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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
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Yesterday we posted final Tour reports from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Visma | Lease a Bike and Team Picnic-PostNL.
Here's the report from stage 21 second-place Davide Ballerini's Team XDS Astana:
XDS Astana Team rider Davide Ballerini claimed second place in the final, 21st stage of the Tour de France in Paris. Ballerini was part of a breakaway formed on the Montmartre climb, which ended up deciding the stage winner. Belgian rider Wout van Aert launched an attack on the final ascent and won the stage, while Ballerini sprinted to second from the chasing group.

The peloton racing in the rain in Paris shortly before the finish. Sirotti photo
“I have mixed emotions. On one hand, I gave it everything I had; on the other, I came very close to winning. I felt great today, my legs were working well, and I was ready to fight. When the decisive attacks began, I was up there. Maybe during the attack with Tadej Pogačar on the penultimate climb I spent too much energy, and in the finale, when Van Aert attacked, I was just a bit short. Anyway, I believe I did all I could, and the strongest rider won today. This Tour didn’t go the way I had hoped: the crash in one of the early stages threw me off for a long time. I’m happy that I was able to come back for the final stages and fight for top results. In any case, it felt great to be up front today, to fight for the win and to stand on the podium,”, – said Davide Ballerini.
Another XDS Astana Team rider, Mike Teunissen, finished 9th.
Sergio Higuita took 14th place in the final General Classification of the Tour de France.
Third-place Matej Mohoric's Team Bahrain Victorious posted this Tour report:
The 2025 Tour de France ended with a reimagined Paris finale from Mantes-la-Ville to the Champs-Élysées, including the cobbled Côte de la Butte Montmartre. There were three laps of the traditional circuit, before three of the Montmartre loop, followed by the incomparable setting of the finish line in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.
The climb was used to great acclaim at the Olympic road race last year, and once again provided the stage for a captivating battle.
Rainy weather meant GC times were neutralised with around 50 km remaining, as Slovenian Matej Mohorič was in contention for the win as a lead group of six went over Montmartre for the third and final time. Ultimately, Wout van Aert (TJV) attacked powerfully and held on, while behind, Davide Ballerini (XAT) narrowly out-sprinted Matej.
An emotional Mohorič reflected:
“I was really disappointed to miss out on the biggest chance I had yesterday but I was proud of my performance today. I didn’t give up or blame it on bad luck. I was hoping that Wout wasn’t on a good day, but he deserves the stage win. Fair play, chapeau. He was the strongest rider on the course, he was willing to risk it all on the corners. But I was willing to put everything on the line, I was either going to end up on the podium or in the hospital.”
This new-look closing chapter gave us an absorbing, exciting, and unpredictable denouement to this 112th edition of the world’s biggest bike race, even if the wet conditions did change how the peloton took on the 132.3 km parcours.
2022 Milano-Sanremo winner seized his chance in the break, showing tactical nous and resilience on the tough climb. Even though van Aert eventually prevailed, Mohorič’s display reaffirmed his reputation as a rider who excels on dramatic finishes.
Fred Wright also played a key role on Sunday, featuring in the decisive early move. He and Mohorič got into the lead group when overall winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE) drove the pace. Though Wright ultimately dropped back, his presence helped shape the selection and enabled his teammate’s challenge.

Matej Mohorič at the teams presentation ceremony before the Tour started. Sirotti photo
Also worth mentioning was Lenny Martinez, who secured third in the mountains classification, a testament to his consistency and climbing throughout the race.
Here's the final Tour de France report from Team Lotto:
As the curtain falls on the Tour de France 2025, our team looks back with pride and deep sense of progression. “We came here with the aim of getting a stage win, but in the end we can be very proud of our boys”, Tony Gallopin said afterwards.
Over the course of three highly demanding weeks in the most iconic cycling race of the year, our team showed promising performances, individual breakthroughs and shared team spirit. With four top five finishes and two top ten finishes, we can look back on a positive note. “Although the aim was to go for stage wins, we can be very proud of the work delivered by our boys”, Tony Gallopin reflects back.
Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Jasper De Buyst due to sickness and also lost Lennert Van Eetvelt too early which impacted the team a lot. Sports director Kurt Van De Wouwer looks back on the challenges this caused: “We went into the Tour de France with three leaders: Arnaud De Lie, Jenno Berckmoes and Lennert Van Eetvelt. Unfortunately, Lennert’s Tour already started on a negative note due to his crash in the national championships and in the second stage of the Tour from which he could never fully recover. For his own health, we decided to take him out of the race but of course this impacted a lot of the upcoming races for us as a team.”

