United States’ Sepp Kuss as Vingegaard’s best domestique in the mountains. Yes, Kuss is one of the best climbers in the peloton and is probably better than anyone else’s top mountain domestique, but losing Roglič and Kruijswijk decimates the team’s depth. And if Benoot’s injuries worsen during the Rest Day and he’s unable to start Stage 16, Jumbo-Visma will have only four riders left to protect the yellow jersey. That’s not good–especially with Pogačar clearly recovered from his bad day on Stage 11 and eager to throw everything he’s got at Vingegaard.

Stage 14 Winner - Michael Matthews

Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) took a fantastic stage win, the fourth of his career. Riding with determination after several near-misses so far in this year’s Tour, the 31-year-old joined the day’s big breakaway, initiated the winning move in the stage’s final hour, dropped his two breakaway companions on the tough final climb, and was caught and gapped by Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) midway up the ascent. But the Australian kept himself in contention, catching and then passing Bettiol while cresting the summit to win the stage—almost five years to the day after taking his last Tour de France stage victory. Bettiol finished second, and France’s Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was third.

With the Pyrenees looming, the battle to win the 2022 Tour de France has been reduced to just two contenders, with Pogačar attacking and Vingegaard having no trouble following the Slovenian’s acceleration on the Côte de la Croix Neuve at the end of Stage 14. Behind them, the rest of the Tour’s general classification contenders all lost time.

But while the time gaps between Pogačar-Vingegaard and the other contenders weren’t huge on the finish line in Mende, it’s clear that everyone else is racing for third–a boon to Vingegaard as Pogačar will likely find few allies willing to risk a possible podium place by attacking the yellow jersey in the final week.

Even better for Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma is the fact that Pogačar and his team continue to make questionable decisions. The Slovenian launched a 200-meter sprint at the end of the stage–for no good reason–and the team put Spain’s Marc Soler in the day’s big breakaway, which might have made sense had the team not already lost two riders to COVID-19. If Pogačar is to win a third Tour de France, he’s going to need all the help he can get from his teammates, and allowing Soler to waste energy on a day like this might be something they later regret.

Stage 13 Winner - Mads Pedersen

Former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) put on a display of perfectly executed tactics as he won a three-way sprint from the remains of the day’s breakaway, to take victory in Stage 13 of the Tour de France.

Pedersen narrowly missed out on stage win chances back in the Tour’s start in his native Denmark. But he made up for that disappointment on a transitional stage out of the Alps, taking his first-ever Tour victory out of a day-long breakaway. Pedersen specializes in hard days in bad weather, and while that usually means cold, wet conditions like his 2019 World Championship title, he proved equally as capable in withering heat.

Pedersen joined a seven-rider breakaway that finally established itself after 50km of hard racing. With world-class time trialists Filippo Ganna (Ineos-Grenadiers) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) in the mix, the pack—led by sprint teams Lotto-Soudal and Alpecin-Deceuninck—kept a tight leash on the gap. American Tour debutants Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) also joined.

But a heavy crash by Lotto sprinter Caleb Ewan at around 75km to go disrupted the chase severely. Ewan, clearly hurt, briefly regained the main field but soon dropped back again, and his team pulled off the front. BikeExchange-Jayco took up the hunt, but without allies they were unable to make much of a dent in the gap given the raw horsepower driving the break. With the break’s survival all but assured, Pedersen attacked on a grinding false flat with 13km to go, dropping everyone but Bahrain-Victorious’s Fred Wright and Hugo Houle of Israel-Premier Tech, then positioned himself perfectly to outsprint them at the finish.

For yellow jersey wearer Jonas Vingegaard, today was a day to stay out of the wind and out of trouble. He had little issue accomplishing that, capably protected by his powerhouse Jumbo-Visma team. The day was not expected to offer difficulties for him and generally didn’t. But a brief split in the peloton with around 40km to go hinted at risks to come in the next two days.

Saturday’s Stage 14 is another lumpy one, through the Massif Centrale with an uphill finish in Mende on the short but steep Cote de Croix Neuve. Sunday’s stage has the risk of crosswinds, and both should be uncomfortably hot. Vingegaard will simply be looking to get through both without mishaps and try to recover as well as he can ahead of the Pyrenees.

Stage 12 Winner - Tom Pidcock

A day after taking the yellow jersey, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) remained atop the General Classification of the 2022 Tour de France after finishing sixth on Stage 12 atop the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez. The Dane had little trouble following the attacks of Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), the two-time defending Tour champion who lost the yellow jersey as the Tour’s overall leader on Stage 11. The Slovenian made three hard accelerations on the upper half of the climb, all of which were easily covered by Vingegaard.

Thanks to his efforts, Pogačar moved up to second overall at 2:22, overtaking France’s Romain Bardet (Team DSM) on the final climb to gain a spot on GC. Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) jumped over the Frenchman into third at 2:26. Bardet recovered enough to stay within sight of the podium; he now sits fourth overall at 2:35.

The stage went to Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers), the third-youngest rider in this year’s Tour. Winner of the mountain bike race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer, the Briton used his superior descending skills to bridge up to the breakaway earlier in the stage, putting himself in contention for the victory. South Africa’s Louis Meintjes (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux) finished second, and Great Britain’s Chris Froome (Israel-PremierTech), himself a 4-time winner of the Tour, finished third.

We learned two things on Stage 12: Pogačar has recovered from his jour sans on Stage 11 and has no intention of going down without a fight; and Vingegaard and his Jumbo-Visma team are up to the challenge of defending the yellow jersey. Pogačar pulled no punches when attacking on Alpe d’Huez, but Vingegaard immediately responded, riding tempo behind the Slovenian, almost daring him to blow himself up in a fruitless effort to dislodge the yellow jersey.

Pogačar’s final attack came as the riders approached the finish line, a questionable choice considering there were no time bonuses to be gained. Thomas even shook his head as he crossed the line, perhaps also wondering why Pogačar made such an effort to gain nothing on his rivals. Many have suggested that Pogačar’s relentless attacks during the Tour’s first week left him exposed on Stage 11. If true, his sprint at the end of Stage 12 perhaps indicates that he still has a few lessons to learn. Regardless, we’re in for a treat as the Tour continues. Vingegaard’s lead is large, but Pogačar is the most dangerous rider in the peloton. The Tour is far from over.

Stage 11 Winner - Jonas Vingegaard

Vingegaard’s team set the race on its ear midway through the 151.7km stage, when Primož Roglič accelerated out of the group of contenders and blew up the pack on the long, double ascent of the Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier. Pogačar followed along with some of the other top riders, but was isolated from his team, which has been reduced by COVID positives. The two favorites traded attacks but neither could get clear of the other, and small groups eventually reformed on the Galibier and on the descent to the final climb.

On the seldom-used Granon, which hasn’t been a Tour climb in 36 years, Vingegaard’s team strength of five against two for Pogačar’s UAE-Team Emirates squad was quickly reduced, but it didn’t seem to bother the Danish rider. After attacks by Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Romain Bardet (DSM), Vingegaard countered and quickly gained a significant gap on Pogačar (who didn’t really try to follow), then pressed his advantage to overtake all other riders on the road and take a convincing stage win.

Who's Really Winning The Tour?

Jumbo brought their full team strength today and was rewarded with the stage win and race lead for Vingegaard. And what a lead: after entering the day :39 down to Pogačar, he’s now 2:16 clear of Bardet in second, and 2:22 ahead of Pogačar. Jumbo has the strongest team in the race and is now well-positioned to defend Vingegaard’s lead.

For Pogačar’s part, the two-time defending Tour champion struggled on the final climb. Under attack and without teammates, he was visibly uncomfortable, rocking back and forth on the bike with his jersey fully unzipped. Whether it was the effort of responding to Jumbo’s aggression, the heat, the lack of teammates due to COVID, or his own as-yet unseen battle with the virus, Pogačar was in distress in a way that he has never been at the Tour or almost any other race. The next few days will tell us a lot about whether today was just a crack on a wickedly hard day, the start of a bigger fade, or rooted in some other cause.

Stage 10 Winner - Magnus Cort

A medium mountain stage that took a circuitous route past, but not over, some of the most feared climbs in the Alps, Stage 10 was always ripe for a breakaway. It took an hour for the move to get established, with repeated attacks, catches, and counterattacks. A first-hour average speed of 48.4 kilometers per hour decimated the field and briefly left yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar without many of his teammates around him.

The eventually successful breakaway had 25 riders from a whopping 18 of the 22 teams in the race. With such broad representation, the chase lacked enthusiasm and the gap grew to seven minutes, then nine after a brief on-road stop due to climate protesters blocking the race route. With Bora-Hansgrohe’s Lennard Kämna in the move, that put Pogačar’s yellow jersey up for grabs. On the final climb, the break splintered under the pressure of repeated attacks and counters. It briefly re-formed on the finishing ramp of the Megeve Altiport runway, where Cort’s bike throw got him the stage win by just centimeters, from BikeExchange-Jayco’s Nick Schultz.

Yellow jersey Pogačar had no real personal difficulty defending his race lead on the long but relatively gentle climb to the Megeve Altiport. But his grip on the top spot in the standings is looking a bit more tenuous. A second teammate, George Bennett, was forced out of the race with a positive COVID diagnosis, and a third, Rafal Majka, is reportedly positive but allowed to stay in the race for now because he has a low viral load. But UAE is already down to six riders, and if Majka—who has been Pogačar’s best teammate in the mountains—gets worse and has to drop out or even simply can't do his usual workload, that will put major pressure on the remaining riders in the team.

At the same time, challengers like Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers are still at full strength. And Jumbo did a savvy move in the final kilometers to lift the pace just enough to ensure Pogačar kept yellow over Kämna. That forces UAE to continue defending the race lead. What’s more, Jumbo and Ineos each have two riders high on the overall standings, which presents a possible strategy of sending someone like Primož Roglič up the road to force Pogačar’s team to chase. If that effort isolates Pogačar, he is vulnerable to attacks that he will have to respond to personally. While the two-time defending champion has looked sharp and aggressive in the race’s first 10 days, it’s worth noting that his 39-second lead over his nearest real challenger, Jumbo’s Jonas Vingegaard, is far less than at this point in last year’s Tour, when he had a five-minute advantage.

Stage 9 Winner - Bob Jungels

Who Is Winning The Tour?

Four years ago, Jungels was a rising star in the sport. A talented time trialist, the 25-year-old had shown his abilities in everything from cobbled classics to the Ardennes, capped by his 2018 win of Liege-Bastogne-Liege, one of the most prestigious one-day races in the sport. But his career was instead sidetracked in a slow fade due to what was diagnosed in 2021 as iliac arterial endofibrosis, a narrowing of pelvic arteries that causes pain and power loss during hard exercise. Surgery forced him to miss last year’s Tour and the Olympics, but appears to have fixed the problem.

His stage win here—along with that LBL win the highlight of his career—is his first victory since 2019 outside Luxembourg’s national championships. It also salvages some of what has so far been a rough Tour for his Ag2r team, which has seen yellow jersey contender Ben O’Connor’s GC hopes go up in smoke the past few days with his own health issues, plus the COVID-forced withdrawal of Geoffrey Bouchard yesterday morning.

Five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault, nicknamed “the Badger” for his tenacious, gritty racing style, has a motto for yellow jersey contenders: no gifts. It’s one that Pogačar appears to take to heart. On a day where the current race leader could have simply rolled across the line with his rivals, he was instead aggressive, punching out in the final few hundred meters even though no stage win or time bonuses were on the line.

