ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Pogačar reclaims yellow jersey, showcases dominance at Tour de France

Pogačar reclaims yellow jersey, showcases dominance at Tour de France

Published Jul 12, 2025 12:40 pm

At A Glance

  • MUR-DE--BRETAGNE, France (AP) — Less than a week after the Tour de France began, world champion Tadej Pogačar secured a second stage win at the top of a challenging climb and and reclaimed the yellow jersey on Friday, July 11.
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the seventh stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 197 kilometers (122.4 miles) with start in Saint-Malo and finish in Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, France, Friday, July 11. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
MUR-DE--BRETAGNE, France (AP) — Less than a week after the Tour de France began, world champion Tadej Pogačar secured a second stage win at the top of a challenging climb and and reclaimed the yellow jersey on Friday, July 11.
The 197-kilometer (122-mile) Stage 7 between Saint-Malo and Mûr-de-Bretagne did not feature a major difficulty until the finishing loop, including the iconic Mur-de-Bretagne ascent. Called the “Alpe d’Huez of Brittany” by the cycling-crazed Bretons because of its steep gradient, the climb was tackled twice and the finish line was set up at the top.
Pogačar and his teammates from UAE Team Emirates-XRG were in total control in the stage finale, which was contested by a small group of riders including two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard — Pogačar's main rival — and Remco Evenepoel.
Pogačar launched the sprint some 200 meters from the finish and Vingegaard jumped on his wheel but was unable to overtake his rival. Pogačar had time to raise his right arm in triumph as he crossed. Behind Vingegaard, Oscar Onley completed the stage podium.
“We did an amazing job, all the teammates were perfect,” Pogačar said. “We had a plan, we stuck to it, and we won. Tim (Wellens) led me out to the bottom of the final climb. And then (Jhonatan) Narvaez did a superb job to keep things under control until the sprint.”
Pogačar is the overwhelming favorite to win a fourth Tour title. He has been in supreme form since the start of the season and has been the best rider since the start of the Tour last weekend.
His latest win marked his 19th Tour stage victory overall. This week, the defending champion claimed the 100th professional victory of his stellar career in typically flamboyant style, beating Mathieu van der Poel in a dash to the line to win the hilly fourth stage.
Pogačar was also impressive during the first time trial of the race and is expected to dominate even more when the Tour reaches the mountains.
This is the 42nd time Pogacar leads the overall standings.
Overall, Pogačar has a 54-second lead over Evenepoel, with Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin in third place, 1:11 off the pace. Jonas Vingegaard was fourth, 1:17 behind, followed by Van der Poel, the overnight leader who was dropped early in the final climb.
Almeida crashes
A five-man break including former Tour champion Geraint Thomas formed soon after the start, gaining an early lead of 1 minute, 40 seconds. Frenchman Ewen Costiou, a Tour debutant, attacked from that group and tried to go solo, leading the race over the first ascent of the Mûr-de-Bretagne. But with the chase raging behind him, the task was way too big and he was caught by the group including all of the main contenders with 12 kilometers left.
As riders scrambled for position at the front, a dozen of them were caught in a high-speed crash on a downhill some six kilometers from the finish line. Pogačar's teammate Joao Almeida was among those involved.
“I’m super happy with the win today. But not everything is perfect, Joao is going for X-rays after his crash," Pogačar said. “He’s in great shape so I really hope it’s nothing broken and he can continue.”
Almeida escaped without a concussion but has “an uncomplicated left-sided rib fracture, as well as some profound abrasions to his body," UAE Team Emirates-XRG said. He is expected to start Saturday's stage.
Saturday's stage
The peloton exits Brittany during Stage 8, a 171-kilometer (106.5-mile) mainly flat trek from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval on roads sheltered from the wind. Expect a bunch sprint.

Related Tags

Tadej Pogacar Tour de France
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.