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<\/p>\nKaden Groves won a rain-soaked stage 20 of the 2025 Tour de France on Saturday, attacking from the break with 17 kilometres remaining and soloing to victory in Pontarlier. It completes a Grand Tour trilogy for the Australian, who adds today\u2019s stage win to seven in the Vuelta a Espana and two in the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n
There are few days at the Tour more challenging than a medium mountain stage on the race\u2019s penultimate day. Throw in yet more bad weather, and today was another brutally intense afternoon for all involved.<\/p>\n
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(Anne-Christine Poujoulat\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It took almost 100 kilometres for the day\u2019s break to properly establish itself, and with names such as Groves, Tim Wellens, Matteo Jorgenson, Romain Gregoire, Matteo Trentin, Ewen Costiou, Pascal Eenkhoorn and Ivan Romeo involved, the peloton was more than happy to let them go up the road and fight for the win.<\/p>\n
Jordan Jegat \u2014 who began the day 11th on GC \u2014 was also present, which spurred Jayco-Al Ula, the team of 10th-placed Ben O\u2019Connor, into a brief response, albeit one that saw Mauro Schmid slide out on a descent.<\/p>\n
And that wasn\u2019t the last crash of the day. Winding roads combined with spells of torrential rain meant several riders came down, with the worst of the incidents involving Romeo and Gregoire with around 20km to go.<\/p>\n
That effectively reduced the potential stage winner to one of three riders: Frank van den Broek, Jake Stewart and Groves. And when the latter attacked with 17km remaining, hesitation from the other two proved fatal. Van den Broek did try to chase him down, and made minor inroads into Groves\u2019 lead, but ultimately it was too little, too late.<\/p>\n
Jacob Whitehead and Duncan Alexander analyse the penultimate stage.<\/p>\n
Find all of\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s Tour de France coverage\u00a0here<\/a>. Or follow Global Sports on\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0app via the Discover tab.<\/strong><\/p>\n Kaden Groves completes his Grand Tour trilogy<\/p>\n Groves was not meant to be in this position. The popular Australian has been a Grand Tour stage winner before, even winning the sprinters\u2019 jersey at the Vuelta a Espana in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n But the 26-year-old was at the Tour this year in service of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team\u2019s two stars, Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, who won the race\u2019s first and second stages respectively.<\/p>\n But neither is around anymore. Philipsen crashing out on stage three and Van der Poel withdrawing with pneumonia on the second rest day. So this is now Groves\u2019 team, though one which had seemed reluctant to use him as their main sprinter after finishing second to Jonathan Milan in Laval (stage eight), and having prioritised a breakaway by Van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert the day before that.<\/p>\n Groves surprised Steward and Van den Broek by attacking with 17km remaining (Loic Venance \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Yet this was a hugely impressive stage win. Typically specialising in uphill sprint finishes rather than long-range attacks, Groves outlasted far superior climbers as he broke clear with 17km to go. Even with the engine of Van den Brouck chasing him down, he maintained his gap to win by 54 seconds.<\/p>\n It was his first Tour stage win, and Alpecin\u2019s third of this year\u2019s race \u2014 major exposure for a team still searching for a title sponsor next year.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc1 The final kilometer of a victory savored alone by Kaden Groves!<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc1 Le dernier kilom\u00e8tre d’une victoire savour\u00e9e en solitaire par Kaden Groves !#TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KiZngV86Qx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe knew it was in his possibilities, but to be honest, I have to say I didn\u2019t really believe in it,\u201d said his directeur sportif Christoph Roodhooft. \u201cBut he\u2019s a very strong rider, not a pure sprinter, and that\u2019s something we all know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe came here with so many plans with Mathieu and Jasper,\u201d said Groves. \u201cAnd my own opportunities haven\u2019t all gone the right way. But I just had super legs today, and suffered all the way to the line.