Whether surprised or just exhausted after a hard week of racing, most of the rest of the diminished group of contenders didn’t immediately respond, save one rider: Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard, who is rapidly emerging as the lone candidate with any credible shot of denying Pogačar a third straight Tour victory. Vingegaard fought hard to claw back to Pogačar’s wheel at the finish line. The rest of the group conceded another three seconds to Pogačar’s steadily growing lead. One rider—Ineos Grenadiers’ Dani Martinez—fell out of contention entirely after being dropped on the final climb. He gave up 16 minutes and dropped 20 places on the overall classification. Another hopeful, Cofidis’ Guillaume Martin, was ruled out at the start with COVID-19, the third rider to be sidelined by the virus once the race started. Monday is a rest day in Morzine, where the race will test every rider. More forced withdrawals are likely.

Stage 8 Winner - Wout van Aert

Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) remained the overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France after finishing third on Stage 8 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Thanks to the 4-second time bonus he earned with his third-place finish, Pogačar extended his lead on the Tour’s General Classification to 39 seconds over Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and 1:14 over Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers). Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) outsprinted Australia’s Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) to win the stage, his second victory in this year’s Tour.

At one point it looked as if Pogačar was about to take his third victory in a row, as the Slovenian covered every surge on the climb to the finish line, his team firmly in control of the race. In effect, his team’s efforts handed the race to van Aert by setting such a high pace that no one could accelerate away before the inevitable small group sprint. With one stage left before the Rest Day, Pogačar is firmly in control of the race, and with a longer, Category 1 climb to the finish line at the end of Stage 9, the 23-year-old could extend his lead some more.

Van Aert was the day’s biggest winner, as the Belgian essentially put the green jersey away with his second stage win. He now leads the Netherlands’ Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) by 75 points on the Tour’s Points Classification, and few chances for the sprinters remaining in this year’s Tour, should have little trouble defending the jersey all the way to Paris. The Belgian’s large lead also means that he can now focus his energy on supporting Vingegaard’s efforts to try and upset Pogačar at the top of the Tour’s General Classification, a tall order that will take a coordinated team effort to pull off.

Stage 7 Winner - Tadej Pogacar

The Tour’s first true summit finish always leads to a clarification on who’s got the legs and who doesn’t, and the steep gravel ramps of the Super Planche des Belles Filles held true to that rule. When Pogačar’s last teammate, Rafal Majka, swung off the front with just a kilometer to go, the opportunity was ripe for an attack on an isolated yellow jersey. Instead, it was Pogačar himself who jumped, quickly going clear with a handful of challengers including the Jumbo duo of Vingegaard and Primož Roglič and Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates.

As other riders—DSM’s Romain Bardet, David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ, and Movistar’s Enric Mas—slipped off the front, it was Vingegaard who made the attack in the last 200 meters that finally overhauled lone breakaway survivor Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe). Vingegaard briefly got a gap on Pogačar, but the two-time Tour winner dug deep and put in his own massive acceleration to come past Vingegaard just before the finish line. Roglič led the others across the line, 12 seconds behind.

Just as in 2021, it’s looking like a two-rider race for the overall, and it’s the same pair: Pogačar and Vingegaard. Roglič looked surprisingly strong for a guy who separated his shoulder two days ago, but Vingegaard has been the only rider in the peloton capable of even briefly challenging Pogačar the last year or so.

Pogačar, for his part, seems entirely capable of withstanding that challenge. While his team performed decently today, what’s been clear the first week of the Tour is that Pogačar is not only capable, but confident, riding on his own. His calculated aggression at the finish today speaks to a deep reserve of mental strength; briefly gapped, he could have told himself a few seconds weren't worth the effort. But in hauling Vingegaard back and going past him for the win, he sent an unmistakable message: there are no cracks here. Vingegaard is the only rider within a minute of Pogačar on overall time, and with Roglič well back in 13th place, almost three minutes down, if Jumbo wants to win the Tour it’s going to require Roglič to take a secondary role in service of the team that he normally leads.

Stage 6 Winner - Tadej Pogacar

Pogačar was always going to be the most-marked rider at the Tour, but he seemed entirely untroubled by that focus as he struck out for a stage win and the overall lead. A day-long breakaway by yellow jersey Wout van Aert was caught with 11km to go, but having the race leader out front meant the pace was infernally high: Pogačar’s average speed for the four-and-a-half hour stage was an astonishing 49.4kph: more than 5kph higher than the fastest expected time.

The fatigue from the pace showed in the final kilometers: a touch of wheels on a straight section of road just inside 10km to go brought down a handful of riders and caused a split in the pack that delayed Vlasov. Then, the two final climbs whittled the lead group to under 40 riders, then 30, and finally just 14. Surprisingly, it was Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič—suffering a separated shoulder from a crash yesterday—who started the sprint, but Pogačar quickly countered and no one could match his speed. He’ll enter Friday’s seventh stage as overall leader by four seconds over EF Education First-Easypost's Neilson Powless, and a likely repeat stage winner.

Stage 5 Winner - Simon Clarke

Clarke missed the day’s breakaway but bridged across and held tough over 11 sectors of rough cobbled roads to take a photo-finish sprint victory over Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty). The 35-year-old Australian has been a pro since 2006, with 11 seasons on the WorldTour. And he’s twice won stages of the Vuelta Espańa. But his improbable win here—he’s a climber, not a cobbled Classics specialist—is the jewel in his long career.

Van Aert managed to stay in yellow despite any number of challenges. An early crash left him looking uncharacteristically hesitant on the first sections of cobbles, well back in the pack. But when disaster befell his Jumbo-Visma team in the form of mechanicals and crashes, van Aert sprung into action, putting his formidable TT skills to work pacing teammate Jonas Vingegaard. As a result of his efforts, he managed to stay in yellow, but his lead shrank to 13 seconds.

Who’s Really Winning The Tour?

Two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) looked as unruffled and at ease as one can be while bouncing over cobbled roads at 50 kilometers an hour. Pogačar was attentive and at the front all day, and usually had at least one or two teammates nearby. He had no crashes and no mechanicals of note. When Trek-Segafredo’s Jasper Stuyven struck out in late pursuit of the breakaway, it was Pogačar—and only Pogačar—who managed to match the pace. The pair never made the catch, but finished 14 seconds clear of the furious, van Aert-led chase. Although Pogačar drops one spot on GC to fourth, he put time into every one of his competitors. The Ineos Grenadiers trio of Geraint Thomas, Dani Martinez, and Adam Yates stemmed most of the damage, as did Bora’s Aleksandr Vlasov. All came home in the van Aert/Vingegaard group close behind Pogačar.

By contrast, Jumbo had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day saved only by van Aert’s heroic pulls. Co-leader Vingegaard had a panicked series of bike changes after a flat and looked to lose serious time until van Aert steadied the chase. Ultimately, he lost just 14 seconds and sits seventh overall, 21 seconds behind Pogaçar. Far less fortunate was teammate Primož Roglič, caught in a senseless crash on the pavement caused by an errant haybale in a roundabout. Roglič quickly dropped off the pace and, despite help from teammates, conceded over two minutes to Pogačar. He’s now way back in 44th overall. Ag2r’s Ben O’Connor had an even worse day, shipping almost three and a half minutes to Pogačar, while Bahrain-Victorious’ Jack Haig dropped out.

Stage 4 Winner - Wout van Aert

It had been a bittersweet overall lead until now for van Aert, who took the yellow jersey on time bonuses, but had finished second on three straight stages. The Belgian superstar left nothing to chance on Stage 4. After a relatively quiet stage, his Jumbo-Visma team laid down a blistering pace leading into the day’s final climb, the short and not-particularly steep Côte du Cap Blanc-Nez, at 10.8km to go. Van Aert's average speed over the final 20km was a time-trial like 52.2kph.

The pack seemed unprepared for such a strong, team-wide move, and a small group briefly went clear with van Aert, teammate Jonas Vingegaard, and Ineos Grenadiers’s Adam Yates. The bulk of the pack came back together shortly over the summit, but van Aert took advantage of the chaos to keep the tempo high, and the expert time-trialist quickly got a gap of almost 30 seconds on a demoralized, disorganized chase. By steadily accruing time bonuses, van Aert has stretched his lead out to 25 seconds over second place. And with the next two stages—Wednesday’s cobbled affair and Thursday’s punchy uphill finish in Longwy—suiting his talents, he could add to both his lead and career stage win totals.

Jumbo’s attack showed the team’s aggression and discipline, as the move was almost perfectly executed and caught not just van Aert's rival sprinters, but many GC hopefuls, by surprise. Although the race came back together before the finish, what was maybe most notable was that Vingegaard was part of the small first group over the climb, while teammate and co-leader Primož Roglič wasn’t.

Maybe Roglič (correctly) bet the race would come back together and it wasn’t a wise use of strength. But after he seemed slightly less fit on climbs than Vingegaard at June’s Criterium du Dauphiné, the fact that he wasn’t present at a crucial moment will do little to settle the debate about which rider is the team’s best shot at yellow. Elsewhere, Ineos was clearly the most watchful of the GC teams, with Yates, Geraint Thomas, and Dani Martinez attentive at the front. There’s a lot of race left in the Tour but we may look back on today’s events as a predictor of what was to come.

Stage 3 Winner - Dylan Groenewegen

Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) remained the new overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France after finishing second on Stage 3 in Sønderborg. The 27-year-old actually extended his lead by earning a 6-second time bonus on the finish line. The Netherland’s Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) won the stage, his first Tour stage win since 2019.

The Tour now takes a day off to travel back to France, with van Aert leading the Tour’s General Classification by 7 seconds over Belgium’s Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and 14 seconds over Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates). The next three stages suit the Belgian’s talents, so there’s a good chance that he’ll hold the Tour’s yellow jersey for a few more days.

Who’s really winning the Tour?

A relatively peaceful stage was interrupted by a large crash with about 10km to-go, emphasizing how important it is to stay as close to the front as possible at the end of these early stages.

Luckily, most of the Tour’s GC contenders managed to avoid losing time, with the exception of Colombia’s Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), who was held up by a crash for the second day in row and this time was unable to rejoin the leaders. The 35-year-old lost 39 seconds by the finish, a tough blow to his chances of scoring a high finish in Paris.

Stage 2 Winner - Fabio Jakobsen

Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is the new overall leader of the 2022 Tour de France. The 27-year-old finished on Stage 2 in Nyborg and earned a 6-second time bonus for his efforts, enough to take the yellow jersey from his compatriot Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl), who entered the day in yellow after winning Stage 1. Van Aert will start Sunday’s Stage 3 with a 1-second lead over Lampaert, and an 8-second lead over Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

But all was not lost for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl as Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen won the stage. Riding his first Tour de France, the 25-year-old rewarded the faith his team displayed by bringing him to the Tour over Great Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who won four stages last year and remains one win away from becoming the winningest rider in Tour history. (He currently shares the honor with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.)

A lot of bullets were dodged on Stage 2 as the strong winds that were expected to blow apart the race had little impact, most likely because the Great Belt Bridge was so wide that the peloton could spread itself across the road, offering shelter to everyone who needed it.

There were crashes, though. EF Education-EasyPost’s Rigoberto Urán went down just before the peloton turned onto the Great Belt Bridge, but thanks to a little help from his teammates, the Colombian was able to rejoin the peloton. Lampaert was brought down by a crash as well, but the peloton seemed to slow a bit, perhaps out of deference to the Belgian’s yellow crash.

A larger crash cut-off about two thirds of the peloton as it raced toward the finish line, but it happened inside the final 3km, which meant no one lost time on the Tour’s General Classification. That’s why Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who finished the stage almost three minutes after Jakobsen, still sits third overall.

So in the end, while the yellow jersey changed hands, the race to win the Tour was unaffected. And considering how crazy the opening stages of the Tour de France can be, that’s a win for everyone.

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Tour de France 2023 stage 3 LIVE: Result and winner of bunch sprint in Bayonne

Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory on stage three of the Tour de France as Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey in Bayonne.

Philipsen had the power to hold off Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan on a slight uphill to the line as Mark Cavendish, seeking a record-breaking 35th career Tour stage victory, came home in sixth place.