Arnaud De Lie before the start of stage 17. Sirotti photo
“On the other hand, both Arnaud and Jenno absolutely proved themselves. Arnaud especially really performed above all expectations. We all know that his preparations were not optimal, he comes from far. But in this Tour de France, he showed many promising things. Four times a top five result and a top ten to finish off in Paris, is a really beautiful end result.”
“As it was Jenno’s first grand tour, he really proved himself and showed promising things that we can build on for the future. I am convinced that by riding this Tour de France, Jenno not only made a big step in his career, but also made a big step on a personal level”, Kurt Van De Wouwer reflects positively on this year’s Tour de France.
Here's the report from GC third-place Florian Lipowitz's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:
The 2025 Tour de France will go down as a defining moment in the history of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe. With Florian Lipowitz finishing third overall in the general classification, the team secured its first-ever podium finish at the Tour de France, along with the white jersey for best young rider, another first in its Tour history.
Florian, just 24 years old and riding his first Tour de France, stepped onto the podium in Paris after three gruelling weeks of racing that tested even the most seasoned professionals. On Stage 14 to Luchon–Superbagnères, he moved into third overall and took control of the white jersey. From that point on, he showed remarkable composure and consistency, defending both positions through the high mountains of the final week.
This podium finish crowns what has been a remarkable season for Florian. After placing second at Paris-Nice, third at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and fourth at Itzulia Basque Country, the Tour de France confirmed his place among the sport’s young talents.

