There was a French winner at last on stage 16 of the Tour de France, as Valentin Paret-Peintre conquered the day's summit finish on Mont Ventoux.
The Soudal Quick-Step rider beat Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in a two-up dash to the top of the lunar mountain, dropping the Irishman in the final metres before the line.
The pair had been part of a breakaway move that went around the stage's halfway point. Both attacked near the foot of the final climb, and duked out the victory beneath the towering meteorological station.
Behind, race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) finished just two seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Dane attacked Pogačar four times in the final 8km, but lost contact slightly on the final kicker to the line.
Pogačar's grip on the yellow jersey is now four minutes and 15 seconds as the Tour heads towards an undulating finish in Valence on Wednesday.
How it happened
(Image credit: Getty Images)
After the early-morning news of Mathieu van der Poel’s withdrawal, the peloton set out for a summit finish on Mont Ventoux. The day’s route offered a hockey-stick profile – flat all the way to the foot of the mountain, before pointing straight up towards the sky.
With no polka-dot or sprint points in the first two thirds of the stage, a few early escapees set out in vain up the road. They were caught at the midway point, when the peloton splintered, and a group of more than 30 riders tore clear – among them was EF’s Healy, the best placed on GC in 10th overall, almost 19 minutes behind Pogačar.
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Into the final 50km, a group of seven lead the race: Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Julian Alaphilippe, Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Enric Mas (Movistar), Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X). Their advantage sat at a minute to the rest of the breakaway, and more than five to the peloton and Pogačar, who appeared happy to relinquish his chance at the stage win.
Those same gaps held true at the base of Mont Ventoux, the ‘Giant of Provence’, which sits 1,910m tall. French philosopher Roland Barthes once described the mountain as a “higher hell”. It was Arensman who guided Alaphilippe, Mas and Velasco onto its slopes.
Within a kilometre of the climb’s start, attacks began to fly. Paret-Peintre launched his move from the second group, while, ahead, Mas went solo.
Back in the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike took to the front with Sepp Kuss. The shift signalled the start of an offensive and, with 8km to go, Vingegaard kicked away in attack. Unfaltering in yellow, Pogačar tagged onto the Dane’s wheel.
Vingegaard then attacked again. With Pogačar in tow, he skipped through the remnants of the breakaway, drawing his rival out of the trees and into the sun. A third attack would come with 4km to go, but again, Vingegaard couldn’t draw a gap.
At the front of the race, Mas’s hopes of delivering Movistar’s first Tour stage win since 2019 were dashed by Healy. Ploughing into the lunar landscape, the Irishman dragged Paret-Peintre behind him, and a leading quartet formed: Healy, Paret-Peintre, Mas and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).
It looked, for a moment, that Pogačar and Vingegaard might make it six. After Pogačar attacked with 2km to go, Vingegaard countered – his fourth rush on Ventoux – and the gap to the leaders fell to around 40 seconds.
Healy, already a stage winner and yellow jersey wearer at this Tour, was the first to launch for the finish line. Paret-Peintre followed, and when the road rose sharply in the last few metres, the Frenchman edged beyond the EF rider.
The win brought only the third of the 24-year-old's career, and no doubt his largest to date.
Results
Tour de France stage 16, Montpellier > Mont Ventoux (171.5km)
1. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:03:19 2. Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time 3. Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious, +4s 4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +14s 5. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +43s 6. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +45s 7. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +53s 8. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:17 9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:51 10. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:53
General classification after stage 16
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 58:24:46 2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:15 3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +9:03 4. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Pinic-PostNL, +11:04 5. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +11:42 6. Kévin Vaquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +13:20 7. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +14:50 8. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +17:01 9. Ben Healy (Ire) Ef Education-EasyPost, +17:52 10. Carlos Rodriguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +20:45
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Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and holds a master's degree in International Journalism. Since 2020, he has been the host of The TT Podcast, offering race analysis and rider interviews.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill, and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides. His best result is 28th in a hill-climb competition, albeit out of 40 entrants.
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