Cycling: Tadej Pogacar has won the twelfth stage of the Tour de France. The Slovenian world champion won the mountain finish in Hautacam, taking significant time off his rivals. He thus takes over the yellow jersey from Ben Healy. German Florian Lipowitz also put in a strong performance, climbing to third place behind Jonas Vingegaard.
Pogacar wins ahead of Vingegaard and Lipowitz
As expected, the 180,6-kilometer stage from Auch to Hautacam proved decisive in the 2025 Tour de France. Primoz Roglic (UAE – XRG) won the stage, gaining significant time on his rivals. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike), his closest pursuer, lost over two minutes. Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) climbed to third place. The 24-year-old from Laichingen thrilled all German fans with his impressive performance. He is now not only in contention for the white jersey as best young rider, but also for a podium finish at the Tour de France.
Buchmann in the escape group
A staggering 52 riders managed to break away from the peloton right from the start. The day's breakaway included strong general classification contenders such as Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and the German Emanuel Buchmann (Cofidis). Despite this, there was no panic in the peloton. Nils Politt (UAE-XRG), along with riders from Uno-X Mobility and EF Education-EasyPost, controlled the pace. As a result, the breakaway group was only able to increase its lead to around three minutes before the Visma-Lease a Bike team significantly upped the tempo on the Col du Soulor.
Evenepoel is left behind early
On the Col du Soulor, Team Visma – Lease a Bike immediately laid their cards on the table and pushed the pace hard. Numerous riders were dropped immediately, including the man in the yellow jersey, Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost), and pre-race favorite Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick-Step). When Matteo Jorgenson (Visma – Lease a Bike) was also caught, the black and yellow team eased off the gas. Meanwhile, the breakaway group also disintegrated. Only Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) managed to stay ahead of the favorites until the foot of the final climb. Evenepoel and Jorgenson were able to rejoin the peloton – but only until Team UAE – XRG took control and attacked at full throttle on the climb up to Hautacam.
Pogacar makes short work of it
Jhonatan Narváez (UAE – XRG) sprinted into the final climb as if he were planning a bunch sprint. Immediately afterward, Tadej Pogacar (UAE – XRG) attacked. Only Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) was able to stay on his wheel briefly, but when Pogacar pushed again, the Dane was gone too. From then on, the two were riding alone, and the gap widened kilometer by kilometer. Behind them, it became clear that Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) was stronger than his teammate Primoz Roglic (RB – Bora – hansgrohe). Initially, the German stayed with his designated captain, but with about four kilometers to go, he seemed to be given the go-ahead. Lipowitz set off in pursuit of the two best climbers in the world.
Tadej Pogacar is out of this world
The world champion leaves Jonas Vingegaard in the dust, opening up a gap with a huge attack pic.twitter.com/it2OPHNgZM
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 17, 2025