Wout van Aert, second on Sunday’s stage in San Sebastian, had tried to challenge Philipsen in the finale but found himself squeezed against the barriers and sat up at the line.

Follow all the latest updates from stage three below:

Tour de France 2023

Jasper Philipsen wins stage 3 in bunch sprint in Bayonne

Mark Cavendish finishes sixth in encouraging performance

Adam Yates retains yellow jersey on quiet day for general classification contenders

Jasper Philipsen sprints to stage three win as Adam Yates remains in yellow

17:54 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Jasper Philipsen was made to wait to start his celebrations after sprinting to victory on stage three of the Tour de France as Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey in Bayonne.

Philipsen took the win ahead of Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan, with Mark Cavendish , seeking a record-breaking 35th Tour stage victory, coming home in sixth, but there was a wait after the stage for the results to be confirmed as the race jury looked to see if Philipsen had impeded Wout Van Aert.

The sprint finish meant there were no major changes at the top of the general classification, with Adam Yates remaining six seconds ahead of UAE Emirates team-mate Tadej Pogacar and twin brother Simon Yates of Jayco-Alula.

On a tight, twisty finish to the stage, characterised by a string of roundabouts and a sharp hairpin two kilometres from the line, Philipsen was delivered into position by Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Mathieu van der Poel for the drag up to the line.

Fellow Belgian Van Aert was on his right and challenging for the win, but with a slight kink to the right before the line, the Jumbo-Visma man found himself trapped up against the barriers, sitting up to roll in fifth.

Having been declared the winner, Philipsen went down to the podium to conduct his interviews, but was then asked to wait and ultimately called in to speak to the race jury before the result was confirmed, with Philipsen having not deviated from his line.

Tour de France 2023 - Jersey round-up

17:45 , Harry Latham-Coyle

No changes in any of the classifications - it’s as you were in terms of the jersey wearers for tomorrow. Jasper Philipsen and Victor Lafay are tied on 80 points, but the Frenchman retains green on account of his place higher up in the GC standings:

Yellow: Simon Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

White: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Green: Victor Lafay (Cofidis)

Polka Dot: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)

And Laurent Pichon (Arkea-Samsic) has won today’s combativity prize for all of his breakaway efforts.

Laurent Pichon est élu combatif du jour sur cette troisième étape du @LeTour 😍💪 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/TrgsRzPJWs — Team Arkéa Samsic (@Arkea_Samsic) July 3, 2023

17:34 , Harry Latham-Coyle

And here’s what tomorrow’s 182km jaunt from Dax to Nogaro looks like as the Tour heads inland.

Jasper Philipsen wins Stage Three of the Tour de France

17:31 , Harry Latham-Coyle

That’s two Tour de France sprint stages in a row for Jasper Philipsen, of course, with the Belgian closing last year’s edition with victory on the Champs-Elysees. He’ll fancy making it three tomorrow, too - it looks another day for the sprinty types, with even fewer lumps and bumps to deal with than today.

17:23 , Lawrence Ostlere in Bayonne

That was a thrilling finish to a sleepy day for the crowds here in Bayonne, where hundreds packed the bridge over the Nive river 300m before the finish. Jasper Philipsen has been widely tipped to enjoy a big Tour de France, and on this evidence – with the perfectly timed leadout train of Mathieu van der Poel to rely on – that will not be the last time we see him celebrate over the next few weeks. Mark Cavendish finished a very creditable sixth, encouraging signs as he bids for No 35.

And here is our stage winner Jasper Philipsen

17:22 , Harry Latham-Coyle

“It was a bit in doubt! They made it really exciting in the end...

“It was tense but that is the Tour de France, there are no presents for anybody, everyone goes all in. We can be really happy with our team performance today - I had a great lead-out, Mathieu did a fantastic job. It’s amazing - if he has the space to go, for sure he has the speed, and you know no other lead-out will pass him.

“It was a tricky final with the S bend in the end, so I tried to take the shortest route to the finish. There was already stress in the bunch with 70km to go, everyone fighting for the win.”

🇧🇪🇧🇪JASPER. PHILIPSEN.🇧🇪🇧🇪 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/B4woqEEYMn — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

17:19 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Jasper Philipsen has been called out of the winner’s chair as the UCI commissaires review the finish. The French broadcaster has suggested that the result has been upheld...

And Philipsen comes out of the stewards’ tent with a broad grin on his face - the win is, indeed, his.

Mathieu van der Poel speaks to Eurosport after helping Jasper Philipsen to victory

17:16 , Harry Latham-Coyle

“Yesterday I tried to save as much energy as possible because I knew it would be hard today for the first sprint stage. We did a perfect lead-out for him.

“Coming in here, I knew my shape was good but the last two days I wasn’t riding with the legs I had before the Tour. I’m happy we have this win and now we’ll go for another one.”

17:14 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Hmm. Jasper Philipsen doesn’t look entirely confident as he sits waiting for the result to be ratified. Tadej Pogacar comes over for a chat, working through the footage of the final sprint. Philipsen shouldn’t have anything to fear - he didn’t deviate off his line, simply followed the bend.

Jumbo-Visma may well lodge a complaint, but the problem seemed to be the barriers, which jutted out in quite an unsafe manner in those final few hundred metres . Philipsen looks very, very nervous though.

17:11 , Harry Latham-Coyle

No major changes at the top of the general classification, of course, with the bunch given the same time and none of those who took bonus seconds troubling the race leaders. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) remains in yellow; his teammate Tadej Pogacar in white.

The top of the GC continues to look like this:

1. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates)

2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

3. Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla)

4. Victor Lafay (Cofidis)

5. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

6. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)

7. Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech)

8. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe)

17:07 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Wout van Aert seemed a little frustrated at the finish there, sitting up and shaking his head after being slightly boxed in by Philipsen. I don’t think there was anything untoward from the Belgian that will result in relegation, Van Aert caught against the barriers due to the road’s natural curve and making the right call not to try and push through.

Two near misses in a row for Jumbo-Visma’s do-everything superstar having appeared well placed.

Tour de France 2023 - Stage Three result

17:02 , Harry Latham-Coyle

1. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

2. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious)

3. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny)

4. Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep)

🏆 @JasperPhilipsen wins the massive sprint in Bayonne! 🏆 @JasperPhilipsen remporte le sprint massif à Bayonne ! #TDF2023 | @AlpecinDCK pic.twitter.com/1AyCxdee3I — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

JASPER PHILIPSEN WINS STAGE THREE OF THE TOUR DE FRANCE!

17:00 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The favourite delivers! Alpecin-Deceuninck got it pretty much spot on, prepared to hit the front early and keep in control. Mathieu van der Poel cleared the way, releasing Jasper Philipsen inside the final few hundred metres.

Wout van Aert tried to come up the inside but was left short of room as the road bent, and Philipsen had the power to hold off the fast finishing Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan.

16:58 , Harry Latham-Coyle

16:57 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Into a dip, and under the flamme rouge.

1km to go. Alpecin-Deceuninck perfectly placed - Van der Poel leading the way for Philipsen.

1.5km to go

16:56 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Wout van Aert will sprint - he’s got Christophe Laporte to help him out.

Mathieu van der Poel is guiding Jasper Philipsen up the centre. Caleb Ewan right with them; Peter Sagan, too.

16:55 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Biniam Girmay is moved up the left of the road, in behind Soudal-QuickStep, setting things up for Fabio Jakobsen. UnoX are there - can Alexander Kristoff produce something for the Scandanavians?

The speed is more than 60km/h as the sprinters begin to kick into gear and the GC men just start to fade back. Under the 3km banner - everyone is safe.

16:53 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The peloton sweeps through a roundabout, the natural curve stringing out the bunch. A couple of Ineos Grenadiers riders look back into the bunch, checking that Carlos Rodriguez, Egan Bernal and co. are where they need to be.

16:52 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Jumbo-Visma move to the front now - Wout van Aert looks like he might be sprinting, out to avenge yesterday’s error.

Up a little rise as we come into Bayonne.

16:50 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Soudal-QuickStep are driving it on, with Groupama-FDJ up the front, too. The French team left Arnaud Demare at home of course - protecting the diminutive David Gaudu is surely their objective.

Lotto-Dstny fancy this, by the looks of things. Caleb Ewan looks calm and confident.

16:48 , Harry Latham-Coyle

You can almost feel that nervous tension in the peloton as we approach that string of roundabouts. Jasper Philipsen ends up out of position at the first of them, and has to really work to get back into a prime spot having been squeezed back down the field.

16:46 , Harry Latham-Coyle

It’s already getting a little bit chaotic, even on these wide motorway roads on the approach to Bayonne. It’s going to be a hectic finale - for those without sprint options, guiding their general classification contenders safely to the 3km mark is the key.

16:43 , Harry Latham-Coyle

I like the look of Intermarche Circus Wanty’s train, too - Mike Teunissen and Dion Smith are on bodyguard duties for the brilliantly talented Biniam Girmay, a standout on debut at the Giro last year before a stray popped cork from a celebratory bottle of champagne ended his race early.

16:38 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Mark Cavendish is right in the heart of things - he’s got one teammate directly alongside him and several other Astana riders nearby. Cavendish suggested last night that he might take time to reach top form in this Tour, as he did at the Giro. Cees Bol is presumably his last lead-out man - the hulking Dutchman could prove pretty useful if Cavendish is to break the record.

16:34 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The pack concertinas as they hit an incline, allowing the stragglers to latch back on.

16:31 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The high pace at the front is going to make positioning crucial as we near the finish - moving up is going to be mightily difficult, particularly through all of the road furniture in Bayonne.

16:29 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Laurent Pichon is beginning to pay for his efforts in the breakway - the Breton has dropped through the peloton and will be spending more time on his lonesome.

16:27 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The pace remains exceptionally high. UnoX come to the front - the hardy, experienced Alexander Kristoff could be in the mix at the finish - while Ineos are up their, too, making sure that their group of protected riders are safe and secure.

16:18 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The peloton fans out across the road, eight lines of similarly clothed riders as the teams keep their leaders safe at the front. Positioning will be crucial on the final run-in, with a series of three or four roundabouts just before that vital 3km mark that could pose a few problems.

16:14 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The catch is made - Laurent Pichon’s grand day out is over and we are all back together for the final run to Bayonne.

It’s going to be fast and furious from here on in.

❌ @lauPichon is caught. It's the end of the breakaway and another race begins. ❌ Laurent Pichon est repris. C'est la fin de l'échappée. Une nouvelle course commence. #TDF2023 | @Arkea_Samsic pic.twitter.com/n44O0nv6PO — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

38 km to go

16:12 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Lotto-Dstny have been slightly quiet today, but have now joined the rest of the sprinters’ teams towards the front. All of their eggs are in Caleb Ewan’s basket this year - there’s plenty of pressure on the slightly mercurial Australia, at his best probably the fastest in the field but short of his best over the last 12 months or so.

41 km to go

16:08 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Laurent Pichon’s race will soon be run - he’s pulled the cord and is soon to be enveloped by the peloton, now just 15 sconds behind.

16:02 , Harry Latham-Coyle

While we swept over the day’s categorised climbs during the first half of the stage, there are still some ups and downs to negotiate - there are plenty of undulations on the road up to Bayonne, as anyone who has been to the French part of the Basque Country will attest. Laurent Pichon keeps his legs pounding on the pedals as he comes down from one little lump, hoping to extend his adventure out the front for as long as possible.

15:57 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep, through the ever willing and able Tim Declercq, also show their faces at the front, bringing that gap down towards 60 seconds. It’s very much been as we expected today.

15:53 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Pichon may be starting to fade - the peloton have taken 30 seconds out of his advantage in short order, with Alpecin-Deceuninck and Jayco-AlUla doing much of the hard graft on the front as they try to set things up for Jasper Philipsen and Dylan Groenewegen respectively.

