Kaden 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’s stage win to seven in the Vuelta a Espana and two in the Giro d’Italia.
There are few days at the Tour more challenging than a medium mountain stage on the race’s penultimate day. Throw in yet more bad weather, and today was another brutally intense afternoon for all involved.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
It took almost 100 kilometres for the day’s 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.
Jordan Jegat — who began the day 11th on GC — was also present, which spurred Jayco-Al Ula, the team of 10th-placed Ben O’Connor, into a brief response, albeit one that saw Mauro Schmid slide out on a descent.
And that wasn’t 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.
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’ lead, but ultimately it was too little, too late.
Jacob Whitehead and Duncan Alexander analyse the penultimate stage.
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Kaden Groves completes his Grand Tour trilogy
Groves was not meant to be in this position. The popular Australian has been a Grand Tour stage winner before, even winning the sprinters’ jersey at the Vuelta a Espana in 2023 and 2024.
But the 26-year-old was at the Tour this year in service of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team’s two stars, Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, who won the race’s first and second stages respectively.
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’ 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.
Groves surprised Steward and Van den Broek by attacking with 17km remaining (Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images)
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.
It was his first Tour stage win, and Alpecin’s third of this year’s race — major exposure for a team still searching for a title sponsor next year.
🏁 The final kilometer of a victory savored alone by Kaden Groves!
🏁 Le dernier kilomètre d’une victoire savourée en solitaire par Kaden Groves !#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/KiZngV86Qx
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 26, 2025
“We knew it was in his possibilities, but to be honest, I have to say I didn’t really believe in it,” said his directeur sportif Christoph Roodhooft. “But he’s a very strong rider, not a pure sprinter, and that’s something we all know.”
“We came here with so many plans with Mathieu and Jasper,” said Groves. “And my own opportunities haven’t all gone the right way. But I just had super legs today, and suffered all the way to the line.”
How the weather and terrain tested the breakaway
The day’s 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 — all motivated by the prize of a stage win at the Tour de France.
UAE’s Wellens and Visma’s 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.
EF Education-Easypost’s 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.
😱 A scare for @harry_sweeny but the Aussie is still all alone in the lead!
😱 Frayeur pour @harry_sweeny, mais l’Australien est toujours bien en tête !#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/Ll28xnLzNu
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 26, 2025
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 — directly behind him — also went down. He was able to remount quickly but a bloodied Romeo was not, although he did eventually finish the stage.
That left three up front — Groves, Stewart and Van den Broek.
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.
Groves will remember this stage fondly for the rest of his life. He will very much be in the minority.
🇨🇵 💛 #TDF2025 – Etapa 20 🏁
Apasionante jornada de media montaña en el corazón del macizo del Jura y donde, una vez más en este @LeTour, volvimos a meternos en fuga.
🤕 En el día de @ivanromeo_03 y con la lluvia también como protagonista. El piso mojado no tuvo piedad con el… pic.twitter.com/Qjly02cqOw
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) July 26, 2025
Duncan Alexander
Jegat ghosts his way into the Tour’s top 10
Midway up the category-two Cote de Thesy, UK broadcaster TNT Sports’ commentator Matt White described Jordan Jegat as “the most recognized climber in the group” as he pulled clear of the breakaway. While stylistically true, the words felt jarring.
Because while the 26-year-old Frenchman has been in the upper reaches of general classification for much of this year’s race, it feels like he’s barely been seen. Could you pick him out of an identity parade?
Jegat goes clear on the Côte de Thésy (Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
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 — and that’s where he’s stayed, until today.
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’Connor’s Jayco team to chase it.
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’s 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.
Such an effort almost broke him, though. Asked by French newspaper L’Equipe whether he would continue his bid to break into the top 10 in stage 19, a haunted Jegat replied: “I will not attack, I am traumatized.” He still managed a 14th-place finish in La Plagne yesterday, though.
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’Connor into the top 10 in the virtual standings, which is where he stayed. Jegat now has an advantage of nearly two minutes on O’Connor, a margin he should be able to defend easily on Sunday.
At the finish, O’Connor made it clear he was frustrated with UAE’s unwillingness to help his team chase the break, but really, why should Pogacar care about who finishes 10th in a race he’s about to win? For the increasingly-noticed Jegat, though, it’s huge.
Duncan Alexander
Everyone is exhausted, even Pogacar
When Pogacar stood on the podium this afternoon after overcoming the final mountain challenge of his 2025 Tour, the yellow jersey looked visibly tired.
“I can’t wait for it to be over,” he said. “I don’t feel super-energised right now to think about Sunday’s racing. It’s a really hectic parcours, so I think it’s going to be a tough one.”
Pogacar wants a holiday — 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 — while on today’s stage to Pontarlier, the peloton was perfectly happy to let the break go after the intermediate sprint.
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
“Every year we say, ‘It’s the hardest Tour ever, the hardest thing we’ve ever done, it’s all so crazy’, but honestly I know that this year was something on another level,” Pogacar said after the stage.
“There was maybe one day that we went a bit easier. If you look on the power files throughout the whole Tour, it’s 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’m really looking forward to the last day tomorrow.
“Monday, I travel. Tuesday, maybe I’m on the bike, you never know. If I feel good, I go a bit riding, stop for coffee, and enjoy summer at home.”
(Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
“I don’t know anything about this case,” Pogacar said. “I heard what was going on in the last few days with the situation. It’s not nice to hear what is going on. I don’t know him so well, he was in Sky and INEOS for quite a long time, but I don’t know much about the situation, so I can’t say much.”
Pogacar was initially slated to compete in next month’s 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.
“We 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,” he said. “It’s 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.
UAE are likely to send Spaniard Juan Ayuso as their team leader if Pogacar does not ride in Spain.
Jacob Whitehead
Stage 20 top 10
Kaden Groves (4:06:09)
Frank van den Broek (+54s)
Pascal Eenkhoorn (+59s)
Simone Velasco (+1m 4s)
Romain Gregoire (+1m 4s)
Jake Stewart (+1m 4s)
Jordan Jegat (+1m 4s)
Tim Wellens (+1m 4s)
Matteo Jorgenson (+1m 4s)
Harry Sweeny (+1m 4s)
MISSION ACOMPLISHED ✅
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 🇮🇹
MISSION ACCOMPLIE ✅
Jonathan Milan a passé la ligne avec 80 points d’avance au… pic.twitter.com/DBlN1jQePT
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 26, 2025
Overall top 10 after stage 20
Tadej Pogacar (73:54:59)
Jonas Vingegaard (+4m 24s)
Florian Lipowitz (+11m 9s)
Oscar Onley (+12m 12s)
Felix Gall (+17m 12s)
Tobias Halland Johannessen (+20m 14s)
Kevin Vauquelin (+22m 35s)
Primoz Roglic (+25m 30s)
Ben Healy (+28m 2s)
Jordan Jegat (+32m 42s)
What’s coming up tomorrow?Stage 21 — Sunday, July 27: Mantes-la-Ville to Paris, 120km, flat
The final stage of the Tour de France returns to the streets of the nation’s capital after an Olympics-related gap year. And the Paris-hosted Games have influenced the 2025 race, too. Such was the success of the Montmartre climb in the Olympics’ road races, it has been added (three times) to the Tour’s traditionally flat final stage. Historically, the yellow jersey is not fought for on the last day, but with this new route… perhaps it might be. At the very least, it may ensure we don’t see a sprint finish.
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(Top photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images))