The Tour de France 2025 Heats Up and we have all the latest GC gaps and record-breaking stats in a comprehensive roundup where we break down the key GC battles, surprising stats, stage winners, and team strategies shaping the world of pro cycling right now. Plus outside of France we look at the Giro dβItalia Women, UAE asserts control in Austria and much more. Itβs EuroTrash time!
TOP STORY: Pogacar In Charge
2025 Tour de France news:
β’ Pogacar In Charge Of The GC
β’ Interesting Tour de France Statistics
β’ GC Gaps At The Tour de France 2025
β’ Kevin Vauquelin The New French DarlingΒ ?
Race news:
β’ Reusser In Pink At Giro dβItalia Women
β’ UAE Dominate In Austria
Team news:
β’ Soudal Quick-Step Loves Spain
β’ Stifel and EF Education-Oatly announce new partnership
Top Story: Pogacar In Charge
Tadej Pogacar is now in yellow going into stage 6, can he keep it all the way to ParisΒ ? Apart from his last minute steal of the yellow in his first Tour victory in 2021, Pogi is used to long stints in yellow β he took the famous jersey on stages 4 & 5 in his other Tour victories.
If anyone can do it surely Pogacar canΒ ? He has the team and the experience needed but will they be perhaps tempted to try and unload the jersey to somebody elseΒ ? There are some great hilly stages to come in this first week but we have to wait all the way until stage 12 and the altitude finish on Hautacam before we see some real mountains.
Speaking after the TT Pogacar stated,
βIβm very satisfied that I gained time on Jonas. He will definitely try to take back time, maybe even in the coming days. So we need to stay focused to keep the yellow until Paris. I want to be the leader there, but I donβt necessarily need to wear the jersey every day. The most important thing is yellow in Paris.β
Stage 12βs profile. Finally into the mountains!
Interesting Tour de France Statistics
Apart from the first 100km of Stage 4, the racing has been intense in the North of France and there have been some interesting staistics from the first five days:
The Belgians are on a rollΒ : After Jasper Philipsen (stage 1) and Tim Merlier (stage 3), Remco Evenepoel gave Belgium a 3rd victory in the first five stages. It hasnβt happened since 1981 when Freddy Maertens won twice in Nice and Narbonne, plus a victory for Lucian Van Impe at Pla dβAdet.
World Champions To The ForeΒ : Reigning road World Champion Tadej Pogacar won on Tuesday and time trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel did the same yesterday. Two different World Champions winning in two days, it has never happened before in the history of Le Tour!
Pogacar extends his jersey collectionΒ : After taking yellow in the TT, Tadej Pogacar becomes the 5th rider in history to lead the general classification, points classification, and mountains classification simultaneously! The previous four were Bernard Hinault (stage 2 in 1979; prologue in 1985), Acacio da Silva (stages 1-2 in 1989), Richard Virenque (stage 2 in 1992), and Philippe Gilbert (stage 1 in 2011). Itβs the first time this has happened so late (stage 5). Eddy Merckx won all three classifications in 1969, but the polka dot jersey didnβt exist back then β it was created in 1975.
A New Color For PogiΒ : Tadej Pogacar succeeds Jasper Philipsen (stages 1-2) and Jonathan Milan (stages 3-4) to lead the points classification (green jersey). This is a first in the Slovenianβs career as he has never led the points classification. He has now been the holder of all the Tourβs distinctive jerseys in his pro career: the Yellow Jersey (41 times), the polka dot jersey (18 times), the white jersey (75 times), and the green jersey once.
First time in green for Pogacar at Le Tour
Pogacar Takes The CenturyΒ : Tadej Pogacar claimed his famous 100th professional victory in Rouen on Tuesday but what about the other most victorious riders racing this yearΒ ? He is closely followed by Arnaud DΓ©mare (97), Primoz Roglic (91), Dylan Groenewegen (77), and Remco Evenepoel who moved to 64 after yesterdayβs TT.
GC Winners & Losers At Le Tour
So still no mountains faced yet at Le Tour but the GC race is becoming clearer after the short hills of Normandy and yesterdayβs time trial. Can we now include local boy, Kevin Vauquelin in amongst the favoritesΒ ? He finished a solid second at the recent Tour de Suisse and his form over the first 5 stages has been very good indeed but this is only his 3rd ever Grand Tour and the only one he finished was last yearβs Tour de France (91st) where he won a great stage in Italy.