15:47 , Harry Latham-Coyle

And now the peloton have arrived on French soil, too, over the bridge into the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It really is a beautiful part of the world, the Basque coast, all the more so with three-deep crowds walking up from the beach to line the streets and cheer Laurent Pichon and the rest on.

#TDF2023 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜🟥🟥🟥🟥 pic.twitter.com/rNqAdJnLlY — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

15:42 , Harry Latham-Coyle

There are a few reports that all of these punctures have been caused by yet more throwing of tacks into the road. It’s the second day in a row that the race has been targeted - it does seem like very odd behaviour and is rather blotting what has otherwise been an excellent exhibition of the Basque Country’s charms.

Laurent Pichon has crossed the border - a sweeping left hander and, for the first time this year, the Tour de France is in, well, France.

To Bayonne!

15:33 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Let’s learn a little more about our lone leader, then. There’s not much on Laurent Pichon’s palmares to get excited about but the Brittany-born rouleur has hung around the French-speaking parts of the peloton for a long time. This is his third Tour, but his first appearance in five years.

A seventh place at the quirky Brittany race Tro Bro Leon is his best result this season. It’s always a fun date on the calendar, the so-called Petit Paris-Roubaix, a rough romp around farm tracks and other unpaved roads that sees the winner presented with a piglet.

15:26 , Harry Latham-Coyle

It feels like we’ve had more mechnanicals than usual today - Rui Costa and Alexey Lutsenko are among the latest bunch of unfortunate bike riders forced back to the car for a change of wheel.

Lonely Laurent Pichon’s advantage is two minutes and 45 seconds.

🔴⚪️ @NPowless 🇺🇸 🤜🤛 @lauPichon 🇫🇷 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/DZxPuuSjrA — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2023

15:22 , Harry Latham-Coyle

With a bag of bottles draped over his shoulder, Neilson Powless is heartily welcomed back by his EF teammates in the bunch.

15:17 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Neilson Powless’s day is done - an eleven point King of the Mountains lead safely secured, he leaves Laurent Pichon to go it alone at the front, sitting up and waiting to be swallowed up by the peloton.

How Mark Cavendish became a Tour de France legend

15:10 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Mark Cavendish once gave me the look.

It was an interview in a hotel lobby in Yorkshire; he was slightly late and apologised profusely, then answered questions about the Tour de France with enthusiastic detail. For some reason I thought 10 minutes of flowing conversation made me his trusted confidant, so I looked him in the eyes and asked: how much do you want to break Eddy Merckx’s Tour stage record? He shrugged it off. But what would it mean to you? He went quiet. Wouldn’t it crown your legacy?

The look was somewhere in the venn diagram of anger and disdain, and I half expected him to walk off. He stayed, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about the record, and in that brief moment I felt the gentlest prod of his famous spikiness. Cavendish was once asked what he’d learned from a difficult day on the bike. “That journalists sometimes ask some stupid f***ing questions,” he replied.

Could this be the day that Mark Cavendish breaks Eddy Merckx’s record? Lawrence Ostlere speaks to some of the Manxman’s closest allies - and fiercest rivals - to find out what makes him special.

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

Tour de France 2023 - Stage Three

15:04 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The rear of the peloton just becomes cramped a little bit on a steep bend on the day’s final climb, forcing a few riders at the back to come to a complete stop. Matteo Trentin is the last to get going again, pushing between the Basque flags and up the remaining metres of the ascent.

Right, that’s all of that dealt with - 90km of largely flat roads to come.

14:59 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Seven points more to Neilson Powless across today’s four minor climbs, with the EF rider trying to set himself up for a period in polka dots. Someone with his sort of climbing ability will fancy his chances of clinging on to the jersey for a few more days. EF could be a bit of a wildcard for the remainder of the race after losing Richard Carapaz to injury in the opening stage.

A message comes through from an Arkea Samsic directeur sportif to Laurent Pichon, asking the Frenchman to try and keep the break going and secure the day’s combativity prize, for which you’d think he might already be a shoo-in.

14:50 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Laurent Pichon and Neilson Powless have one more third category climb to negotiate before they can throttle right down and prepare for the peloton’s embrace. Pichon has a chuckle with his polka-dotted partner - he’ll have made his team happy with all this visibility on a day where the Breton-based outfit are unlikely to figure in the final stage equation.

14:46 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Chris Juul-Jensen of Team Jayco-AlUla on the front setting the tempo. Dylan Groenewegen will be their option at the finish today, you’d think - the Dutchman was impressive at the Tour of Slovenia in June with a couple of stage wins, and he’s got a pretty good group around him to set him up for the sprint, with Luka Mezgec a fast finisher in his own right.

97km left. 1 minute and 30 seconds is the gap to our two leaders.

14:39 , Harry Latham-Coyle

O’Connor is in bother again as the peloton cruise along the coast, requiring a bike change. Teammate Nans Peters offers his assistance, ready to again bring his team leader back into the main bunch.

AG2R are in a bit of a weird spot if O’Connor isn’t on top form - in Aurelien Paret-Peintre and Benoit Cosnefroy, they have a couple of punchy Frenchmen who could prove dangerous if given free rein to go stage hunting later in the race, but they’ll be reluctant to let the pair off the leash if O’Connor has any shot at an overall top ten. Ordinarily, Paret-Peintre might even have the climbing legs to get himself in the general classification mix, but he’s already ridden the Giro this year, so unlikely to be able to sustain the sort of effort required.

14:32 , Harry Latham-Coyle

The peloton’s pace has eased, with the break’s gap restored to a comfortable two and a half minutes.

Ben O’Connor has just rejoined the peloton, aided by a couple of AG2R teammates and hoping to put a tough weekend behind him. It’s not been a pretty start to the Tour for the Australian, who has lost time on both stages so far to suggest his hopes of a genuine GC tilt are slim. It’s a real shame for a rider who had so impressed in finishing fourth in 2021 - you may remember he had a pretty tough time of things last year, forced to ride on longer than he should have with a painful looking glute injury.

“Strangely, I’m simply not good enough at the moment,” O’Connor told CyclingNews overnight. “It’s not ideal, but it doesn’t mean I can’t finish in the top ten of the final standings. We now get two sprint days and then we have the Pyrenees. I will continue to do my best and see if the top ten is still possible.”

14:27 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Back to the men, and there’s about 110 kilometres or so before our dash through Bayonne decides our Stage Three victor. Might Wout van Aert be in the mix after his near miss yesterday? Everything appeared perfectly set up for him yesterday before Victor l‘a fait, the Jumbo-Visma rider comfortably the fastest in the reduced group that came home seconds behind the Cofidis rider.

Van Aert appeared a little aggrieved by the lack of help he received from Jonas Vingegaard in those last few kilometres, slapping his handlebars as he crossed the line, but the brilliant Belgian has said there is no lasting frustration.

““Of course we discussed with the team what happened,” Van Aert said this morning. “We always want to win and if we can’t, we look at what we could have done better. It wasn’t an easy situation in the final either.

“[Vingegaard] did make sure I had the chance to go for the win,”

“If he cooperated with Pogacar after the Jaizkibel - and we were far behind - then I had no chance of victory. However, he could have put a lot of competitors for the classification behind there.”

“If you see how it turned out in the end, maybe Jonas could have done more at the end. But that’s also hindsight. It’s racing, not a computer game. So the criticism of him is unjustified.”

“The Tour is 3 weeks. There are still many chances to come, starting already today.”

14:20 , Harry Latham-Coyle

While many of the best male bike riders in the world continue their weave towards France, much of the women’s peloton is in Italy for the Giro Donne. Annemiek van Vleuten laid down an early marker with a solo victory on Saturday and has extended her lead on the second climbing test today, but missed out on victory, Elisa Longo Borghini finding a finishing kick to beat Veronica Ewers and Van Vleuten in a three-up sprint in Borgo Val di Taro.

Five more stages to come, including a two-day denouement in Sardinia, in a slightly shorter race than last year.

🏁 Longo Borghini 🥇🇮🇹 🇮🇹 Elisa Longo Borghini  (Lidl - Trek) wins the sprint,  🇺🇸 Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) is 2nd, 🇳🇱 Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team)  3th #UCIWWT #GiroDonne23 📸 @GettySport pic.twitter.com/4UmLbA2RUz — UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) July 3, 2023

14:14 , Harry Latham-Coyle

That little dash to the intermediate sprint has closed the gap down to less than two minutes. You wonder if the peloton might be tempted to bring Laurent Pichon and Neilson Powless back between the next two climbs. Not that there is any need to, of course.

Victor Lafay has been re-absorbed. Powless is given a slight fright as Pichon feigns going after the two mountain points on the Col d’Itziar, but they eventually end up in the American’s pocket. He’ll wear the polka dots tomorrow.

14:07 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Those 15 points to Lafay leave things intriguingly poised ahead of the bunch sprint - I think the green jersey will be the Frenchman’s to wear if the bunch sprint is one by someone not named Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen or Jasper Philipsen, who are all within the 50 points today’s winner will receive.

It’s pretty smart stuff from Lafay, who appears to have now sat up as he and the rest of the field begin the Col d’Itziar.

14:04 , Harry Latham-Coyle

And it’s little surprise to see Mads Pedersen showing at the front, the Dane fancying his chances of taking the green jersey come race end with Wout van Aert declaring himself out of the running to focus on the good of team Jumbo-Visma (and a potential early departure for the birth of his child).

Pedersen pips Jordi Meeus and Biniam Girmay to take 13 points.

14:01 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Through the intermediate sprint go Laurent Pichon and Neilson Powless, followed soon enough by Victor Lafay. 15 points to the Frenchman - and there’s a bit of a ding-dong brewing behind as the sprinters prepare to test their legs.

13:58 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Lafay is closing quickly on our intrepid two at the front of the race, taking a minute and a bit out of their lead and now only 90 seconds or so back.

Oh Victor va faire basculer le Tour ! 💚 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/IfZXZhgPPT — Team Cofidis (@TeamCOFIDIS) July 3, 2023

13:54 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Now then! This is bold from Victor Lafay, yesterday’s winner and looking fetching in the green jersey. He’s off the front of the peloton and looking to close the gap to the breakaway.

Lafay’s legs looked really, really good on Saturday when he was a slightly strange interloper alongside Pogacar and Vingegaard. You wonder what his intentions here are - the intermediate sprint isn’t too far away, so perhaps he wants to stay in green?

13:46 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Need a reminder of what’s to come in this year’s Tour? Here’s our stage by stage guide of a route that promises plenty.

Stage-by-stage guide to the 2023 Tour de France route

13:29 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Plenty of fans out and about in the rather pretty seaside town of Lekeitio, the Basque fans making themselves heard and waving their Ikurriña flags.

Tadej Pogacar requires a new back wheel, coming to a halt as the peloton begins to weave up a coastal road. He’s in no hurry after this sedate start, stopping for a natter with a couple of UAE Team Emirates personnel.

It’s a glorious day, by the looks of things, with a welcome breeze coming off the sea. Pogacar smiles to the camera as he weaves through the convoy up to the rear of the peloton.

13:21 , Harry Latham-Coyle

These are the sort of days that do sometimes bring unexpected incidents - the peloton can switch off a little with the pattern set so early and a bunch sprint all but a certainty, with a loss of focus causing a crossed wheel or two and a crash. Few signs of that so far, with the riders chatting away happily. Mark Cavendish has dropped off the back briefly, with Astana teammate Yevgeniy Fedorov helping pace him back to the peloton - here’s what the British sprinter had to say last night as he geared up for his first chance at breaking Eddy Merckx’s record.

Mark Cavendish being his usual honest self ahead of what could be a record breaking week for him 😅🐐 #TDF2023 | @MarkCavendish pic.twitter.com/ZPArDkSfPI — Eurosport (@eurosport) July 3, 2023

13:11 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Three minutes is the gap now as the two-man breakaway prepare to crest the second climb of the day. Just a single point on offer at the top of the Cote de Milloi, a gentle ascent.

