Cycling: After his success in Luchon-Superbagnères, Thymen Arensman has now also won in La Plagne. The Dutchman surprised all the riders in the favorite group with a solo run on the final climb. The German fans also had cause to celebrate. Florian Lipowitz defended his white jersey and further extended his lead in the overall standings to fourth place. He had to endure a scary moment when he almost fell shortly before the finish.
Lipowitz fourth in Arensman's victory
He did it! Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) successfully defended the white jersey and the podium position in the overall standings, even extending his lead to fourth place. With an impressive performance, he rode almost side by side with the two strongest climbers. Tadej pogacar (UAE – XRG) and jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) crossed the finish line. The stage victory, however, went to Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers) with an impressive performance on the final climb. Before the start, the stage from Albertville to La Plagne was shortened by two climbs to 93,1 kilometers due to an outbreak of bovine disease. This meant that the Côte d'Héry-sur-Ugine and the Col des Saisies had to be removed from the program. However, the stage was still far from easy for the remaining 161 riders.
Vauquelin is distanced early
After yourself jonathan milan (Lidl – Trek) secured the sprint classification in Villard-sur-Doron, the dreaded Col du Pré (12,6 km at 7,8%) began. Primois Roglic (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) was one of the first professionals to go on the offensive. The French lenny martinez (Bahrain – Victorious) and Valentin Paret Peintre (Soudal – Quick-Step) have broken away with the Slovenian. However, Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) was dropped, the Uno-X Mobility team set the pace and inadvertently prevented the gap from growing. Nevertheless, Martinez was able to secure maximum points for the mountains classification on the Col du Pré (12,6 km at 7,8%) and the Cormet de Roselend (5,8 km at 6,5%). However, this wasn't enough for the mountains jersey, as he was deducted eight points for yesterday's penalty.
Roglic is caught and left behind
In the descent, Team UAE – XRG clearly signaled that they wanted to win the stage with Tadej pogacar (UAE – XRG) today. The breakaway trio had a lead of about a minute at the summit, but were completely caught on the descent. Primois Roglic (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) then dropped out of the group of favorites right at the start of the final climb up to La Plagne (19,3 km at 7,2%). Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale then took over for Captain Felix Gall. This thinned out the group even further. With 14 kilometers to go, all the captains were alone, Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers) went on the offensive. Tadej pogacar (UAE – XRG) and jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) took off with him. Behind him was Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) on the rear wheel of Oscar Onlyy (Picnic PostNL). When Pogacar couldn't distance himself from Vingegaard, the pace slowed, so Arensman attacked again and broke away as a soloist. Meanwhile, the other captains were able to close the gap again.
Arensman saves himself to the finish
Suddenly there were only four of them after another attack by Tadej pogacar (UAE – XRG). Only jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike), Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) and Oscar Onlyy (Picnic PostNL) stayed close. At this point, the quartet was always within striking distance of Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers), who was still leading the race by about 20 seconds. Two kilometers from the finish, the German fans could breathe a sigh of relief: Oscar Onlyy (Picnic PostNL) could no longer keep up with the pace. Immediately Florian Lipowitz (RB – Bora – hansgrohe) took the lead. The German took another 41 seconds off the Briton today. But it wasn't enough for the day's victory. Thymen Arensmann (Ineos Grenadiers) could not be caught, not even when Vingegaard and Pogacar started their final sprint.
There's plenty of action in the final kilometer! Arensman wins by a whisker ahead of his pursuers.
1. Thymen Arensman
2. Jonas Vingegaard +2
3. Tadej Pogacar +2
4. Florian Lipowitz +6
5. Oscar Onley + 47"
6. Felix Gall +1'34"#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/fVWHCWZlrj— Tour de France – DE (@letour_de) July 25, 2025