Tour de France 2025 live: Route and updates as Tadej Pogacar targets Stage 16 win on legendary Mont Ventoux

Tour de France Stage 16 LIVE

• Race reaches infamous climb of Mont Ventoux to kickstart final week
• Tadej Pogacar has iron grip on yellow jersey and could extend it with win today
• Pogacar's domestique Tim Wellens took victory in Carcassonne on stage 15
• Stage 16: 171.5km from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux | Live on ITV4 and TNT Sports
• Mathieu van der Poel forced to retire with pneumonia

Split in the breakaway

62km to go: The irrepressible Julian Alaphilippe has been part of a split in this enormous leading group. Eenkhorn, Wright, Arensman, Mas, Velasco, Abrahamsen, and Alaphilippe’s teammate Trentin are all on the right side of this split, and the pair have two Tudor teammates in the group behind, some 18 seconds back now, who could help them stay away.

The gap to the peloton has gone out to more than four minutes, with Verstrynge and Rickaert still 30” off the front of the breakaway.

Geraint Thomas' final Tour

Retiring Geraint Thomas is going up Mont Ventoux for the final time today as his last-ever Tour de France nears its end. “I think he’s definitely glad this is his last Tour de France,” close friend Luke Rowe says on TNT Sports comms. He adds that the Welshman still wants something from this Tour; a stage win would be the perfect end to a fine career.

“What G brings is his charisma off the bike,” he adds. “He’s not the loudest guy on the bus, but when he talks, he talks a lot of sense. He’s a massive asset to that squad.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

36 riders in the break

75km to go: Some more attacking and counter-attacking later, this is a huge, huge, move, and the big news is that Jonathan Milan - who has been on the attack with Biniam Girmay again - has failed to get into it. You’d think that may be the end of his green jersey hopes, with somebody else going to pick up the 20 intermediate sprint points and Pogacar most likely to take 30 at the summit.

36 riders up the road with 30 seconds on the Alpecin-Deceuninck pair of Jonas Rickaert and Emiel Verstrynge, with the peloton three minutes and counting down the road.

Vingegaard on breaking Pogacar

"He hasn't really shown any sign of weakness so far. Obviously it's pretty hard to read something out of that but we just have to keep trying.

"We didn't lose our hopes, we still believe it can be possible, and we'll keep on trying.

"I'm feeling good. I had a good rest day, together with the team. We'll see today, Hopefully the legs are good then we can maybe try something."

Jonas Vingegaard has it all to do in the final week (AFP/Getty)

Milan's points jersey in danger

Jonathan Milan has had one threat to his green jersey lead removed in the form of Mathieu van der Poel leaving the race entirely. The Dutchman had been third in the standings at the start of the day.

But Pogacar is just 28 points off the pace as things stand and is likely to continue picking up points as he hoovers up stage wins. Today’s stage, bizarrely classified as a medium mountain despite featuring a HC summit finish, has 30 green jersey points on offer as well as 20 KOM points.

Pogacar winning today - as seems the most likely outcome - would also help him usurp Milan’s jersey, should the Italian pick up no points today (or one, or two).

There are 20 points on offer for first over the intermediate sprint at Chateauneuf-du-Pape, 112km into the stage, so Milan is in serious need of doing well in that sprint.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Original breakaway brought back

95km to go: The chaos continues as Visma keep jumping, with UAE continuing to try to shut moves down.

But it looks like, with the original trio shut down, UAE are fanning out to let the new breakaway up the road.

Milan has missed it and tries to jump again - but that gets snuffed out, and that’s bad news for Milan because this is a really big group. Some 24 names, including Sivakov, Soler, Benoot, Campenaerts, van Wilder, Healy, Powless, and the original trio of Meurisse, Haller and Hirschi are in there too.

Lipowitz leads fight for final podium place

German star Florian Lipowitz, only 24 and riding just his third Grand Tour, is in prime position to take third place on the podium in Paris.

The battle for third is also essentially the battle for the white jersey, with his closest challengers Oscar Onley and Kevin Vauquelin - but the German is well clear at the moment and has looked superior on the toughest climbs in the Pyrenees.

He’s a former biathlete, giving him something in common with Primoz Roglic, his Red Bull-Bora stablemate and another athlete who transitioned from a winter sport to cycling.

1. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 54:28:37
2. Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +1:25
3. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2:28
4. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +10:33
5. Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +10:48

(AP)

Luke Rowe: ‘Cav should sleep with one eye open – Tadej Pogacar is coming for his Tour de France record’

The battle for the Tour de France’s yellow jersey lasted 12 days, but really it lasted about five minutes. That’s how long Tadej Pogacar waited before attacking Jonas Vingegaard on the Hautacam, the first hors-categorie mountain of the Tour, with an acceleration that made the Danish double champion look like a weekend rider who’d taken a wrong turn.