Fabio Jakobsen, one of the day’s big contenders, has been forced into an early bike change, with the Soudal–Quick-Step rider back amongst his teammates in the peloton. Trek-Segafredo’s Quinn Simmons is doing the work on the front, instantly recognisable with his flowing locks and bushy red beard, clad in the stars and stripes earned by victory in Knoxville at the US national championships last week.

Neilson Powless adds another point, playing to the crowd as they roar him over the top of the Milloi.

13:03 , Harry Latham-Coyle

And while it didn’t quite come for him, there were certainly signs of intent from Tadej Pogacar on both Saturday and Sunday, trying his best to shake Jonas Vingegaard from his wheel but not quite able to dislodge the Dane. The bonus seconds that he’s already collected could prove valuable, though, and Pogacar will surely keep attacking - he knows no other way and it might be his best route to victory as he bids to win back his crown.

How Tadej Pogacar can beat Jonas Vingegaard and take back Tour de France crown

12:55 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Well, it would appear we may be set for the day - Neilson Powless and Laurent Pichon out front, the sprinters’ teams keeping them within reach at the front of the peloton.

That gives us plenty of time to digest an outstanding opening weekend, with the Basque Country predictably coming to life to provide an incredible atmosphere. The racing delivered, too - The Independent’s Lawrence Ostlere indulged in all that Bilbao and San Sebastian had to offer.

Jumbo’s Death Star and Pidcock’s dog: Inside the Tour de France’s Grand Depart

12:44 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Pichon does not contest - Powless takes two more King of the Mountains competition points to extend his advantage over Tadej Pogacar to six points. You’d expect him to add another five on the two third category and single fourth category climbs remaining in the stage, with the peloton unlikely to bother reeling the breakaway in before each of the mini-peaks have been crossed.

Alpecin-Deceunick on the front of a very relaxed peloton, enjoying a much more comfortable day.

12:33 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Our plucky pair, Powless and Pichon, draw up alongside one another for a chat about the day ahead. We’ve got about three kilometres until the top f the day’s first climb, the third category Cote de Trabakua.

Pichon will presumably permit Powless to sweep over the top and take two more points to continue to build his lead.

12:24 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Neilson Powless isn’t alone - Arkea-Samsic’s Laurent Pichon has followed him off the front. Powless won’t mind the lack of company as he tries to build his King of the Mountains tally - their gap to the peloton has swelled to beyond a minute at it appears our breakaway for the day may already have been formed.

12:15 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Right, after two tough days in Spain, finally there’s something to interest the fastmen as the Tour de France crosses the border for our first likely sprint finish of this year’s race. We’re expecting things to be a little calmer through the afternoon, with the hills smaller and more spaced and unlikely to trouble the sprinters with no major general classification activity expected.

Is this the day for Mark Cavendish to break the record? You’d have to say the Astana rider is a real contender, though he took his time to warm to his task at the Giro d’Italia earlier in the year and might need to ease his way in to his Tour farewell, too. Jasper Philipsen will surely be up there - Mathieu van der Poel notably kept his powder dry yesterday on a finish that seemed to suit him, and should offer an uber-powerful lead-out option - while Wout van Aert might just be tempted to have his own go after being pipped by Victor Lafay yesterday.

The flag has been waved - 193.2 kilometres of racing to go and Neilson Powless is immediately on the attack as he seeks to consolidate his early lead in the chase for the polka dot jersey.

‘You morons!’ Tour de France riders hit by nail attack causing mass punctures

12:07 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Tour de France riders were attacked by nails on the road of the final kilometres of stage two in San Sebastian.

Several riders suffered punctures in the last throes of the 209km ride through the Spanish Basque Country. Lilian Calmejane posted a video on social media showing his bike after the race, with five nails embedded in the front tyre.

‘Thank you for this kind of human bulls**t…” he tweeted. “I don’t think I was the only victim of a puncture in the end… know that you can fall and get really hurt with your bulls**t you morons.”

11:59 , Harry Latham-Coyle

Mark Cavendish has found the 2023 Tour de France tough going so far, getting dropped by the peloton early in both of the opening hilly stages in the Basque Country. Now, though, the fast men may well get a shot at a bunch sprint as the road flattens somewhat en route from Amorebieta to Bayonne.

After two days in the north of Spain, the race will cross the border into France in the final 50km of this 184km journey along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean – pack-splitting crosswinds are unlikely on what is forecast to be a still day.

Stage 3 preview: Mark Cavendish eyes first chance for sprinters

11:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

Follow all the latest from stage three of the Tour de France as the sprinters get their first chance in this year’s race.

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Jasper philipsen wins tour de france stage 3; mark cavendish’s record chase continues.

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Belgian Jasper Philipsen earned his third career Tour de France stage win, taking Monday’s third stage in a bunched sprint.

Philipsen held off Wout van Aert and then outleaned Phil Bauhaus and Caleb Ewan for the victory in Bayonne.

It took more than 15 minutes for the result to be made official. Philipsen was close to cutting off van Aert against side barriers, but was deemed to not have impeded his countryman.

“It was a bit of a doubt, but they made it really exciting in the end,” Philipsen said. “It was tense, but it’s the Tour de France. There are no presents.”

TOUR DE FRANCE: Standings | Broadcast Schedule | Stage by Stage

Van Aert ended up fifth, behind Fabio Jakobsen.

Mark Cavendish, in his first real chance to break his tie with Eddy Merckx for career Tour de France stage wins, was sixth.

Cavendish, a 38-year-old from the Isle of Man, remains on 34 Tour stage wins. This is his final Tour before retirement, and he is targeting sprint stages, the next of which is Tuesday.

Philipsen, a 25-year-old who rides for Alpecin–Deceuninck, was a distant second in last year’s sprinter standings to van Aert. Van Aert has said he is not targeting the sprinter title this year, making Philipsen an early favorite for the green jersey.

The overall top five standings went unchanged with Brit Adam Yates in the yellow jersey.

Fireworks at the finish on the first Tour de France sprint stage! #TDF2023 📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/zGhJ4XqFAR — NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 3, 2023

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Uci mtb eliminator world cup - paris, uci mtb mairipora brazil, newnan rock & road criterium, tour of turkey, liege-bastogne-liege, liege-bastogne-liege femmes, tour de romandie, spartanburg regional healthcare crit, uci bmx racing world cup tulsa, athens orthopedic clinic twilight crit, la vuelta españa femenina, eschborn-frankfurt, uci mtb fort william, gp morbihan (coupe de france), the tour de france 2023 top 3 favorites, who are the top three favorites for the tour de france 2023 it's time to analyze the riders from tadje pogacar onwards..

Who are the top three favorites for the Tour de France 2023? With the race just around the corner, starting on July 1st in Bilbao, Spain, it's time to analyze the riders from Pogacar onwards.

2023 Tour de France

The tour de france 2023 favorite is tadej pogacar.

Number one, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). The Slovenian star is the clear favorite, although there are some doubts coming into the race. He fractured his left wrist and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But just remember his pedigree when he first turned pro in 2019, he won his first race in Europe, the Volta ao Algarve. This year, he started the season, he wins right away with a bang, a gravel race. Then Andalucía, goes to Paris-Nice. He's wins that race. Wins the Tour of Flanders, wins the Amstel Gold Race, and then Flèche Wallonne.

He's built strong and he's going into the Tour de France with a stronger team than he's had in the past. Sure. Last year he was caught out by Jumbo-Visma in a trap in stage 11 and he finished second overall. But this year he's got a stronger team with Adam Yates in the team. Tim Wellens. Guys who are supporting him for that third Tour de France overall victory.

And number two? That's defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). He's coming in with the full force of the Jumbo-Visma team this year.

He started off the season with a bang and he's going strong. Just recently winning the tour of the Tour of the Basque Country and the two stages and the overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Jumbo-Visma are giving him the full support for the 2023 edition this year. Primoz Roglic focused on, and won, the Giro d'Italia. The team is all behind Jonas for the Tour de France. He's got that super strong team Dutch behind him in a route that really suits his ability with plenty of mountain stages.

Ben O'Connor: The Tour de France 2023 Outsider

The number three favorite? It's hard to say because those first two Vingegaard and Pogacar. They're light years ahead of the competition. For the number three, we can look to riders like Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), a local rider from the Basque Country, or perhaps others like Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of Giro d'Italia 2022, and Enric Mas (Movistar). Or even the Americans, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost).

It's hard to pick one for that third spot, but Ben O'Connor (Ag2r-Citroën) stands out. The Australian just placed third overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné and has experience in the Tour, winning a stage and going fourth overall in 2021. And the French team is all behind 27-year-old O'Connor, who may not have that explosive kick as the others do, but has the staying power for long mountain hauls.

• Tadej Pogacar
• Ben O'Connor
• Jonas Vingegaard

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Tour de France 2023 Favourites stage 3: For fast men#1

The sprinters have to survive five climbs to be able to do what they love to do. The Côte de Trabakua (5.4 kilometres at 5.2%), Côte de Milloi (2.6 kilometres at 4.5%), Côte d’Itziar (5 kilometres at 4.2%) and Côte de Benta (5.4 kilometres at 6.1%0 are situated in the first part of the parcours, so that should not be a problem.

Three minor uphills appears inside the last 25 kilometres. The first rises 1.6 kilometres at 3.9% and is almost immediately followed by a hill of 1.9 kilometres at 3%. The last one – 800 metres at 4.4% – appears 10 kilometres before the finish. An obvious scenario would be that the sprinters with a strongmen skillset – Pedersen, Girmay – order their team mates to set a fast pace in the climb to get rid off the pure sprinters.

Philipsen was the most successful on last year’s Tour. He celebrated twice, while Jakobsen and Groenewegen both won one stage.

Favourites 3rd stage 2023 Tour de France

*** Jasper Philipsen, Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen ** Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Caleb Ewan, Biniam Girmay * Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff, Sam Welsford

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2023 Tour de France.

Tour de France 2023 stage 3: route, profiles

Click on the images to zoom

#3 Wielrennen met de Tour de France De Gelukkige Toeschouwer

De Tour de France volgen, hoe doe je dat? Hobbysportkijkers Sjef en Floortje vertellen over heroïsche wielrenners en leggen uit waarom ze meedoen aan een pooltje. De sport waar het allemaal mee begon.De eerste van drie afleveringen over de Tour de France 2023. Voor beginners.Wil jij nou ook graag een gelukkige hobbysportkijker worden? Stap in ‘De Gelukkige Toeschouwer’, een whatsappcommunity waarin we je op de hoogte houden van onze laatste podcasts, achtergronden, en vooral: randzaken. Er gebeurt een hele boel in sportland. We beloven niet dat je nooit meer iets mist, maar wel: mis een beetje minder. https://chat.whatsapp.com/JGSiOEDle8C5aJANbkM19Q

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Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?

The environmental protection agency says “forever chemicals” must be removed from tap water. but they lurk in much more of what we eat, drink and use..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.”

[THEME MUSIC]

This month for the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency began to regulate a class of synthetic chemicals, known as forever chemicals, in America’s drinking water. But the chemicals, which have been linked to liver disease and other serious health problems, are in far more than just our water supply. Today, my colleague Kim Tingley explains.

It’s Wednesday, April 17.

So Kim, any time the EPA announces a regulation, I think we all sort of take notice because implicit in it is this idea that we have been exposed to something — something bad, potentially, lead or asbestos. And recently, the EPA is regulating a type of chemical known as PFAS So for those who don’t know, what are PFAS chemicals

Yeah, so PFAS stands for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They’re often called forever chemicals just because they persist so long in the environment and they don’t easily break down. And for that reason, we also use them in a ton of consumer products. They’re in makeup. They’re in carpet. They’re in nonstick cookware. They’re in food packaging, all sorts of things.

