On July 17, 2025 a switch flicked for Oscar Onley as he rode the challenging slopes of the first big mountain stage of the Tour de France and looked back over his shoulder to see riders like Remco Evenepoel and Matteo Jorgenson slipping away behind him on the long testing climbs.
The Scottish Picnic PostNL rider may have moved up one spot on the overall standings that day, going from seventh to sixth overall, but what he walked away with was far more valuable even than a position on GC. Before that day of racing to the top of the Hautacam on stage 12 the Scottish rider had promise, after it he had proof.
Onley had undoubtedly already played a perfect hand on the shorter climbs that had materialised so far, which left him well-placed overall, but that was terrain he’d already proved suited him and “the Hautacam was something completely different”. The 180.6km stage in the Pyrenees also packed in the category 1 Col du Soulor and the category 2 Col des Bordères which both peaked in the final 50km before the finish on top of the HC climb of the Hautacam.
On the category 1 climb it crackled across the radio that Evenepoel had been dropped, so was Jorgenson for a time, but Onley was holding firm. There was regrouping again as the race headed toward the base of the Hautacam, but in the early stages of the 13.5km final ascent Onley was again among a select group that could hold on until the fireworks began between Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). He ultimately finished fifth – not just ahead of Evenepoel but also a swag of other riders like Primož Roglič who had been highly placed on the pre-race favourite lists which Onley had been little more than an honourable mention on.
The 23-year-old who…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…