Tour de France stage 16: Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre conquers Mont Ventoux while Tadej Pogačar takes more seconds over Jonas Vingegaard in GC battle

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) added his name to the pantheon of greats to have conquered the summit of Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France, winning an all-out breakaway battle to the line on stage 16 to take the home nation’s first victory of the 2025 race.

Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) narrowly lost out to the Frenchman, losing the breathless sprint up the final corner and kick to the line on the ‘Giant of Provence’, with Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) finishing third from the break.

A crazy stage, full of action from flag to flag, saw one of cycling’s most famous climbs decided by a matter of metres, with an almost 40-rider breakaway group needing a sprint to separate them after four hours, with the second race unfolding not far down the climb.