Yeah, I feel like I’ve been hearing about these chemicals actually for a very long time. I mean, nonstick pans, Teflon — that’s the thing that’s in my mind when I think PFAS.

Absolutely. Yeah, this class of chemicals has been around for decades. And what’s really important about this is that the EPA has decided, for the first time, to regulate them in drinking water. And that’s a ruling that stands to affect tens of millions of people.

So, help me understand where these things came from and how it’s taken so long to get to the point where we’re actually regulating them.

So, they really actually came about a long time ago. In 1938, DuPont, the people who eventually got us to Teflon, they were actually looking for a more stable kind of refrigerant. And they came upon this kind of chemical, PFAS. The thing that all PFAS chemicals have is a really strong bond between carbon atoms and fluorine atoms. This particular pairing is super strong and super durable.

They have water repellent properties. They’re stain resistant. They’re grease resistant. And they found a lot of uses for them initially in World War II. They were using them as part of their uranium enrichment process to do all these kinds of things. And then —

Well, good thing it’s Teflon.

In the 1950s is when they really started to come out as commercial products.

Even burned food won’t stick to Teflon. So it’s always easy to clean.

So, DuPont started using it in Teflon pans.

Cookware never needs scouring if it has DuPont Teflon.

And then another company, 3M also started using a kind of PFAS —

Scotchgard fabric protector. It keeps ordinary spills from becoming extraordinary stains.

— in one of their big products, Scotchgard. So you probably remember spraying that on your shoes if you want to make your shoes waterproof.

Use Scotchgard fabric protector and let your cup runneth over.

Right — miracle product, Scotchgard, Teflon. But of course, we’re talking about these chemicals because they’ve been found to pose health threats. When does that risk start to surface?

Yeah, so it’s pretty early on that DuPont and 3M start finding effects in animals in studies that they’re running in house.

Around the mid ‘60s, they start seeing that PFAS has an effect on rats. It’s increasing the liver and kidney weights of the rats. And so that seems problematic. And they keep running tests over the next decade and a half. And they try different things with different animals.

In one study, they gave monkeys really, really high levels of PFAS. And those monkeys died. And so they have a pretty strong sense that these chemicals could be dangerous. And then in 1979, they start to see that the workers that are in the plants manufacturing, working with these chemicals, that they’re starting to have higher rates of abnormal liver function. And in a Teflon plant, they had some pregnant workers that were working with these chemicals. And one of those workers in 1981 gave birth to a child who had some pretty severe birth defects.

And then by the mid 1980s, DuPont figures out that it’s not just their workers who are being exposed to these chemicals, but communities that are living in areas surrounding their Teflon plant, particularly the one in Parkersburg, West Virginia, that those communities have PFAS in their tap water.

Wow, so based on its own studies, DuPont knows its chemicals are making animals sick. They seem to be making workers sick. And now they found out that the chemicals have made their way into the water supply. What do they do with that information?

As far as we know, they didn’t do much. They certainly didn’t tell the residents of Parkersburg who were drinking that water that there was anything that they needed to be worried about.

How is that possible? I mean, setting aside the fact that DuPont is the one actually studying the health effects of its own chemicals, presumably to make sure they’re safe, we’ve seen these big, regulating agencies like the EPA and the FDA that exist in order to watch out for something exactly like this, a company that is producing something that may be harming Americans. Why weren’t they keeping a closer watch?

Yeah, so it goes kind of back to the way that we regulate chemicals in the US. It goes through an act called the Toxic Substances Control Act that’s administered by the EPA. And basically, it gives companies a lot of room to regulate themselves, in a sense. Under this act they have a responsibility to report to the EPA if they find these kinds of potential issues with a chemical. They have a responsibility to do their due diligence when they’re putting a chemical out into the environment.

But there’s really not a ton of oversight. The enforcement mechanism is that the EPA can find them. But this kind of thing can happen pretty easily where DuPont keeps going with something that they think might really be a problem and then the fine, by the time it plays out, is just a tiny fraction of what DuPont has earned from producing these chemicals. And so really, the incentive is for them to take the punishment at the end, rather than pull it out early.

So it seems like it’s just self-reporting, which is basically self-regulation in a way.

Yeah, I think that is the way a lot of advocacy groups and experts have characterized it to me, is that chemical companies are essentially regulating themselves.

So how did this danger eventually come to light? I mean, if this is in some kind of DuPont vault, what happened?

Well, there’s a couple different things that started to happen in the late ‘90s.

The community around Parkersburg, West Virginia, people had reported seeing really strange symptoms in their animals. Cows were losing their hair. They had lesions. They were behaving strangely. Some of their calves were dying. And a lot of people in the community felt like they were having health problems that just didn’t really have a good answer, mysterious sicknesses, and some cases of cancers.

And so they initiate a class action lawsuit against DuPont. As part of that class action lawsuit, DuPont, at a certain point, is forced to turn over all of their internal documentation. And so what was in the files was all of that research that we mentioned all of the studies about — animals, and workers, the birth defects. It was really the first time that the public saw what DuPont and 3M had already seen, which is the potential health harms of these chemicals.

So that seems pretty damning. I mean, what happened to the company?

So, DuPont and 3M are still able to say these were just a few workers. And they were working with high levels of the chemicals, more than a person would get drinking it in the water. And so there’s still an opportunity for this to be kind of correlation, but not causation. There’s not really a way to use that data to prove for sure that it was PFAS that caused these health problems.

In other words, the company is arguing, look, yes, these two things exist at the same time. But it doesn’t mean that one caused the other.

Exactly. And so one of the things that this class action lawsuit demands in the settlement that they eventually reach with DuPont is they want DuPont to fund a formal independent health study of the communities that are affected by this PFAS in their drinking water. And so they want DuPont to pay to figure out for sure, using the best available science, how many of these health problems are potentially related to their chemicals.

And so they ask them to pay for it. And they get together an independent group of researchers to undertake this study. And it ends up being the first — and it still might be the biggest — epidemiological study of PFAS in a community. They’ve got about 69,000 participants in this study.

Wow, that’s big.

It’s big, yeah. And what they ended up deciding was that they could confidently say that there was what they ended up calling a probable link. And so they were really confident that the chemical exposure that the study participants had experienced was linked to high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy induced hypertension.

And so those were the conditions that they were able to say, with a good degree of certainty, were related to their chemical exposure. There were others that they just didn’t have the evidence to reach a strong conclusion.

So overall, pretty substantial health effects, and kind of vindicates the communities in West Virginia that were claiming that these chemicals were really affecting their health.

Absolutely. And as the years have gone on, that was sort of just the beginning of researchers starting to understand all the different kinds of health problems that these chemicals could potentially be causing. And so since the big DuPont class action study, there’s really just been like this building and building and building of different researchers coming out with these different pieces of evidence that have accumulated to a pretty alarming picture of what some of the potential health outcomes could be.

OK, so that really kind of brings us to the present moment, when, at last, it seems the EPA is saying enough is enough. We need to regulate these things.

Yeah, it seems like the EPA has been watching this preponderance of evidence accumulate. And they’re sort of deciding that it’s a real health problem, potentially, that they need to regulate.

So the EPA has identified six of these PFAS chemicals that it’s going to regulate. But the concern that I think a lot of experts have is that this particular regulation is not going to keep PFAS out of our bodies.

We’ll be right back.

So, Kim, you just said that these regulations probably won’t keep PFAS chemicals out of our bodies. What did you mean?

Well, the EPA is talking about regulating these six kinds of PFAS. But there are actually more than 10,000 different kinds of PFAS that are already being produced and out there in the environment.

And why those six, exactly? I mean, is it because those are the ones responsible for most of the harm?

Those are the ones that the EPA has seen enough evidence about that they are confident that they are probably causing harm. But it doesn’t mean that the other ones are not also doing something similar. It’s just sort of impossible for researchers to be able to test each individual chemical compound and try to link it to a health outcome.

I talked to a lot of researchers who were involved in this area and they said that they haven’t really seen a PFAS that doesn’t have a harm, but they just don’t have information on the vast majority of these compounds.

So in other words, we just haven’t studied the rest of them enough yet to even know how harmful they actually are, which is kind of alarming.

Yeah, that’s right. And there’s just new ones coming out all the time.

Right. OK, so of the six that the EPA is actually intending to regulate, though, are those new regulations strict enough to keep these chemicals out of our bodies?

So the regulations for those six chemicals really only cover getting them out of the drinking water. And drinking water only really accounts for about 20 percent of a person’s overall PFAS exposure.

So only a fifth of the total exposure.

Yeah. There are lots of other ways that you can come into contact with PFAS. We eat PFAS, we inhale PFAS. We rub it on our skin. It’s in so many different products. And sometimes those products are not ones that you would necessarily think of. They’re in carpets. They’re in furniture. They’re in dental floss, raincoats, vinyl flooring, artificial turf. All kinds of products that you want to be either waterproof or stain resistant or both have these chemicals in them.

So, the cities and towns are going to have to figure out how to test for and monitor for these six kinds of PFAS. And then they’re also going to have to figure out how to filter them out of the water supply. I think a lot of people are concerned that this is going to be just a really expensive endeavor, and it’s also not really going to take care of the entire problem.

Right. And if you step back and really look at the bigger problem, the companies are still making these things, right? I mean, we’re running around trying to regulate this stuff at the end stage. But these things are still being dumped into the environment.

Yeah. I think it’s a huge criticism of our regulatory policy. There’s a lot of onus put on the EPA to prove that a harm has happened once the chemicals are already out there and then to regulate the chemicals. And I think that there’s a criticism that we should do things the other way around, so tougher regulations on the front end before it goes out into the environment.

And that’s what the European Union has been doing. The European Chemicals Agency puts more of the burden on companies to prove that their products and their chemicals are safe. And the European Chemicals Agency is also, right now, considering just a ban on all PFAS products.

So is that a kind of model, perhaps, of what a tough regulation could look like in the US?

There’s two sides to that question. And the first side is that a lot of people feel like it would be better if these chemical companies had to meet a higher standard of proof in terms of demonstrating that their products or their chemicals are going to be safe once they’ve been put out in the environment.

The other side is that doing that kind of upfront research can be really expensive and could potentially limit companies who are trying to innovate in that space. In terms of PFAS, specifically, this is a really important chemical for us. And a lot of the things that we use it in, there’s not necessarily a great placement at the ready that we can just swap in. And so it’s used in all sorts of really important medical devices or renewable energy industries or firefighting foam.

And in some cases, there are alternatives that might be safer that companies can use. But in other cases, they just don’t have that yet. And so PFAS is still really important to our daily lives.

Right. And that kind of leaves us in a pickle because we know these things might be harming us. Yet, we’re kind of stuck with them, at least for now. So, let me just ask you this question, Kim, which I’ve been wanting to ask you since the beginning of this episode, which is, if you’re a person who is concerned about your exposure to PFAS, what do you do?

Yeah. So this is really tricky and I asked everybody this question who I talked to. And everybody has a little bit of a different answer based on their circumstance. For me what I ended up doing was getting rid of the things that I could sort of spot and get rid of. And so I got rid of some carpeting and I checked, when I was buying my son a raincoat, that it was made by a company that didn’t use PFAS.

It’s also expensive. And so if you can afford to get a raincoat from a place that doesn’t manufacture PFAS, it’s going to cost more than if you buy the budget raincoat. And so it’s kind of unfair to put the onus on consumers in that way. And it’s also just not necessarily clear where exactly your exposure is coming from.

So I talk to people who said, well, it’s in dust, so I vacuum a lot. Or it’s in my cleaning products, so I use natural cleaning products. And so I think it’s really sort of a scattershot approach that consumers can take. But I don’t think that there is a magic approach that gets you a PFAS-free life.

