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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. - Benjamin Disraeli
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Current racing:
- July 5 - 27: Tour de France
- July 26 - July 30: Tour de Wallonie
Upcoming racing:
- July 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- August 2: San Sebastian Classic
Latest completed racing:
- June 21 - 29: Most national road championships
- June 24: Giro dell'Appennino
- June 15 - 22: Tour de Suisse
- June 18 - 22: Baloise Belgium Tour
- July 9 - 13: Tour of Austria
- June 8 - 15: Critérium du Dauphiné
- June 13: GP Kanton Aargau
- June 8: Brussels Cycling Classic
- May 9 - June 1: Giro d'Italia
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Thymen Arensman's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Thymen Arensman took his second Tour de France stage victory with an epic finale on the La Plagne climb on stage 19.
Arensman was part of a select GC group on the final mountain, and managed to escape solo with 13km to go after repeat attacks from him, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease A Bike) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates - XRG).
The Dutchman managed to hold on into the final moments, crossing the line just a few metres ahead of the chasing GC contenders and take his second victory of this year’s Tour de France. Arensman also moved up to 12th on the GC going into tomorrow’s penultimate stage.
Thymen Arensman wins stage 19. Photo: ASO/Aurélien Vialatte
Thymen Arensman:
“I’m absolutely destroyed. I can’t believe it. Already winning one stage in the Tour was unbelievable from a break, but now from the GC group against the strongest riders in the world, it feels like I’m dreaming. I don’t know what I just did.
“After the descent towards La Plagne, we were talking on the radio and Tobias [Foss] was still there with me and tomorrow is another opportunity. I told Tobias and speaking with Zak [Dempster] on the radio that today is the last mountain stage, I have no GC to ride for but I will try to hang on a few kilometres on the climb and see how the legs feel. I told Tobias to swing off and tomorrow is his day and I’ll see what I can do today. I started the climb and I was quite in control. I was like, ‘I have no GC, maybe they look at each other, you know what I’ll just try it’. I just didn’t take no for answer. It’s Tadej [Pogacar] and Jonas [Vingegaard] and everybody knows they are the strongest in the world, they’re almost aliens! Just as a human, I still want to try to beat them. I just can’t believe I beat them today.
“I tried to not look behind, to just go as fast as I could, and I did and it was just enough. It’s just crazy."
Here's the stage 19 report from second-place Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Jonas Vingegaard finished second in stage 19 of the Tour de France. The Dane from Team Visma | Lease a Bike came close to a stage victory but had to concede at the line to Thymen Arensman.
“I really wanted to win the stage today”, Vingegaard said after crossing the finish on the rain-soaked mountaintop. “But Thymen was incredibly strong. In the end, he’s the deserved winner of this stage. I felt good and decided to fully focus on the stage win. Unfortunately, I just missed out.”
Near the finish: Florian Lipowitz leads Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Sirotti photo
The stage, shortened by the organizers to 93 kilometers, led the peloton through the Alps via the Col du Pré and the Cormet de Roselend before the final climb to La Plagne. Early on, riders such as Victor Campenaerts were very active, but it became clear that some favorites were not willing to let a large breakaway go up the road.
The Belgian then shifted his efforts to support Vingegaard, riding alongside a strong Simon Yates to keep the Dane sheltered throughout the day. On the final ascent to La Plagne, the group of favorites quickly thinned out. That was the moment for Thymen Arensman to attack. Vingegaard closed to within a few meters from the chasing group, but it was the Dutchman who ultimately claimed the win.
Head of Racing Grischa Niermann acknowledged how close Vingegaard came to the victory. “Our primary goal was to win the stage. It quickly became clear that other teams had the same plan. We were convinced that the way we rode today would give us the best chance. Unfortunately, we ran into a very strong Arensman at the end. It was close, but we just couldn’t pull it off”, said the German.
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Here's the stage 19 report from GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
On the final day in the mountains at this year’s Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar did not flinch in his defence of the Yellow Jersey. Finishing third across the line at La Plagne, the Slovenian did not even come under attack on the last climb, such was the pace that he set at the front of the favourites’ group.
Unable to put the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man under pressure on the last summit finish of the race, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) sprinted around Pogačar for second at the line, with Ineos Grenadiers’ Thymen Arensman taking a well-earned victory after his speculative attack from the GC group. The Dutch climber becomes the only rider to take a stage win in both the Pyrenees and the Alps at this year’s Tour.
