Tadej Pogačar triumphed atop Mûr-de-Bretagne, beating his rival Jonas Vingegaard on Friday’s seventh stage of the 112th Tour de France in Brittany. With his 19th win Pogačar ties the record for the seventh-most Tour stage victories, sharing it with Luxembourger François Faber, who grabbed his triumphs from 1904 to 1914. Pogačar pulled back the yellow jersey from Mathieu van der Poel.
The Course
Friday offered up two ascents of the 2-km, 7.1 percent ascent to Mûr-de-Bretagne in the final 20 km, and the last one at the end of a 14.5-km circuit in Guerlédan.
There were several attempts to escape in the first 50 km. In his final Tour, 2018 champion Geraint Thomas was the centerpiece of the five-rider breakaway that finally stuck. At the midway point of 197 km, the quintet was up by 1:45. At the day’s intermediate sprint in Plédran, Milan captured the sixth-most points and Biniam Girmay the seventh most.
Before the double Mûr-de-Bretagne climb came the Cat. 4 Côte du village de Mûr-de-Bretagne, the fugitives starting up with a minute’s lead over the Visma-led peloton.
The Mûr-de-Bretagne Climb 1 saw two of the escapees scamper clear of the others to battle it out. Simon Yates ripped the peloton along for Vingegaard. The yellow jersey fought to hang on. After he crested first Ewen Costiou was the last breakaway recaptured.
On the Guerlédan circuit, UAE-Emirates reestablished its control. A huge crash with 6 km to go put a dozen unfortunate fellows like Enric Mas, seventh-place João Almeida and Ben Healy on the tarmac.
Pogačar accelerated on Mûr-de-Bretagne Climb 2 , Remco Evenepoel and Vingegaard joining in. Their group grew a bit in the second kilometer, the world champion’s teammate Jhonatan Narváez leading the way. Pogačar then launched his sprint and Vingegaard couldn’t come around.
Kévin Vauquelin jumped on the podium at van der Poel’s expense. Third place on the day saw Oscar Onley rise up to seventh in the GC.
Although the final 1.3 km of Stage 8 is 2.9 percent, it should still be a sprint.
2025 Tour de France Stage 7
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 4:05:39
2) Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Visma-Lease a Bike) s.t.
3) Oscar Onley (Great…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…