Tadej Pogacar storms back into yellow jersey with stunning stage 12 victory
Tadej Pogacar delivered a display of pure dominance on the first true mountain test of this year’s Tour de France to retake the yellow jersey with a solo win.
On the Hautacam, where Jonas Vingegaard left Pogacar behind in a decisive attack in his 2022 Tour win, the world champion exacted revenge, attacking 12 kilometres from the summit finish and putting two minutes 10 seconds into his rival, who finished second on the day.
Pogacar’s third stage win of this Tour, the 20th of his career, put him a big step closer to what would be a fourth overall title as he leads by three minutes 31 seconds from Vingegaard, with both men putting time into third-placed Remco Evenepoel, now four minutes 45 seconds down.
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:42
Let’s look ahead to tomorrow’s stage. At 10.9km you might think that sounds alright, but take a look at those gradients… it should be another day for GC fireworks and if today is anything to go by, perhaps another Pogacar masterclass.
Tour de France Stage 13 profile (letour)
Tour de France 2025 – stage 13 map (letour)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:35
Best young rider classification after stage 12
Ben Healy’s difficult day out meant he lost white as well as yellow today, with Remco Evenepoel – who wore the jersey for him today – now owning it properly once again. But not by much…
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) in 45:27:36Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +49”Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +55”Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) +1’20”Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) +8’34”
(AP)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:22
King of the mountains classification after stage 12
No prizes for guessing who now leads the KOM standings, after Lenny Martinez collapsed today and Pogacar took the 20 points available for the winner on Hautacam.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 27 pts Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) 27 ptsMichael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 22 ptsJonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 19 ptsBen Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) 16 pts 
(AP)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:14
Points classification after stage 12
Jonathan Milan stays in green, but Pogacar is breathing down his neck, having picked up more points for his win today.
The sprinters, by the way, have all finished safely inside the time cut. No one getting the axe from the Tour today.
Jonathan Milan (Lidl‑Trek) 231 ptsTadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 183Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin‑Deceuninck) 173Biniam Girmay (Intermarché‑Wanty) 154Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick‑Step) 150 
(AFP via Getty Images)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:06
Elsewhere, Matteo Jorgenson lost 10 minutes, severely hampering his own GC challenge and meaning that UAE can take any attacks of his in the next road stage – on Saturday – less seriously, as he doesn’t represent a threat to Pogacar in yellow at the moment.
Remco Evenepoel suffered on the climbs but managed to limit his losses and is still third overall, but is left looking over his shoulder at the likes of Florian Lipowitz, Kevin Vauquelin, and Oscar Onley, who all performed brilliantly today and are hot on his heels in the white jersey standings today.
Lipowitz in particular was excellent, finishing third on the stage and moving up four places to third overall. He now sits two minutes ahead of his theoretical team leader Primoz Roglic. Will Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe now change tack, and go all-in for the German’s podium chances?
Primoz Roglic had a tough day out, losing 3’49” (AFP via Getty Images)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 18:00
Today’s stage has been fascinating all round. Of course it has cemented that Pogacar is the man to beat, if indeed he is beatable at all. But it also exposed Visma-Lease a Bike, who looked like the strongest team by far after UAE lost Joao Almeida to a crash and several domestiques appeared to struggle in the last few days.
The tables were turned today and it was Jhonatan Narvaez, not, on paper, UAE’s best climber, who delivered the astonishing turn of pace that forced the entire GC group to disintegrate and set up Pogacar’s attack with 12km to go on Hautacam.
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 17:51
How will today’s efforts affect tomorrow’s time trial, which is going to be hideously difficult, even without a brutal stage in the Pyrenees in the legs?
Romain Bardet tells TNT Sports, “The last wall could be a climb in itself. It’s so steep, so wide also, due to the altiport, for the flights to take off. The guys will have to push before that more than 25 minutes over threshold, then you have to keep something in reserve for that last steep bit. Also you can never see the top, it keeps climbing and climbing, so it requires a lot of mental strength because you just have to keep going.” Delightful.
“It can mean winning or losing this time trial, the way you climb the last 300m,” he adds.
(AP)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 17:45
Tadej Pogacar is subjected to an uncomfortably long handshake by French president Emmanuel Macron, who’s picked the right stage to come out and watch, before he makes his way onto the podium.
Tadej Pogacar once again leads the Tour de France after stage 12 (REUTERS)
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 17:38
Tadej Pogacar dedicates Tour de France win to teenaged Italian cyclist who died in crash
Privitera, 19, crashed during the opening stage of the Giro della Valle d’Aosta in the Italian Alps. The Hagens Berman Jayco rider reportedly came off his bike during a descent, losing his helmet and colliding with a gate. He was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
After pulling away from the rest of his rivals to win atop the towering Hautacam climb in the Pyrenees on Thursday, reclaiming the yellow jersey in the process, Pogacar paid tribute to Privitera.
Flo Clifford17 July 2025 17:32