O'Connor wins queen stage, Pogacar untouchable

Breakaway rider Ben O'Connor has won the queen stage of the Tour de France. The Australian Jayco pro triumphed on Thursday on the 18th stage from Vif to the Col de la Loze near Courchevel.

July 24, 2025

From: dpa/apa

The Australian prevailed ahead of Slovenian overall leader Tadej Pogacar, who took a few seconds off his third-placed arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard shortly before the finish line. The UAE star was not at all threatened by the Visma team and even extended his lead over Vingegaard in the overall standings to 4:26 minutes thanks to a sprint finish, giving him a strong chance of claiming his fourth Tour de France victory.

The wearer of the white jersey, Florian Lipowitz, lost some time as eleventh on the day and is now only 22 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Onley.

O'Connor attacks at the right time

Before the final climb up the Col de la Loze, no one in the seven-man leading group wanted to set the pace, so O'Connor, Einer Rubio, and Matteo Jorgenson broke away. O'Connor, the Vuelta runner-up, launched the decisive attack with about 16 km to go. Pogacar, on the other hand, easily controlled the action, confidently parrying a single attack from Vingegaard. A few meters from the finish, Pogacar pulled away from the Dane.

Tadej Pogacar left nothing to chance. © APA/afp / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

After the queen stage, the second part of the spectacular climbing show in the Alps is scheduled for Friday. The protagonists must master five steep climbs on their way to the finish in the ski resort of La Plagne. From Albertville, the 19th stage leads over 129,9 kilometers and 4.550 meters of elevation gain to the mountain finish in La Plagne. The final climb is 19,1 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 7,2 percent.

Keywords cycling racing bike Tour de France Tadej pogacar