There is still a week’s racing to come in the Alps, featuring a couple of menacing stages including Tuesday’s summit finish atop Mont Ventoux. But Ventoux is more likely to be where Pogacar writes another piece of Tour history than where Vingegaard trims his four-and-a-half-minute deficit.

Lawrence Ostlere spoke to Luke Rowe about the marauding Slovenian - and how Vingegaard can get himself back in the race:

Weather check

Echelons incoming? That would spice things up...

'You cannot hide' on Mont Ventoux - Jonas Vingegaard

Matt Stephens of TNT Sports has a chat with Jonas Vingegaard, who also seems pretty chilled-out. Why is Mont Ventoux so significant? A lot of reasons, the Dane says: “It’s been in the Tour de France so many times, a lot of big fights have been battled there. It’s an iconic, very hard climb, almost 20k long, so you cannot hide there.

“I’m feeling good, I had a good rest day with the team, rested a lot obviously. We’ll see today, hopefully the legs are good and we can try something.”

On Pogacar and the fight for yellow, he says, “He hasn’t really showed any sign of weakness so far, obviously it’s pretty hard to read something out of that, but as I said before, we have to keep trying and we didn’t lose our hopes. We still believe it can be possible and we keep on trying.”

Asked if he gets nervous before a stage like this, he says, “Of course there’s a bit of nerves, in some kind of way you learn how to handle the nerves the older you get and the more experienced you get.”

(AFP via Getty Images)

Delettre in no-man's-land

123km to go: Poor old Alexandre Delettre has been let off the leash by the peloton but is really in no-man’s-land, 45 seconds off the leading trio with the peloton a minute behind the breakaway.

UAE are doing their best to snuff things out, although they seem content to let Delettre suffer. But of course lots of other teams not represented by the three riders up front - and two of them ride for the same team - aren’t happy with that.

Nils Politt sits there to police the next flurry of attacks. A big group splits off the front of the peloton, I can see a Visma jersey in there, Ivan Romeo, Alaphilippe, an Ineos Grenadier, possibly Luke Plapp too. Inevitably, the gap has come down to around 45 seconds now.

'To win on Mont Ventoux in yellow is really iconic' - Tadej Pogacar

TNT Sports had a chat with a relaxed-sounding Tadej Pogacar before the start. “I had a good [rest] day, more or less 10 out of 10. Urska [Zigart, his partner and rider for AG Insurance-Soudal] came to our hotel, we ride together, she was on the ride with us with a coffee stop - she trained a bit more than us. Spent a nice afternoon with the closest ones, beautiful day.”

He’s on a swish new bike: “It’s a very nice thing to do from Colnago, to bring down the aero bike to a super low weight [for the stage 13 time trial], this is what I’ve been wishing for for a long time, and today is the day to have this kind of bike.”

Asked about his statement that he wants to win in yellow on Mont Ventoux, he says, “When did I say this?” and laughs.

“Everybody wants to win a stage in the Tour, and today is the Mont Ventoux, it’s a legendary climb and if you can win in the yellow jersey it’s something really iconic, maybe. But we know why we are here, to bring the yellow jersey to Paris.”

(REUTERS)

Roglic at the back

138km to go: Primoz Roglic at the moment is at the very back of the bunch, literally the last man, with teammate Gianni Moscon for company. Luke Rowe on TNT Sports commentary points out that the day after the rest day can throw up some weird results, but let’s hope the Slovenian is fine and just taking things easy at the back.

It looks like this move is getting brought back: there have been too many counter-attacks, the potential number of escapees has got too big, and it’s all disintegrating as Van Aert chases another move. Meurisse, Haller and Hirschi are just nine seconds clear of the peloton.

UAE keep watch

142km to go: UAE are controlling things at the front, content to let this small group of riders go, and trying to fan out across the road to stop anyone else getting away. The sheer number of roundabouts they’re having to cross is making that task a bit more difficult.

The leading trio have 20 seconds or so on the lone chaser of Benjamin Thomas, with the peloton nearly 40 seconds back and a few more riders dotted about between them.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Pogacar into the KOM lead?

Frenchman Lenny Martinez currently owns the KOM jersey after a good shift on Saturday, picking up maximum points over the Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin, and second place over the Col de Peyresourde.

But he only leads by eight points over Tadej Pogacar, and with several more summit finishes - including today’s - in the Slovenian’s sights, Martinez has his work cut out to retain the polka dots.