Content to set a defensive tempo up the final climb to La Plagne, Pogačar did not chase down Arensman or follow his stage-winning attack. Instead, the 26-year-old sapped the morale of his opponents and crossed the line with his race lead remaining well in excess of four minutes. Only two stages stand between the world champion and a fourth Tour de France victory.
Tadej Pogacar has just two stages to go before claiming another TDF victory. Sirotti photo
Earlier in the stage, Tim Wellens delivered another faultless performance on behalf of Pogačar, with the Belgian champion leading the peloton up the entirety of the tricky Col de Pre ascent. Under Wellens’ control, only three riders were within the day’s breakaway over the top of the Cormet de Roselend (5.8km at 6.5%).
With those three being Primoź Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Pogačar could be relaxed to see no GC dangers up the road.
Determined to frame himself in the podium fight, Roglič did his best to pull off an unlikely stage victory, but the four-time Vuelta a España champion was caught by a combination of Wellens and Uno-X Mobility at the head of the peloton. The Scandinavian outfit was determined to see Tobias Halland Johannessen climb above the dropped Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) in the GC at the end of the day.
As Roglič was brought to heel, Wellens dragged the peloton onto the early slopes of the hors catégorie climb to La Plagne. Once the Belgian was done, it was his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Jhonatan Narváez who took over. Sitting firmly in the wheels, Pogačar had only one real task: stay on guard for an attack from Vingegaard.
As it happened, such an attack never occurred, with the stage victory instead opening up for the bravest rider on Friday afternoon. To his credit, it was Arensman who threw caution to the wind and made a pair of attacks, the second proving successful. That stage-winning move came 13.6km from the summit, with the Dutch rider never to be caught before the finish line.
Unable to mount any pressure in the fight for Yellow, the group of favourites behind Arensman refused to work with Pogačar, to which the Slovenian responded by sticking to his rhythm and accepting his position at the front. He could ride within himself and accept that the stage win was not his responsibility to chase.
After three weeks of non-stop racing within France, there was an air of fatigue that crept over the chasing group as they approached the summit. Arensman rode to a brilliant win out front, as Vingegaard sprinted to take second over the line, with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) all but affirming his third-place finish in Paris.
As for Pogačar, the Yellow Jersey took third place on the day and will now turn his attention to the final two stages of this year’s race. With an advantage of well over four minutes in the GC, Pogačar can be confident, but as he stated in his post-race interview, this is no time to become complacent.
Pogačar: “We did a very good job until the last climb, and then some teams and riders think they can sprint the 19km of the climb. The pace was incredibly high at the start and then I was thinking that maybe Jonas [Vingegaard] would want to win the stage also. But in the end, he was just holding on to my wheel.
“Arensman went on a good attack, I decided not to follow, to set my defensive rhytym that I feel comfortable with and in the end, it was like this. I am just glad it is over and now just two more days until Paris.
“I had to pull the whole climb in the end, so of course I came quite tired to the finish line, but also it was tough the last three days for me. I am happy that today is over and we will go again tomorrow.
“It is the Tour de France, it is two more days. We will keep concentrated, and let’s go.”
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Fifth-place Oscar Onley's Team Picnic-PostNL posted this:
The last mountain test of the Tour de France saw the peloton tackle an abridged 93 kilometre route starting from Albertville and finishing atop La Plagne. With 3300 metres of climbing packed into the stage, it was sure to be a tough day of racing. Due to the shorter nature of the stage, the action and pace was on once the early intermediate sprint point had been passed.
Attacks flew from the front of the peloton and a strong group that featured fifth-on-GC Roglic went clear. Team Picnic PostNL remained calm and rallied around Oscar Onley in the yellow jersey bunch, which pegged the gap to the leaders at one minute. Over the first few climbs a long descent and valley road followed, where Roglic was reeled in by the base of La Plagne.
Frank van den Broek did an incredible job of supporting Onley in the now leading peloton of around 15 riders, coming back to help pace once Pogacar attacked. That strong pull saw Onley return to the race leader as the kilometres ticked down. With around six kilometres to go Pogacar attacked once more and alongside Vingegaard and Lipwitz, Onley was able to follow – with the first four on GC riding together. Coming into the finale the screw was turned once more and despite an incredibly brave and resilient effort, Onley had to let go of the wheels and ride at his own tempo.
Oscar Onley on the climb to La Plagne. Sirotti photo
Pushing all the way to the finish on La Plagne, he crossed the line in a great fifth place. That result puts Onley and Team Picnic PostNL in fourth place on GC heading into the weekend’s two final stages; far exceeding pre-race expectations from many – on what has been an exceptional race for the whole team.