Florian Lipowitz heads to the start of stage 15. Sirotti photo
Florian Lipowitz: "It was a tough three weeks. I just wanted to get to the finish line safely. Overall, there were many ups and downs, and the start wasn't ideal. But we grew closer and closer as a team. Because in the end, a result like this isn't just down to me, it's a team effort. That's why I want to say thank you to everyone again. We're riding through France for three weeks, but there's a lot more to it than that in terms of preparation. That's why I'm just happy that everything worked out so well and we can celebrate third place."
A former talented biathlete, Florian was discovered and developed within the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe system, making rapid but steady progress. He is known in the peloton as modest and humble, yet quietly ambitious, traits that have endeared him to fans at this year’s Tour. As the race entered its final week, his name began to appear more and more on roadside banners, a sign of growing support from the public for the young German rider.
This achievement stands proudly alongside the team’s major Grand Tour performances, Jai Hindley’s Giro d’Italia title, Primož Roglič’s Vuelta a España win, and historic Tour moments including Peter Sagan’s multiple green jerseys and stage wins, and most recently Jordi Meeus’ stage win on the Champs-Élysées in 2023. Yet there’s something particularly meaningful about a German rider achieving a podium in Paris with his German team, a testament to years of focused development and belief in young talent.
Ralph Denk, CEO Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe: "Standing here in Paris with this result is a great moment for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, but also for me personally. Florian has achieved the best result in the team's history at the Tour de France, also winning the white jersey for the first time. I am proud of how we and our partners have presented ourselves here. We have now been invited by them, and they are giving us a huge welcome. The first Tour podium is another step on the way to eventually winning the yellow jersey."
Team Soudal Quick-Step posted this final Tour de France report:
For the seventh time since the team was created, Soudal Quick-Step concluded the Tour de France with at least four stage wins in the bag. It was one of our most successful presences at the Grande Boucle, on which The Wolfpack left its mark from the first until the last week. What made this year’s achievement even more remarkable was the fact we took victories with three different riders – Tim Merlier (Dunkerque and Châteauroux), Remco Evenepoel (Caen) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Mont Ventoux) – and on different terrains: flat, time trial and high mountains.
Remco Evenpoel with Bernard Thevenet after winning stage five. Sirotti photo
Along the way, Soudal Quick-Step extended what is an incredible record in the history of the Tour de France as the only team to have scored at least a stage victory in 13 consecutive years. On the famous Champs-Élysées boulevard, which hosted a stage finish for the 50th time in history, our six riders that concluded this moveable feast that is Le Tour – Pascal Eenkhoorn, Tim Merlier, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Maximilian Schachmann, Bert Van Lerberghe and Ilan Van Wilder celebrated this unforgettable edition.
“This has been one of the most memorable Tours de France in the history of Soudal Quick-Step, and we can all be proud of what we’ve achieved. Winning with three different riders – in two sprints, an individual time trial, and on one of the race’s most iconic climbs – says everything about the strength, depth, and character of this team. Even when we had to deal with two rider retirements, we continued to strive to show ourselves in the race, and this reflects the formidable ambition, commitment, and hard work of everyone involved.”
“We’ve shown once again what it means to be the Wolfpack. It’s not just our results, but our mentality – the unity and resilience that carried us through three tough weeks. Thank you to everyone who made this possible: our riders who gave everything, the staff who worked tirelessly day after day, our loyal sponsors, and the incredible fans who supported us every step of the way”, said Soudal Quick-Step CEO Jurgen Foré.
Here's the Tour report from points classification winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek:
Lidl-Trek believed from the beginning that Jonathan Milan could win the green jersey at the Tour de France. They didn’t expect him to win it like this.
Milan crossed Sunday’s finish line in Paris as the Points Classification winner, preventing yellow and polka-dot jersey winner Tadej Pogacar from completing a jersey trifecta. Milan and Lidl-Trek waged a three-week campaign that featured two stage wins and a focused effort to suck up as many intermediate sprint points as possible. The Slovenian rider won four stages and threatened to take the historically sprinter-dominated classification in a particularly chaotic edition of the Grande Boucle, but Lidl-Trek rode a pristine final week to win its second grand tour points classification of 2025.
Jonathan Milan in the green points jersey after stage 8. Sirotti photo
“[This was a] big goal that we were thinking about from the beginning of the year. Because for me, it was the big goal for all our team,” Milan said Sunday. “I have to say that this is really beautiful for me. I really enjoyed [my teammates]. I really had fun.”
While Lidl-Trek largely bossed the peloton during Mads Pedersen’s Giro d’Italia Ciclamino campaign, this year’s Tour featured high-powered breakaways and manic racing nearly every day, preventing prototypical lead-outs from forming before the Tour’s scant sprint finishes. Milan is maybe the most dangerous man on the planet when launching an attack from a hard-charging bunch, but for both of his two wins, he had to deftly maneuver within a reduced field to cross the line first.
Milan’s teammates, assembled as a high-powered train to help tow him to the line, often had to reallocate their talents to chasing down breakaways from long range. One of the squad’s most memorable efforts came on Stage 9 when Mathieu van der Poel, among the best one-day riders ever, got dangerously far up the road on what was supposed to be a textbook sprint finish stage and Lidl-Trek, defending Milan in the green jersey, exhausted its lead-out to reel him in. Milan took second on the stage in another hectic sprint.
“[As a] team we are growing,” Milan said. “We have been able to achieve also other goals that we were thinking about at the beginning of the year. So I think this means a lot. This shows how tough we work during the year.”
Quinn Simmons was emblematic of Lidl-Trek’s team effort. Simmons was given the “Super Teammate” award by the Tour de France for his near constant presence at the front of the peloton. The 24-year-old American national champion showcased a world class engine, and took second on a hilly Stage 6 after spending 155 kilometers in the breakaway.
Above all, the theme of Lidl-Trek’s Tour de France was “mitigating chaos.” The squad got off to a rocky start on Stage 1, when it got caught behind crosswinds and fell out of position for the sprint. The team wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Milan’s tall, green frame was almost always at the pointy end of every non-mountain stage, and his teammates crucially kept him ahead of a 1k-to-go crash that took place just off his back wheel before he sprinted to a Stage 17 win.
“It was a really tough fight, I have to say. It was a big goal. As I always said, it was a big dream since the beginning of the year,” Milan said. “I think it’s also a big dream since I started as a pro. So, you know, we achieved a lot today. And I’m just super happy for me, for the work that the team did.”
Milan’s green jersey victory didn’t go exactly as the team drew it up, but that only made it sweeter. This year’s Tour de France was one of the most exciting of recent memory precisely because of its day-to-day unpredictability. But as the stages rolled on, Lidl-Trek got stronger and asserted itself within the chaos. In the end, the team got exactly what it wanted all along: Milan in green, in Paris, beaming.
Geraint Thomas' Team INEOS Grenadiers posted this final Tour report:
Geraint Thomas completed his 14th and final Tour de France as the INEOS Grenadiers capped off three weeks of hard racing in Paris.
Overall winner in 2018, the Welshman crossed the line on a soaking wet Champs-Elysees as the 2025 edition of the race came to a close.
Thomas’ final Tour marked a true show of grit and determination from his INEOS Grenadiers squad.

Geraint Thomas at the start of stage six. Sirotti photo
Thymen Arensman got stronger as the race progressed, pulling off two superb breakaway stage wins on stages 14 and 19 respectively. The Dutchman would also finish 12th overall in his Tour debut.
The three weeks were peppered with bad luck, as Filippo Ganna was forced to depart the race almost immediately following a crash on the opening stage. Carlos Rodriguez was sitting 10th overall when he crashed near the conclusion of stage 17, and was unable to start the following day due to his injuries.
Axel Laurance never stopped trying and picked up three top-10 stage finishes, including on home ground atop the Mur de Bretagne. The Frenchman was also part of a chasing breakaway group on the final day. Sam Watson was another rider making his Tour de France debut, showcasing the British national champion’s jersey.
Connor Swift put in a solid ride across the three weeks in support of his teammates, while Tobias Foss was active in trying to make a number of breakaways.
For Thomas, the finale in Paris provided another emotional chapter closing during his final season on the road.
Featuring a new loop and tough ascents of the Montmartre climb, the win on the day went to Wout Van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) wrapping up an impressive overall victory.
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