There are still 176 KOM points available this week, including 20 today at Mont Ventoux.

Here’s how the standings look ahead of stage 16?

1. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 60 pts
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 52 pts
3. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) 48 pts
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 39 pts
5. Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 38 pts

(AFP via Getty Images)

Trio up the road

154km to go: Xander Meurisse - teammate of Mathieu van der Poel, who has been forced to abandon the race - is part of this leading trio, who currently have around 24 seconds on the peloton. He’s accompanied by the Tudor pair of Marco Haller and Marc Hirschi.

Attacks everywhere

160km to go: Plenty of attacks but so far nothing sticking. Julian Alaphilippe has been on the move, seemingly okay after his crash on stage 15. Now his Tudor teammate Marco Haller leads a move.

Flag drop

After 13km of neutralised start (making an already tough stage even longer) the riders are underway!

171km to the legendary Mont Ventoux. Which rider will write their name into history today?

Plenty of riders try to get up the road early on, including Wout van Aert and Lenny Martinez, but no move has gone clear just yet.

(REUTERS)

Vingegaard willing to sacrifice second place to go for yellow

Here’s what Jonas Vingegaard had to say on Monday’s rest day: “I do think I can win it. Of course, it looks very hard now, it's a big gap.

“But normally my strength is in the third week. We have to attack.

“I'm also willing to sacrifice second to try to achieve first.”

Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director Grischa Niermann underlined the urgency of the mission.

“It's four minutes - you don't make that up with an attack in the last 500 metres,” Niermann said. “For that to happen, we need to see a weakness in Tadej. So far, he hasn't shown one. But the Tour is over only when we reach Paris.”

Tadej Pogacar out to bury the ghosts of his past in final Tour de France week

Tadej Pogacar is riding not just for the yellow jersey on the Tour de France, but also to bury the ghosts of his past.

As the 2025 Tour de France heads into its final and most punishing mountain stages, the defending champion is about to tackle climbs where he cracked or struggled before.

The Mont Ventoux and Col de la Loze await again - but this time, things feel different.

“I'm almost confident to say the route was designed to scare me,” Pogacar said with a smile on Monday.

“But I always look at it as a race situation. I actually like all of these climbs.”

More from the rest day press conferences:

Van der Poel's exit continues mixed Tour for Alpecin-Deceuninck

Mathieu van der Poel has been one of the electrifying racers of this Tour, beating Tadej Pogacar in a sprint on stage two to take the yellow jersey, livening up breakaways, and spending 173km up the road on stage nine to get teammate Jonas Rickaert on the podium as most combative rider.

His Tour has been something of an improvised affair; after Jasper Philipsen’s exit on stage three van der Poel was no longer there as key lead-out man for the Belgian sprinter, leaving him freer to stage-hunt and to target the green jersey.

He was third in the standings heading into this final week and with his impressive ability to get into any breakaway - and therefore pick up points at intermediate sprints - had a serious chance of winning it.

Now Jonathan Milan can breathe a sigh of relief, although he’s still got Tadej Pogacar as his closest challenger, and van der Poel will head home to recover after a successful, if abruptly curtailed, Tour.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Mathieu van der Poel forced to abandon Tour de France with pneumonia

The peloton will be missing a familiar face today, as Mathieu van der Poel has been forced to abandon the Tour de France due to pneumonia.

The 30-year-old had been quiet over the days leading up to the second rest day in mountainous terrain, with Alpecin-Deceuninck confirming that he had been struggling with cold-like symptoms.

He has subsequently been diagnosed with pneumonia and will not start Stage 16 on Tuesday.

Neutralised start

The riders are rolling out in Montpellier for the neutralised start; it’s a long one today, around half an hour’s riding before Christian Prudhomme will wave the starting flag.

Stage 16 prediction

The design of the stage means there isn’t much terrain for a real elite breakaway to escape on, and the green jersey of Jonathan Milan is likely targeting the intermediate sprint at Chateauneuf-du-Pape 112km into the stage, so Lidl-Trek and the sprinters’ teams may be on hand to help UAE control proceedings during the flatter section.

All that means that we’re likely to see the whole peloton reach the climb together - and there’s one man who can climb faster and more brilliantly than anyone else.

So it seems foolhardy to bet against race leader and modern Cannibal Tadej Pogacar. The yellow jersey has had a day to rest his legs and is likely to come out firing on all cylinders, and while he has claimed wins on many of the Tour’s most legendary climbs, there are always more to add to that list - including Mont Ventoux.