After gathering his breath, a smiling Onley recalled: “The boys did a great job today, I’m super happy with them. Frank was strong and supported me onto the La Plagne climb. He did a massive pull there. Of course I would have loved to go one step higher, but I think if someone told me before the start of the Tour de France that we would be in fourth place on GC with a few stages to go – then I wouldn’t believe them. I just gave everything I had today so there’s nothing to regret.”
Team Picnic PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “I’m super proud again of how we rode today. We did everything we could to set Oscar up, with Frank riding well in support, and Oscar dug super deep finishing fifth in the end. It’s his eighth top ten of this Tour de France which is absolutely incredible. We have two days left here where we will continue to fight for our stage results.”
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Here's the report from ninth-place Valentin Paret-Peintre's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The organisers were forced to re-design the course of Friday’s stage and take out the first climb of the day, but the route remained a difficult one, despite being shortened to just 93 kilometers. The action was sparked early, and one of the first to roll the dice was Soudal Quick-Step’s Valentin Paret-Peintre. On the steep ramps of Col du Pré, the Frenchman had to dig deep in order to put some daylight between him and the yellow jersey group, but he managed to do that thanks to an incredible tenacity, joining the original leaders and making it three men at the front.
Valentin Paret-Peintre riding to ninth place. Sirotti photo
They continued to press on as the road to the top of Cormet de Roselend started, and somehow maintained their small advantage over the chasers. There, the Mont Ventoux winner attacked the other two and opened a small gap, but they came back before the summit. On the descent, the 24-year-old Frenchman took off, only for the chasers to bridge across again. In the valley, Paret-Peintre was caught by the peloton, but managed to remain there and start La Plagne – which returned at Le Tour after 23 years – with the main group.
Despite losing contact with them some ten kilometers from the finish, Valentin didn’t give up and put in a superb climbing effort all the way to the top, where he took a solid ninth place behind winner Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers). It was his seventh top ten of the season, and the best result of the day for the home nation on this last Alpine stage of the Tour de France.
“It was very hard from start to finish today. It was just 95 kilometers long, but à bloc the entire time. My legs were better than the day before, so I went on the attack and tied to show some nice things up the road. In the end, it was a top ten, and I’m satisfied with this result considering how difficult it was”, Valentin said at the finish.
And here's the Tour stage 19 report from Team Groupama-FDJ:
Although the Tour de France peloton will be tackling a few Jura hills on Saturday on the penultimate stage towards Pontarlier, the major mountains are well and truly over in this 2025 edition. On Friday, from Albertville to La Plagne, in a stage shortened to 93 kilometres, the final big climbs of the Tour de France were covered, and Thymen Arensman claimed victory. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet fought as hard as he could and sits seventeenth overall two days before the finish in Paris.
On the second day in the Alps, the riders were expecting a dynamic stage. It was even more so than expected. Instead of the 123 kilometres initially scheduled by the organizers, only 93 kilometres were to be covered this Friday from Albertville to La Plagne, due to the withdrawal of the Col des Saisies at the start of the race. It was therefore after only fifteen kilometres, and after passing the intermediate sprint, that the peloton tackled the demanding Col du Pré (12.5 km at 8%), where the race broke out straight away.
The peloton begins the final climb to La Plagne
Primoz Roglic launched the attacks among the GC riders, and after trying to follow a first move, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet was forced to let the yellow jersey peloton slip away. “It was difficult yesterday, and it was again today at the start,” commented Stéphane Goubert. “It was slightly better in terms of feelings at the end of the race, but he is still very far from his real level. We will sit down to analyse all this after the Tour, it is not the right time. As for Valentin, he’s struggling a bit with bronchitis, and he gave it his all yesterday to try to do his best.”
After getting over the Cormet de Roselend (5.8 km at 6.6%), Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet eventually crossed the finish line at the top of La Plagne (19.5 km at 7%) in 35th position, just over fifteen minutes behind the winner Thymen Arensman. The French rider therefore lost one spot (17th) in the overall classification of the Tour de France with forty-eight hours to go before the end of the race in Paris. “The guys fought well, but with the next two days in mind, in order to perform there as well as possible,” added Stéphane Goubert. “We have to try where we have a chance at the moment. We have to accept that we couldn’t compete in the high mountains this year, and we have to be aggressive on terrains that suit us better. Tomorrow is one of those days.” Four listed climbs will have to be overcome on Saturday in the penultimate stage of the Tour, towards Pontarlier, with the last one being twenty-five kilometres from the finish. A perfect profile for the breakaway.
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