5th in the TT and 4th overall, itβs been a great start to Le Tour by Vauquelin
For the moment the rumored future Ineos riderβs perfomances are very impressive indeed and itβs certainly got the press in France talking about his possible GC chances. High mountains are not his speciality and most people are thinking that he will surely drop away from the GC race as the Tour continuesΒ or will we finally have a French suprise in Le Tour?
Speaking after the TT stage Kevin who is racing in front of family and friends in his own region stated,
βIt was incredible, I couldnβt feel my legs. All the fans, all the supportβ¦ Iβm over the moon. Thank you so much for all these emotions, I donβt have the words. Itβs one of my best times. I pushed as hard as I could on the pedals and it responded well. Sometimes people would tell me in my earpiece to go down a tooth and I had the strength to do it. Itβs the emotion that dominates at the moment, riding in a time trial, on my home ground, with a distinctive jersey, it was crazy! I can thank the organiser ASO and Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour, Thierry Gouvenou, Director of Cycling and Competitions, for having mapped out this route and allowing me to experience this, itβs incredible. Unfortunately, Iβm losing the white jersey, but thatβs almost logical in the face of Remco, the Olympic champion and two-time world champion in the discipline. Iβm enjoying every moment of it, and my fan club will be at the side of the road tomorrow. Whatever happens, Iβll be smiling all the way through the stage, and itβll be another memorable one.β
GC Winners & Losers At Le Tour
Pogacar is the obvious early winner this year but what about the losersΒ ? Well, thatβs most of the peloton in fact as if youβre not in the top 7 on GC you are already more than 2 minutes behind PogacarΒ ! And outside the top 20 then you are looking at more than 5 minutes back.Β Thatβs some big time gaps with no mountains yet to be scaled.
General Classification Of Overall ContendersΒ :
1) T. Pogacar in Yellow
2) EvenepoelΒ Remco @ 42s
3) VauquelinΒ KΓ©vin @ 59s
4) VingegaardΒ Jonas @1m13s
5) JorgensonΒ Matteo @ 1m22s
7) AlmeidaΒ JoΓ£o @ 1m53s
8) RogliΔΒ PrimoΕΎ @ 2m30s
9) LipowitzΒ Florian @ 2m31s
10) SkjelmoseΒ Mattias @ 2m32s
11) OnleyΒ Oscar @ 2m41s
13) MasΒ Enric @ 3m29s
14) BuitragoΒ Santiago @ 3m51s
15) JohannessenΒ Tobias Halland @ 3m52s
16) RodrΓguezΒ Carlos @ 4m04s
17) OβConnorΒ Ben @ 4m07s
18) GallΒ Felix @ 4m37s
19) CrasΒ Steff @ 4m54s
23) MartinΒ Guillaume @ 5m25s
Reusser In Pink Jersey At Giro dβItalia Women
After dominating the 1st stage TT Marlon Reusser is back in pink at the Giro but the race is far from over as she holds only a 16 second lead over Longo Borghini (UAE) & yesterdayβs stage winner Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal).
Gigante won yesterdayβs stage with a very strong solo attack on the last climb of the day
The big news out of Italy though is the collapse of SD-Worxβs GC hopes. Coming into the race they had two of the big favorites in World Champion, Lotte Kopecky & four time Giro winner, Anna Van der Breggen but both are well down the standings after yesterdayβs climbing. Kopecky is completely out of the GC chase over 20 minutes down and Van der Breggen is almost 2 minutes behind in 6th place. Can SD-Worx fight back?
Todayβs stage should be a basic sprint stage with Lorena Wiebes the obvious favorite but then Friday has some interesting hills and turns before the queen mountain stage on Saturday and more hills on Sunday. Itβs anyoneβs raceΒ !
GC After Stage 4Β :
01 ReusserΒ MarlenΒ Movistar Team 09:38:06
02 Longo BorghiniΒ ElisaΒ UAE Team ADQ + 16
03 GiganteΒ SarahΒ AG Insurance-Soudal Team + 34
04 NiedermaierΒ AntoniaΒ CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto + 01:03
05 RooijakkersΒ PaulienaΒ Fenix-Deceuninck + 01:48
06 van der BreggenΒ AnnaΒ Team SD Worx-Protime + 01:53
07 KastelijnΒ YaraΒ Fenix-Deceuninck + 01:54
08 HolmgrenΒ IsabellaΒ Lidl-Trek + 01:57
09 De SchepperΒ LoreΒ AG Insurance-Soudal Team + 02:03
10 AalerudΒ KatrineΒ Uno-X Mobility + 02:07
UAE Dominate In Austria
Tadej Pogacar is in control in France but over in Austria his team absolutely dominated stage 1 taking 1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th placesΒ !
