Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) tamed Mont Ventoux to take victory in Stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France. The petite Frenchman battled with Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) for the win and becomes the fifth Frenchman to win atop Mont Ventoux. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) traded blows for the final step of the podium, with the Danish climber and his teammates piling the pressure on the Slovenian leader of the race. Pogacar managed to resist and eventually gained a few seconds on the line.
Attackers had some 150 kilometres on the flat to try and get a head start before the battle for Mont Ventoux. Wout van Aert, the last winner of a Tour stage featuring the Giant of Provence (in 2021), immediately set off. But many more riders want to get on the move. The Belgian star was rapidly reeled in.
At km 11, Marco Haller, Marc Hirschi (Tudor) and Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) got away. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) did everything he could to prevent further attacks but breakaway contenders were not discouraged by the German’s pressure.
After covering the first two hours at an average speed of 49.9 km/h, 32 riders eventually went clear alongside the three previous attackers: Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pascal Eenkhoorn, Valentin Paret Peintre, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), Santiago Buitrago, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek), Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ), Julian Alaphilippe, Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Ewen Costiou, Raúl Garcia Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Enric Mas, Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar Team), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Clément Champoussin, Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), Michael Woods, Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Jarrad Drizners, Brent van Moer (Lotto), Jonas Abrahamsen and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility).
At kilometre 105 of the stage, Trentin accelerated, followed by Alaphilippe, Wright, Arensman, Mas, Velasco, Abrahamsen and Eenkhoorn to form a leading group. The Dutch rider from Soudal-Quick Step eased off shortly afterwards to rejoin his teammates in the chasing group.
Abrahamsen went first in the intermediate sprint at Châteauneuf-de-Pape (km 112.4), where the seven breakaway riders had a 25-second lead over their 28 pursuers and 4’55” over the peloton led by Politt. A puncture 36 kilometres from the finish line eliminates Wright from the leading group, reducing it to just six men.
Alaphilippe accelerated as soon as the attackers hit the first slopes of Mont Ventoux. Mas and Arensman joined him. The Spaniard went solo with 13 kilometres to the finish. Meanwhile, the chase group exploded with several accelerations from Valentin Paret-Peintre. The French climber proved to be the strongest climber from the chase group with Ben Healy. They caught Mas with 4 km to go.
In the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike set a strong pace until Jonas Vingegaard attacked with 8.5 km to go. The Danish climber attacked again and again, he also finds the support of Benoot and Campenaerts… But Pogacar follows.
Healy and Paret-Peintre attacked again and again but failed to make a difference. After each attack, they look at each other. And it allowed Mas, Santiago Buitrago and even Ilan Van Wilder to get back in the mix. The Belgian climber took the reins of the group inside the last kilometre to ensure Pogacar and Vingegaard wouldn’t get back.
Healy launched the sprint but Paret-Peintre passed him inside the last 100 metres to claim the first French victory in this edition. Buitrago completes the top 3 of the stage ahead of Buitrago and Van Wilder, with Pogacar crossing the line 43” behind the winner of the day.
Stage 16 Brief Results
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), +4”
- Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), +14”
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), +43”
General Classification After Stage 16
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) @ 54h 20’44”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) + 4’15”
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) + 9’03”
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