\u201d<\/p>\n How the weather and terrain tested the breakaway<\/p>\n The day\u2019s breakaway, when it eventually formed, was a perfect balance of profiles and skill sets. There were veterans, youngsters, rouleurs, puncheurs, and sprinters who can climb \u2014 all motivated by the prize of a stage win at the Tour de France.<\/p>\n UAE\u2019s Wellens and Visma\u2019s Jorgenson seemed to spend much of the stage eyeing each other up, satellite representatives of a much bigger battle, albeit one riding under a truce today.<\/p>\n EF Education-Easypost\u2019s Harry Sweeny, who has been a tireless domestique for Ben Healy in this Tour, built a solo lead after chasing down Jegat, but was himself reeled in as the rolling terrain and the weather turned the screw on everyone.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude31 A scare for @harry_sweeny<\/a> but the Aussie is still all alone in the lead!<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude31 Frayeur pour @harry_sweeny<\/a>, mais l’Australien est toujours bien en t\u00eate !#TDF2025<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Ll28xnLzNu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) July 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Romeo and Gregoire then pushed on on the descent of the Cote de Longeville, but the Spanish champion misjudged a corner in the wet conditions, slamming into a kerb moments later. Gregoire \u2014 directly behind him \u2014 also went down. He was able to remount quickly but a bloodied Romeo was not, although he did eventually finish the stage.<\/p>\n That left three up front \u2014 Groves, Stewart and Van den Broek.<\/p>\n In a sapping race, on a day of attrition and in the sort of weather nobody enjoys, they were the chosen survivors. But there could only be one winner.<\/p>\n Groves will remember this stage fondly for the rest of his life. He will very much be in the minority.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf5 \ud83d\udc9b #TDF2025<\/a> \u2013 Etapa 20 \ud83c\udfc1<\/p>\n Apasionante jornada de media monta\u00f1a en el coraz\u00f3n del macizo del Jura y donde, una vez m\u00e1s en este @LeTour<\/a>, volvimos a meternos en fuga.<\/p>\n \ud83e\udd15 En el d\u00eda de @ivanromeo_03<\/a> y con la lluvia tambi\u00e9n como protagonista. El piso mojado no tuvo piedad con el\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Qjly02cqOw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) July 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Duncan Alexander<\/p>\n Jegat ghosts his way into the Tour\u2019s top 10<\/p>\n Midway up the category-two Cote de Thesy, UK broadcaster TNT Sports\u2019 commentator Matt White described Jordan Jegat as \u201cthe most recognized climber in the group\u201d as he pulled clear of the breakaway. While stylistically true, the words felt jarring.<\/p>\n Because while the 26-year-old Frenchman has been in the upper reaches of general classification for much of this year\u2019s race, it feels like he\u2019s barely been seen. Could you pick him out of an identity parade?<\/p>\n Jegat goes clear on the C\u00f4te de Th\u00e9sy (Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Team TotalEnergies rider is yet to win a race as a professional, so this Tour has been by far the biggest month of his career. A top 25 finish in the stage 13 mountain time-trial pushed him up to 11th in the GC \u2014 and that\u2019s where he\u2019s stayed, until today.<\/p>\n As he pushed to join the breakaway in stage 20, rival teams were at least aware of his ranking within the race, with Team Picnic PostNL radioing Frank Van den Broek and telling him to inform Jegat that his presence might be detrimental to the breakaway, as it would force O\u2019Connor\u2019s Jayco team to chase it.<\/p>\n A top 10 finish in the Tour de France is a career highlight for many pro riders, especially those with a second-division team. Jegat distinguished himself on Thursday\u2019s queen stage, rejoining the group containing Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the valley road after the Col de la Madeleine and eventually finishing 20th up the Col de la Loze.<\/p>\n Such an effort almost broke him, though. Asked by French newspaper L\u2019Equipe whether he would continue his bid to break into the top 10 in stage 19, a haunted Jegat replied: \u201cI will not attack, I am traumatized.\u201d He still managed a 14th-place finish in La Plagne yesterday, though.