UAEβs Felix GroΓschartner & Rafal Majka were in a 3 man break with EFβs Archie Ryan who they proceeded to beautifully work over for GroΓschartner to attack for the win solo just seconds ahead of Majka who outsprinted Ryan for 2nd.
UAEβs young pairing of Baroncini and Del Toro then led the reduced bunch home 16 seconds later. With four stages to go UAE are the favorites to repeat their final GC placings of last year (1st, 4th & 8th) but there are some great stages ahead and some strong World Tour competition from the likes of EF, Astana, Lidl-Trek & Jayco.
Tour of Austria GC After Stage 1:
1 GroΓschartner Felix UAE Team Emirates β XRG 3:46:26
2 Majka RafaΕ UAE Team Emirates β XRG @ 0:09
3 Ryan Archie EF Education β EasyPost @ 0:12
4 Baroncini Filippo UAE Team Emirates β XRG @ 0:26
5 del Toro Isaac UAE Team Emirates β XRG @ 0:26
6 KΓ€mna Lennard Lidl β Trek @ 0:26
7 Γlvarez HΓ©ctor Lidl β Trek @ 0:26
8 Engelhardt Felix Team Jayco AlUla @ 0:26
9 August Andrew INEOS Grenadiers @ 0:26
10 Charmig Anthon XDS Astana Team @ 0:26
Soudal Quick-Step strengthens ties with the region of Calpe
Soudal Quick-Step and the region of Calpe are proud to announce a formal partnership that will see the popular Spanish coastal town continue as the winter training base of the team.
The agreement solidifies a relationship built over many seasons of successful training camps and marks a new chapter in Calpeβs growing status as a world-class cycling destination.
For many years, Calpe has hosted the teamβs critical early-season training blocks, including the annual team presentation and media day held each January. The partnership will now give added structure and visibility to this collaboration, aligning with Calpeβs commitment to promoting the region under the banner βCalpe, destino ciclista.β
The team will return to Calpe this winter to begin preparations for the 2026 season, supported by local infrastructure, partners, and a community that understands what it takes to support high-performance sport.
Speaking of the agreement, Koen Pelgrim, head coach at Soudal Quick-Step, said: βWeβve always felt at home in Calpe. The terrain, the climate, the hospitality β itβs the ideal environment to prepare for the season ahead. Making our partnership official was the natural next step.β
The Calpe City Council continues its commitment to sustainable and year-round tourism with a new strategic alliance that aims to position the municipality as a key destination for both professional and amateur cycling. Marco Bittner, Councillor for International Promotion at the Calpe City Council, highlighted the importance of this initiative for the local tourism strategy: βThis is an important step in promoting Calpe as a year-round tourist destination. With the collaboration of this leading team, we are strengthening a long-standing relationship and will be able to put Calpe on the map for the vast global community of cycling enthusiasts and professionals. It will give us visibility within the sector and help us build stronger ties with a respectful, off-season, and financially sound tourist segment. We are pleased to crown this collaboration with the team.β
Stifel and EF Education-Oatly announce new partnership
EF Pro Cycling is proud to announce Stifel Financial Corp. as the official financial services partner of EF Education-Oatly, beginning at the 2025 Giro dβItalia Women.
The partnership debuts at the Giro dβItalia Women, where Stifelβs branding will appear on the teamβs jersey. Together, EF Education-Oatly and Stifel will support riders both on and off the bike, with a shared belief in breaking barriers and building new paths forward in womenβs sports.
βWeβre thrilled to welcome Stifel to EF Education-Oatly,β said EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters. βTheyβve already shown an incredible level of commitment to our sport and our riders. Itβs an exciting partnership that comes at a pivotal time for our sport.β
βFrom the very beginning, Stifel bought into our vision for the team and showed faith in our long-term goals,β added EF Education-Oatly general manager Esra Tromp. βWith this partnership, weβre not just building a team; weβre building the team of the future. We canβt wait to see what the future holds.β
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