Stage 16 – What a finish – was it going to be Mas? Healy? nope, the stage win goes to Paret Peintre.
Pogacar is once again tied with Martinez for KOM, but once again wins the tiebreaker.
And Van der Poel drops out (not a good tour for the ..Poels)
Brian
There is a running biathlon-running and pistol shooting.
Stage 17 – due to the late crash, no(?) change in the jersey standings. Milan did get a comfortable (but not insurmountable) lead in the green jersey.
80 KOM points (3 HC climbs) in stage 18 – will Martinez go for the first two? I would guess that Pogacar will get a bunch of points in the last climb at the finish.
Brian
I can’t imagine riding that fast in a peloton in that rain.
Lipowitz’s hold on 3rd place is now down to 22".
But he fought like a lion to save his 3rd place and white jersey after riding on his own for long stretches of the stage, and that was no small feat. Roglic could have helped him on the last climb, but he rode his own race, seemingly the position of team captain for this tour still isn’t established by Red Bull Bora hansgrohe.
Hansgrohe??? Showerheads? Plumbing hardware?
Yes. Cycling has a tradition of not always having the most glamorous sponsors. Bora makes kitchen appliances btw., also not so fancy.
Stage 18 - Martinez went for, and won, the first climb. No surprise he wasn’t in the last one, but he also was not in the second climb. Pogacar was second in the second and (double point) final climbs get 45 KOM points.
The most interesting competition at the moment is the white jersey with Lipowitz ahead of Onley by 22 seconds (as mentioned above that is also his lead for 3rd place overall, with Onley in 4th)
Mas who did well in an earlier stage has dropped out.
Brian
Stage 19 - Arensman almost doesn’t win stage with his hands on face maneuver.
Vingegaard narrows Pogacar’s lead by 2 seconds (due to time bonus)
Lipowitz now leads the White by over a minute.
There are apparently 14 KOM points available The only way Pogacar doesn’t win is if Vingegaard gets them all and Pogacar gets 0 – I dodn’t see that happening.
Martinez would theoretically been in the running but was penalized 8 points for resting on his team car.
He took a a energy bar then returned it, took a bottle, returned, sequence I forget but basically sat at the car for quite a while. I don’t know enough to say his penalty was too light, but A penalty was justified IMHO.
Milan leads green by 80, but there are apparently 120 points available. So a good but not insurmountable lead. I’m not sure Pogacar will contest the Green.
Brian
Great performance by Lipowitz today. I was very afraid that he had invested too much energy yesterday, but it seems like he recovered very well and even attacked Pog and Jonas shortly before the finish and was able to steal another 41 seconds from Onley, Very well done. If all turns out as expected (and no accident happens), this should be the podium and the white jersey for him.
Stage 20 – quite a few spills on wet roads today. Congrats Groves on the stage win.
Harrison Sweeny had a awesome move. There was a mid road curb*, and the turn was too tight to turn before the curb so the rider hopped onto the curb and turned after dropping back to the road.
Pogacar has won the KOM and Yellow.
I THINK there are 70 sprint points on the final stage (20 for mid race, 50 for stage win). If so Milan has the Green.
Lipowitz is only ~1 min ahead of Onley - that is the jersey that is still in contention.
Brian
* well not a vertical curb, but definitely an obstacle
Stage 21 – this was on broadcast TV so no youtube highlights.
No change in jersey standings: Lipowitz gets 3rd place overall (which is like 1st place if you are not Pogacar or Vingegaard)
Pogacar got 2 of the 5 KOM points but didn’t need them.
Milan got the 20 intermediate sprint points and actually gained vs Pogacar for the Green
Lipowiz gained 9 seconds vs Onley for the white
You hear Wout Van Aert’s name a lot – congrats on the stage win.
Two Americans in the top 20 - Kuss at 17 and Jorgenson at 20.
Quinn Simmons won “Super Team,ate”
New for the 2025 edition is the Super Teammate Award. Awarded by a jury of experts, this prize recognizes the rider who has distinguished himself most through his dedication to his team throughout the entire Tour
Race organizers heralded Irish breakaway-wagon Healy the “most combative” of the Tour after he topped a combined public and jury vote.
Visma | Lease a bike won the team competition
And congrats to Simone Consonni for being last among riders who finished the tour
Brian
Didn’t count, because the stage had been neutralized 50 km before the finish due to the difficult weather.
I just went by the gap at stage 21 vs stage 20 on the official website.
Whatever the gap was Lipowiz won the White and 3rd overall.
Brian
Oh sorry, I didn’t follow the whole stage, maybe there was a 9 seconds gap between Lipo and Onley at the 50 km mark when the race was neutralized. Anyway, there really wasn’t any more serious competition for the GC at this last stage, even before the neutralization, as it’s tradition.