So Kim, this is pretty dark, I have to say. And I think what’s frustrating is that it feels like we have these government agencies that are supposed to be protecting our health. But when you drill down here, the guidance is really more like you’re on your own. I mean, it’s hard not to just throw up your hands and say, I give up.

Yeah. I think it’s really tricky to try to know what you do with all of this information as an individual. As much as you can, you can try to limit your individual exposure. But it seems to me as though it’s at a regulatory level that meaningful change would happen, and not so much throwing out your pots and pans and getting new ones.

One thing about PFAS is just that we’re in this stage still of trying to understand exactly what it’s doing inside of us. And so there’s a certain amount of research that has to happen in order to both convince people that there’s a real problem that needs to be solved, and clean up what we’ve put out there. And so I think that we’re sort of in the middle of that arc. And I think that that’s the point at which people start looking for solutions.

Kim, thank you.

Here’s what else you should know today. On Tuesday, in day two of jury selection for the historic hush money case against Donald Trump, lawyers succeeded in selecting 7 jurors out of the 12 that are required for the criminal trial after failing to pick a single juror on Monday.

Lawyers for Trump repeatedly sought to remove potential jurors whom they argued were biased against the president. Among the reasons they cited were social media posts expressing negative views of the former President and, in one case, a video posted by a potential juror of New Yorkers celebrating Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Once a full jury is seated, which could come as early as Friday, the criminal trial is expected to last about six weeks.

Today’s episode was produced by Clare Toeniskoetter, Shannon Lin, Summer Thomad, Stella Tan, and Jessica Cheung, with help from Sydney Harper. It was edited by Devon Taylor, fact checked by Susan Lee, contains original music by Dan Powell, Elisheba Ittoop, and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for The Daily. I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

• April 18, 2024   •   30:07 The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial
• April 17, 2024   •   24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
• April 16, 2024   •   29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin
• April 15, 2024   •   24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
• April 14, 2024   •   46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
• April 12, 2024   •   34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
• April 11, 2024   •   28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
• April 10, 2024   •   22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
• April 9, 2024   •   30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
• April 8, 2024   •   30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
• April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
• April 5, 2024   •   29:11 An Engineering Experiment to Cool the Earth

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring Kim Tingley

Produced by Clare Toeniskoetter ,  Shannon M. Lin ,  Summer Thomad ,  Stella Tan and Jessica Cheung

With Sydney Harper

Edited by Devon Taylor

Original music by Dan Powell ,  Elisheba Ittoop and Marion Lozano

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

The Environmental Protection Agency has begun for the first time to regulate a class of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” in America’s drinking water.

Kim Tingley, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, explains how these chemicals, which have been linked to liver disease and other serious health problems, came to be in the water supply — and in many more places.

On today’s episode

Kim Tingley , a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.

Background reading

“Forever chemicals” are everywhere. What are they doing to us?

The E.P.A. issued its rule about “forever chemicals” last week.

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

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Fact-checking by Susan Lee .

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Rating the Tour de France top 10

From Caruso to Pogacar, we assess the performance of this year's best GC riders

The 2020 Tour de France standings were turned on their head in the final time trial on Saturday, with the youngest winner in over 100 years, Tadej Pogacar ( UAE Team Emirates ) coming out on top. 

Joining the then 21-year-old on the podium were two riders in their 30s – Primoz Roglic and Richie Porte – while the rest of the top-10 was made up of experienced team leaders and valuable super domestiques.

Cyclingnews  takes a look at where the 2020 Tour de France leaves its top-10 finishers, and what now lies ahead.

10th: Damiano Caruso (Bahrain McLaren)

Age:  32

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  A consistently impressive third week in which the veteran held his form while several around him began to fade. His La Planche des Belles Filles time trial performance was one of the best of his career.

Tour report:  Caruso came into the Tour de France with no aspirations of his own as the Bahrain McLaren squad pinned their hopes on Mikel Landa. However, as the race evolved and Rod Ellingworth's men began to find their legs after a bruising first week, Caruso became the benchmark for their stability in the mountains. He was consistent and dependable – two factors that define his career – and although he's still missing a WorldTour win to his name, his reputation as a super domestique has been enhanced by his Tour performance.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Won the Circuito de Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa in early August

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Tour 2021? There are so many factors around this: not least whether Ellingworth wants to throw all his climbers into supporting Landa for the second time of asking. 

Route profiles will be key, but if WorldTour points become the team's main ambition and the team don't think Caruso's presence at the Tour would make the difference between Landa finishing fourth or fifth, then the Italian might be dispatched to the Giro d'Italia, where he has had top-10 success in the past.

9th: Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

Age:  28

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Several days in the yellow jersey.

Tour report:  The future Ineos rider came to win stages, but other than his third place to Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi in Nice, the Englishman never really threatened. 

It looked as though he was caught in two minds between losing time and retaining a top-10 position but as the race wore on, it was clear that his GC aspirations had overtaken stage hunting through long breaks. It made sense. Why give up a top-five in the final week when the race was demonstrating that a number of early breaks weren't surviving? 

Yates' game-plan wisely changed to solidifying a top 10, and then looking to exploit any weaknesses for possible stage wins. The latter part didn't come off, and his time trial saw him eventually drop two places to ninth, but that's still the equal-second best GC result in his career over three weeks, and proof that he can be a factor in major tours.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Beating Pogacar to win the UAE Tour.

Tour 2021?  Everyone thought that they had Ineos' Tour team dialled in two weeks prior to the race, and look what happened there. Yates is an exceptional rider, and one that could well benefit from the Ineos environment, but they've signed so many proven talents to complement an already exceptional squad that they could legitimately have competitive teams at all three Grand Tours and Yates would still play a secondary role.

8th: Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling)

Age:  33

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Vying for a podium spot all the way until the final few days.

Tour report:  Uran came into the Tour as one of three possible GC leaders for EF Pro Cycling but after Daniel Martinez crashed on stage 2 and Sergio Higuita crashed out on stage 15, the veteran became the American squad's focal point outside of stage hunting. 

Everything looked on course until the Alps, and when the favourites began to really test each other, Uran was found wanting. He rallied with a brave TT on the penultimate day, but his final place in Paris was a fair reflection of his performance. 

He has come a long way since his crash last year, but when the hammer went down, he just didn't have it. 

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Part of a winning TTT ride at the Tour Colombia.

Tour 2021?  Uran is a figurehead within the Slipstream organization, and he provided valiant cover for the team in this year's Tour when the rest of their GC cards folded. But the Colombian – who will be 34 in January – could find himself in the role of road captain and mentor to younger options next season, rather than the go-to guy for a top 10. 

That said, if Martinez does move to Ineos, then EF can't rely on Higuita at every turn. And while he may not be the force he once was, Uran is still a consistent performer.

7th: Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma)

Age:  29

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  It should have been his second place on the final time trial but it's probably best if he doesn't mention that in the Jumbo-Visma Whatsapp group.

Tour report:  Dumoulin effectively sacrificed his GC ambitions in the Pyrenees and then slipped into the role of super domestique as Jumbo-Visma built their overall challenge around Roglic. The Dutchman had several key cameos in the race, and on a personal level he should be proud of how he's bounced back from a terrible 2019. 

If Roglic had seen off Pogacar in the final time trial, the world would be hailing Dumoulin as the final piece in the jigsaw that helped Jumbo-Visma win the Tour. As things stand, the Dutch team will have to open an inquest into how they managed to lose the race despite their depth and domination. Was their strength in numbers a façade? Was Roglic simply undone by one bad day? Or could Dumoulin – as Steven Kruijswijk mentioned on the first rest day – have been utilised in a different way? 

Hindsight is wonderful, but those questions will loom large over the entire team for months to come.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Not much to choose from because he didn't race until post-lockdown, but probably seventh overall at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Tour 2021?  At some point, Dumoulin will want his chance at Grand Tour glory, so the question for Jumbo-Visma will be whether they repeat their plan for a second year running or opt for something else. 

George Bennett has already earmarked the Giro for next year, but once this year's postmortem is complete, the management will need to pick up their riders and devise a new plan.

6th: Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team)

Age:  26

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Winning stage 17 with one of the few major attacks from one of the GC riders in this year's race.

Tour report:  If you'd offered Lopez a stage win and sixth overall at the start, or when he got up off the floor having ridden into a lamppost and bush on stage 1, he probably would have taken it. But despite the success he gained in his maiden Tour, he arrived in Paris with some of the shine worn off. 

It's a shame, because this year's route was well suited to the Colombian, with no cobbles, just one day in the crosswinds and no time trial kilometres of any kind until the penultimate day. 

He seemed to improve as the race wore on, but his final time trial undid so much hard work. That said, only four riders inside the top 20 overall won stages, leaving the Colombian with plenty to savour.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Fifth overall in the Criterium du Dauphine or winning a stage in the Volta ao Algarve.

Tour 2021?  Lopez is a very underrated GC rider. Out of seven Grand Tours, he has finished six and never been outside of the top eight since an initial DNF. Outside of the Grand Tour winners, there are few riders with that level of consistency. Lopez's time trial, however, will always be an issue, and whether he returns to the Tour or heads back to his Giro/Vuelta comfort zone will very much depend on the routes once they are presented. At 26, though, he deserves another shot at the Tour.

5th: Enric Mas (Movistar)

Age:  25

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Moving into the top-five after coming good in the Alps.

Tour report:  Mas was barely visible in the opening half of the race, and either conceded time or fell towards the back of the group of favourites during a number of the early skirmishes. But he found his form on the Grand Colombier with a dogged ride, and then backed that up with two more top 10s in the Alps and then an excellent time trial ahead of Paris. 

He may have ghosted his way through much of the race, and only on the road to La Roche-sur-Foron did we see some aggression, but the rider from Mallorca answered many of his critics with a fifth-place finish in Paris.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  20th in the Dauphine, which demonstrates Mas' incredible turnaround.

Tour 2021?  When it mattered most, Mas rose to the challenge. He came into this race with huge pressure on his shoulders, because not only was he replacing Landa and Quintana at Movistar but he also had to spearhead a team that hadn't taken a single win since the opening weeks of the season. 

Having Alejandro Valverde's shadow looming over him probably didn't help, but the 25-year-old did enough to not only suggest that his 2018 Vuelta result wasn't a fluke and that he should be Movistar's leader for both the short and long-term.

4th: Mikel Landa  (Bahrain McLaren)

Age:  30

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Equalling his best-ever result and being part of a team that actually did more than follow.

Tour report:  There were always questions over Landa's podium credentials heading into the Tour, and they only amplified when most of the Bahrain-McLaren team crashed on stage 1, and then Landa himself lost time in the crosswinds on stage 7. 

To his and Bahrain McLaren's credit, they showed resilience with the former Movistar man moving from 19th to fourth overall by the time the race reached Paris. There were flashes of his ability in the mountains, but when the final selections were made, Landa was found lacking that one or two per cent that would have made his podium chances more realistic. 

His attitude and application to alter his tactics on repeated days in the Alps were admirable, but it's quite possible that Landa has reached the limits of his Tour potential.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Second overall in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Tour 2021?  If Bahrain McLaren had the funds to sign another Grand Tour leader to provide competition or an alternative for Landa, they probably would, but due to financial pressures, they'll probably return to the Tour in 2021 with a squad once more built around the Spaniard. 

They might provide less cover, with Dylan Teuns and Sonny Colbrelli allowed to target stage wins, but Landa is their best and only proven Tour de France leader over three weeks.

3rd: Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo)

Age:  35

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  The comeback on the gravel and the time trial of his life to seal third overall.

Tour report: Porte came into this race with little to no pressure after a 2019 that was plagued by illness and a number of setbacks. However, as a GC rider in the Tour, he saved his best for last, with a string of consummate performances in the mountains that led to a fully deserving spot behind the Slovenian pair at the top of the standings. 