<\/p>\n And on stage 20, Jegat was back in the thick of the action again. If there were pleas for him to leave the breakaway, he evidently ignored them, and although his attempt to attack solo mid-stage only lasted for a few kilometres, the growing gap to the peloton saw him jump above O\u2019Connor into the top 10 in the virtual standings, which is where he stayed. Jegat now has an advantage of nearly two minutes on O\u2019Connor, a margin he should be able to defend easily on Sunday.<\/p>\n At the finish, O\u2019Connor made it clear he was frustrated with UAE\u2019s unwillingness to help his team chase the break, but really, why should Pogacar care about who finishes 10th in a race he\u2019s about to win? For the increasingly-noticed Jegat, though, it\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n Duncan Alexander<\/p>\n Everyone is exhausted, even Pogacar<\/p>\n When Pogacar stood on the podium this afternoon after overcoming the final mountain challenge of his 2025 Tour, the yellow jersey looked visibly tired.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait for it to be over,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel super-energised right now to think about Sunday\u2019s racing. It\u2019s a really hectic parcours, so I think it\u2019s going to be a tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n Pogacar wants a holiday \u2014 and so do his challengers. Vingegaard did not have the legs to take on the Slovenian on the climb to La Plagne on Friday, while no other rider is within 10 minutes on general classification. Visma did not explode the race yesterday \u2014 while on today\u2019s stage to Pontarlier, the peloton was perfectly happy to let the break go after the intermediate sprint.<\/p>\n (Anne-Christine Poujoulat\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year we say, \u2018It\u2019s the hardest Tour ever, the hardest thing we\u2019ve ever done, it\u2019s all so crazy\u2019, but honestly I know that this year was something on another level,\u201d Pogacar said after the stage.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was maybe one day that we went a bit easier. If you look on the power files throughout the whole Tour, it\u2019s been really amazing and really tough. Even today, we almost did all-out from start to finish, and I must say that even though it was one of the toughest ones I ever did, I enjoyed it, because I had good shape and good legs, and I\u2019m really looking forward to the last day tomorrow.<\/p>\n \u201cMonday, I travel. Tuesday, maybe I\u2019m on the bike, you never know. If I feel good, I go a bit riding, stop for coffee, and enjoy summer at home.\u201d<\/p>\n (Loic Venance\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The race leader was also asked about David Rozman, the INEOS soigneur who has left the Tour amid an investigation into historic links with a doping doctor<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about this case,\u201d Pogacar said. \u201cI heard what was going on in the last few days with the situation. It\u2019s not nice to hear what is going on. I don\u2019t know him so well, he was in Sky and INEOS for quite a long time, but I don\u2019t know much about the situation, so I can\u2019t say much.\u201d<\/p>\n Pogacar was initially slated to compete in next month\u2019s Vuelta a Espana, but discussions have been taking place over whether he will compete in his second Grand Tour of the year. After a busier spring than usual, this would be the time for rest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will decide a couple of days after the Tour. When everything is calm and heads are clear, then we make decisions for the next races,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be tough to decide. Of course, I would like to go to the Vuelta. Every year I do the Tour, and I would like to do the Vuelta one day also, so we will see.<\/p>\n UAE are likely to send Spaniard Juan Ayuso as their team leader if Pogacar does not ride in Spain.<\/p>\n Jacob Whitehead<\/p>\n Stage 20 top 10<\/p>\n MISSION ACOMPLISHED \u2705 MISSION ACCOMPLIE \u2705![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2226368988-scaled.jpg\")
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Jonathan Milan crossed the line with an 80-point lead in the green jersey classification. Providing he finishes tomorrow’s stage he is guaranteed to win the green jersey \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9<\/p>\n
Jonathan Milan a pass\u00e9 la ligne avec 80 points d’avance au\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/DBlN1jQePT<\/a><\/p>\n