Tadej Pogacar celebrates after winning stage 13 (AFP via Getty Images)

Stage 16 preview

Ventoux comes at the very end of today’s stage, 171.5km from the start town of Montpellier - where the riders enjoyed a rest day - and is the only climb on an intriguing parcours. It’s flat all day until the town of Bedoin at the foot of its lunar slopes, meaning the riders have 130km of flat to plan how they’ll attack.

Its place in Tour mythology is partially down to how rarely it features in the route: the race last had a planned summit finish here in 2016, but that stage was curtailed as a result of expected 100km/h winds, with the finish relocated to Chalet-Reynard, 6km down the mountain.

Thomas de Gendt took the win then; the previous time out, in the 2013 Tour, Chris Froome infamously ran up part of the Giant on his way to victory. Hopefully today the only drama will be of the racing kind.

The first day back after a rest day can throw up some strange results, with some riders slow to get back into the groove. Today’s racing may have an extra edge to it as the top-10 look to shore up their positions and take advantage of any slumps by their rivals.

Movers and shakers on GC

There wasn’t any significant move in the general classification on Sunday’s stage 15, but Ineos Grenadiers’ Carlos Rodriguez enjoyed back-to-back days in the break and leapfrogged Ben Healy, who was back in the peloton, into ninth place overall.

Tadej Pogacar - 'Beyond happiness'

And here’s what teammate Tadej Pogacar had to say: “I’m more happy for him than when I win - beyond happiness.”

ITV4 then asked him about his over-four minute lead heading into the third week.

“Normally the Tour second week is easier mountains, more for breakaways, the third week is always hardest. But this week was one of the hardest second weeks of the Tours that I’ve ridden,” he said, with the interview interjecting, “because of you!” at which he laughs.

“We still have big, big mountains to come. There’s still seven days or something to Paris and we need to fight until the end.”

(REUTERS)

'I was so happy I forgot to celebrate' - Tim Wellens

Here’s what Tim Wellens had to say at the end of his brilliant solo victory on stage 15.

“It is a very special victory. Everybody knows the Tour de France but not many people win in the Tour de France so it was very beautiful.

“I felt super good today. On the last climb of the day I felt really good. I knew the others felt really good but I knew I had to go solo. At the top of the climb I found my moment and I felt I had the legs to keep it to the end.

“I knew I had to enjoy the moment and kept riding until the end so I had a big gap to enjoy it and maybe put my bike in the air after the finish - but I was so happy I forgot to do it!”

(REUTERS)

General classification after stage 15

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 54:20:44
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) +4:13
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +7:53
4. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +9:18
5. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea - B&B Hotels) +10:21
6. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +10:34
7. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +12:00
8. Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +12:33
9. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +18:26
10. Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) +18:41

(AFP via Getty Images)

Stage 15 results

1. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 3:34:09
2. Victor Campenaerts (Visma - Lease a Bike) +1:28
3. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) +1:36
4. Wout van Aert (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)
5. Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers)
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe)
7. Paul Penhoet (Groupama FDJ)
8. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies)
9. Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost)
10. Valentin Madouas (Groupama FDJ), all at same time

(REUTERS)

Stage 15 report

Tim Wellens had time to high-five fans inside the final kilometre as he soloed to victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France into Carcassonne with his team-mate Tadej Pogacar retaining the yellow jersey.

Wellens, 34, completed his set of Grand Tour stage victories, attacking from a reduced four-man breakaway with 44 kilometres remaining of the 169km stage from Muret.

The Belgian national champion quickly opened a sizeable gap before the long downhill run into the medieval city, where his margin of victory over compatriot Victor Campenaerts was 1:28.

Stage 16 start time

Another earlier start today with an early finish too: 12.10pm local time for the neutralised start, 11.10am BST, with an expected arrival time of 4.45pm local time (3.45pm BST).

Stage 16 route map and profile

Tour de France 2025 – stage 16 map (letour)

Tour de France 2025 – stage 16 profile (letour)

Stage 16 preview

Isolated in the landscape, towering over the Rhone valley and on the periphery of the Alps proper, Mont Ventoux is something of an outlier among the Tour’s formidable ascents - but that makes it no less beastly.

15.7km long at an average gradient of 8.8%, reaching 1,910m above sea level, it has long been established in the annals of Tour history and plenty of riders will fancy writing their names into the history books with victory on its summit today.

Tadej Pogacar looked supreme in the high mountains on stage 14 (Reuters)

Good morning

Bonjour and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of stage 16 of the Tour de France!

We hope you’re feeling rested after yesterday’s day off, because the final week of this year’s race is an absolute blockbuster. Allez!