There was a mini-wobble in the crosswinds, but the way he and Trek kept their heads, especially after losing Bauke Mollema to a crash, deserves credit. Mads Pedersen was immense when it came to protecting the Australian, but it's Porte who deserves the spotlight. After all the hard knocks and brutal crashes, he finally has a Grand Tour placing his talent deserves. What a great way to end your time as a GC leader.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning a stage and the GC at the Tour Down Under.

Tour 2021?  Unlike Yates, the Australian heads to Ineos with no aspirations of leadership in major three-week stage races, as he looks to find stability and calmness in what are likely to be his final two years as a pro cyclist. 

There's honour in that: dropping down into a previous role and admitting that family life and needing to find enjoyment in cycling are major priorities, so if Porte does return to the Tour in 2021, it will be as a super domestique. If you think that's a step backwards, re-watch the footage of from 2013 and 2014 and see just how important Porte was for Chris Froome.

2nd: Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  It's hard to look for positives after such a crushing defeat, but there's still plenty for Roglic to be positive about, including his stage win and the fact he came so close to winning a second Grand Tour in a row.

Tour report:  He fell heartbreakingly short of fulfilling his and his team's quest to win the Tour de France with a performance that flipped between the unbeatable to the unthinkable in just 36.2km of racing. 

This was not a classic Tour by any means, but the final individual test provided a stark reminder that no matter how dominant a rider and especially his team can look, it can all unravel in the blink of an eye. 

Roglic and Jumbo-Visma will have a long, hard winter in which to analyse where they lost this race, and there will be no easy answers. For Roglic, this signifies a much tougher blow than his Giro defeat last year, but it's often forgotten that despite being 30, he is still learning how to lead. 

For now, the overriding feeling will be one of bitter disappointment, but he will not argue with the result: Pogacar simply rode a better race.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning the Tour de l'Ain.

Tour 2021?  The knee-jerk answer would be yes. Roglic can time trial and climb, and if there's a team time trial next year, then he instantly has an advantage over all of his rivals. 

Whether Jumbo-Visma suit up all their stars for the Tour for a second concentrated tilt remains to be seen; sprinter Dylan Groenewegen will only sit on the sidelines for so long, but dispatching Roglic back to the Giro might knock his confidence significantly, and even though Dumoulin is improving, the Slovenian remains the team's best rider.

1st:  Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Age:  22

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Providing the best smash-and-grab performance the Tour de France has ever seen, and taking the mountains classification and the best-young-rider prize alongside yellow.

Tour report:  If you're still struggling to understand exactly what happened at La Planche des Belles Filles, don't worry – you're not alone. But what you witnessed was a standout performance from a highly rated 22-year-old (21 when he won) who decimated the entire field with a time trial that only Eddy Merckx apparently saw coming. 

Until that point, Pogacar had ridden a near-perfect race. Other than the loss of time in the crosswinds, he was imperious in the Pyrenees, and he demonstrated both calmness and a clinical mindset as he slowly chipped away at Roglic's lead. 

Whether Jumbo were oblivious to the danger or simply couldn't put enough distance into the UAE rider is a question only they can answer, but his win at the Grand Colombier showed that he wasn't in the mood for settling for second overall.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning two stages and the overall in Valenciana.

Tour 2021? Never in doubt, but those comparing him to Merckx need a timely reminder that they were saying the exact same thing 12 months ago in relation to Egan Bernal.

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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.

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Flèche wallonne: Vauquelin tout proche de l'exploit après une course dantesque

Stephen Williams vainqueur de la Flèche Wallonne devant le Français Kevin Vauquelin, le 17/04/2024 - AFP

Cosnefroy dans un état terrible.

Les mots très forts de Benoît Cosnefroy (qu'on a envie de réchauffer au coin du feu): "Les 80 derniers kilomètres, j'étais gelé, je pensais pas faire l'arrivée. J'ai voulu gérer ma montée pour rien regretter, mais la sincèrement, je suis dans un état... j'ai très très froid."

LA suite du classement:

Buitrago est 5e, devant Johanessen, Gregoire, Godon, Benoot est 9e et Guillaume Martin 10e.

On est partagé pour Vauquelin qui échoue à rien de la victoire

Mais l'attaque de Williams était trop tranchante, au terme d'une course rendue folle par les conditions météo. Les grands favoris ont bâché tôt pour préserver leurs chances pour Liège-Bastogne-Liège et les outsiders ont su en profiter.

Vauquelin échoue à un souffle derrière Williams

Van Gils complète le podium devant Cosnefroy!

L'attaque de Stephen Williams!!!!

Quelle attaque, personne ne va le revoir. Cosnefroy y va! Vauquelin aussi!

Guillaum Martin très bien placé lui aussi

Derrière Romain Gregoire s'arrache pour une place.

Madouas y va dès le départ

Cosnefroy très bien placé derrière Van Dijke.

Les Decathlon de Cosnefroy se replacent très bien.

Ils attaquent le mur en super position!

5 derniers kilomètres: tout va se jouer dans le Mur de Huy

Ils sont une trentaine de courageux à encore espérer la victoire.

10 km: Attaque de Johanessen!

Les uno X essaient de profiter de leur avantage numérique, mais la Visma est vigilante.

12 km: On est en haut de la côte d'Ereffe

Et Madouas et Gregoire sont toujours là pour la gagne, tout comme Vauquelin, Cosnefroy ou Godon. Ils ne sont que 30 devant.

14,6km: Regroupement en tête: SKA est repris!

Et ce sont les UNOX qui mènent la course. Valentin Madouas est lui en dernière position du peloton.

17 km: Gros boulot des Uno X qui vont ramener tout le monde.

Ca sent le regroupement général, alors qu'on arrive au bas de la cote d'Ereffe, c'est le final de cette Flèche wallonne.

18 km: Plus que 18 secondes d'avance

C'est en train de revenir assez rapidement sur Soren Kragh Andersen.

22 km: Kevin Vauquelin fait forte impression devant.

Mais c'est Steven Williams qui est allé le plus vite dans le mur d'Huy (la 3e montée) et qui serait le favori en cas de regroupement devant.

24 km: Kragh Andersen est doucement en train de craquer.

L'écart est tombé à 40 secondes. Il risque de se faire cueillir dans la cote d'Ereffe.

27 km: le point sur la course

On a SKA tout seul devant 1 minute devant Williams, Buitrago, Carapaz, Van Gils et Vauquelin. Et a 1'12, le "peloton" avec notamment Guillaume Martin.

Le peloton a explosé dans ce 3e mur de Huy

Steven Williams est parti en contre avec 1'05, juste devant Buitrago et Carapaz. Van Gils et Vauquelin ne sont pas loin.

C'est parti pour le mur de Huy, 3e!

1'24 d'avance pour SKA en bas.

35 km: Ben Healy attaque en contre... en descente

Juste avant le Mur de Huy, c'est pas super malin.

40 km et 1'15 d'avance pour Soren Kragh Andersen

Pas de Philipsen, pas de Van der Poel, et encore un numéro d'un Alpecin-Deceuninck? Ca paraît trop gros et pourtant c'est un peu ce qui est en train de se passer. Mais il reste encore beaucoup de temps.

Hoelgaard n'a pas tenu la distance

Il s'est fait reprendre dans la cote d'Ereffe. Il n'y a plus que Soren Kragh Andersen devant avec 57 secondes d'avance. Sacré numéro.

Qui va rouler derrière Hoelgaard et SKA?

Les Groupama-FDJ donnaient l'impression d'être les plus nombreux. Mais ils ont bien ralenti et du coup le peloton est en train de se remplumer.

50km de l'arrivée: les Nordiques devant

Markus Hoelgaard le Norvégien est en contre-attaque derrière Soren Kragh Andersen, qui va bientôt avoir une minute d'avance.

58 km: C'est parti pour une édition de légende

Un homme seul devant, Soren Kragh Andersen, un peloton riquiqui et sans les favoris (mais avec Cosnefroy et Madouas) à 15 secondes.

62 km: On est en haut! mais dans quel état!

Ils sont une trentaine devant, avec des Groupama-FDJ et des Uno X très bien représentés. Et la course s'emballe, une échappée est-elle en train de se dessiner?

63 km: Deuxième ascension du mur de Huy

Et la course a déjà complètement explosé. Mattias Skjelmose en difficulté lui aussi.

72 km: Regroupement imminent

Gaudu lui est complètement à l'arrière du peloton.

77 km: Dylan Teuns dans la difficulté!

L'ancien vainqueur et sérieux outsider est déjà dans le dur. Cette course va réserver beaucoup de surprises.

78 km: Deuxième passage dans la cote d'Ereffe

Et ca risque de condamner, déjà, les échappés. Vues les conditions météo, ca risque d'être plutôt une course par élimination.

Le peloton a explosé en deux parties

20secondes entre les deux pelotons, les EF et les UAE mènent le premier peloton. Apparemment, il neige maintenant sur la course. Neige un peu fondue, mais neige quand même.

87 km : le peloton fond sur les échappés

Plus que 1'22, dans des conditions climatiques dantesques. Le peloton a d'ailleurs bien réduit.

Lilian Calméjane en haut de la première montée du Mur.

Le peloton s'est néanmoins bien rapproché.

95 km de l'arrivée: 1ère ascension du mur de Huy

Ils sont 5 devant, avec 2 Français, Lilian Calméjane et Alan Jousseaume, accompagnés deIgor Chzhan, Johan Meens, et Txomin Juaristi. Et la premiuère indication de cette première montée est que la chaussée est bien mouillée. Ces 5 hommes ont 20 secondes d'avance sur James Whelan et 2'55 sur le peloton, mené par les EF Education pour Ben Healy.

Skjelmose, grand favori des internautes

De bon augure pour le champion du Danemark, tant cette course est la plus "prévisible"

Juan Ayuso parmi les favoris

L'Espagnol est très en forme en ce début de saison. le Russe Aleksandr Vlasov est aussi un bon outsider. Attention quand même à une petite évolution du parcours qui pourrait favoriser une échappée, alors que ces dernières éditions, tout s'était joué dans la montée finale.

Bonjour et bienvenue à tous pour ce live

Après la Flèche brabançonne, Benoît Cosnefroy peut-il s'offrir la Flèche Wallonne? En l'absence de Mathieu Van Der Poel, l'ogre du printemps, et de Tadej Pogacar, le vainqueur sortant qui se prépare pour le Giro, les jeux sont loins d'être fait, mais attention, le final de l'épreuve, avec le terrible Mur de Huy à l'arrivée des 198 km, est beaucoup plus compliqué que celui à l'arrivée de la Flèche brabançonne.

2e en 2020, Benoît Cosnefroy a donc une chance, tout comme Valentin Madouas ou David Gaudu, mais attention au champion du Danemark Mattias Skjelmose ou au Belge Dylan Teuns.

Une course à suivre à la télévision sur Eurosport à partir de 12h45 et France 3 à partir de 15h10, et bien sûr en direct commenté sur le site et l'appli RMC Sport.

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"C'est absolument ridicule" : Interrogé sur son public âgé, Cyril Féraud pousse un coup de gueule (VIDÉO)

Star Academy - Julien fait un aveu de taille sur son single : "On n’a pas eu le temps de le peaufiner…"

Les top actus.

"Je vais vous montrer que je suis pour la liberté" : Ruby Nikara enlève le haut comme signe de protestation dans TPMP (VIDEO)

Maurane : Le parquet de Bruxelles dévoile les causes de sa mort

"Moins que ça !" : Clara Morgane évoque la fréquence de ses rapports sexuels et pousse un coup de gueule (VIDEO)

"Je ne suis pas franco-marocain" : Gad Elmaleh corrige Natacha Polony (VIDEO)

"Un c*nnard laid de l'intérieur" : Olivier Marchal règle ses comptes avec Jean-Luc Mélenchon

“Il faut que vous sortiez du plateau” : Jordan Bardella très offensif face à Gilles Verdez dans Touche pas à mon poste (VIDEO)