After three grueling days in the Pyrenees, it was the domestique’s turn to shine at the end of the second week of the Tour de France 2025.
One could not help smiling with Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) who is usually tasked with protecting Tadej Pogacar, as he hand-slapped the hands of spectators on both sides as he made his way to the finish in Carcassonne. Today he made the most of the opportunity to participate in a string of attacks, while his leader safely controlled the peloton and let him get away.
He could afford to, because the Pogs is well over 4 minutes ahead of his rival Jonas Vingegaard, and unless something extraordinary occurs between now and Paris, appears to have the top podium place all sewn up. Of course he kept a tight watch on his top two rivals, who stayed with the bunch behind the breaks today.
More than 30 riders managed to break away en route to Carcassonne. Wellens left them all in his wake with 43.5 km to go, claiming his first victory in the Tour de France.
“I know that tomorrow is Belgium’s national holiday, but it’s a rest day, so it’s good to win today. It was a great stage and we needed someone from the team at the front with such a big breakaway,” said Wellens after the stage. “And actually, the hardest part was getting into the right breakaway. Then at the end, there were only a few of us left and I had to make a decision because I knew I wouldn’t win if I finished in a small group. I think Victor Campenaerts knew that we were the two strongest riders, so it was better to attack him on a section that was still climbing a little.”
Already a winner at La Vuelta and the Giro, he becomes the 113th rider with stage wins in all three Grand Tours, just a couple of months after Wout van Aert was the 112th. Wellens also succeeds Van Aert as a Belgian national champion claiming victory in the Tour (Van Aert had done so in 2021). Behind him, Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) completed the top 3 of the stage, ahead of Van Aert. The peloton crossed the line with a gap of 6 minutes.
After three days in the Pyrenees, the peloton headed out to Carcassonne with a hilly course that could favor attackers. Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto) didn’t take part in the battle as he withdrew ahead of the start. The Belgian climber was far from the best version of himself after a crash early in the Tour.
Early scare for Vingegaard and Lipowitz
As soon as the flag dropped, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) attacked with hopes to of repeating their stunt on Toulouse (stage 11). But there were dozens of contenders for the breakaway, which led to a nasty battle culminating in a crash at km 17.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) were among the many riders affected. They led a strong chase but at the front, attacks kept coming, which prevented them from getting back to the bunch until km 38.
Van de Poel initiated the break
In the meantime, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) attacked at km 27. He was
followed by Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Clément Russo (Groupama-FDJ), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Vercher (Total Energies), Alexey Lutsenko (Israel Premier Tech) and Jarrad Drizners (Lotto).
Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), Jake Stewart (Israel Premier Tech) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) made it 15 riders in the lead at km 34… And the battle went on, as Ineos Grenadiers pushed to have someone at the front!
The battle goes on and on
The configuration changed slightly on the Côte de Saint-Ferréol (km 72.8), where Jasper Stuyven, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor) join the breakaway.
Onto the Sorèze climb (km 86.6), a breakaway within the breakaway emergesdwith Campenaerts, Wellens, Mohoric, Lutsenko, Powless, Simmons and Storer. Behind them, a huge chasing group forms with 28 riders (including Alaphilippe, Van Aert and Van der Poel, among others).
Among the chasers, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) manages to join the front group at km 86. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) emulates him at km 110, and then it’s Alexandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL) at km 113.
Wellens flies away
Storer destroyed the break by attacking on the first slopes of the Pas du Sant (km 114). He was followed by Simmons, and then Wellens and Campenaerts. The four attackers reached the summit together. After the climb, they were joined by Vlasov, Lutsenko, Barguil and Rodriguez with 44 kilometers to go.
Right after the junction, Wellens attacked. His rivals couldn’t follow the Belgian, who opened a gap of more than a minute en route to Carcassonne. Behind him, the chase groups got back together. Campenaerts attacked inside the last 2 kilometers to take the 2nd place ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor).
