Kelso cyclist Oscar Onley still in top four as 2025’s Tour de France heads towards finale

The 22-year-old, riding for the Netherlands’ Team Picnic PostNL, remained fourth in general classification after finishing that 172km stage from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux in 14th place in four hours, five minutes and 48 seconds, just short of two and a half minutes behind winning French rider Valentin Paret-Peintre.

His cumulative time at that point – ahead of tomorrow’s 160km stage 17 from Bollene to Valence and the day after’s 172km from Vif to Courchevel Col de la Loze, with proceedings concluding this coming Sunday with a 132km ride from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris – was 58:35:50.

That was just two minutes and a second shy of third-placed German rider Florian Lipowitz, though 13 seconds down on where he’d been at the start of the day, and trailing Slovenian front-runner Tadej Pogacar by 11 minutes and four seconds, with Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard second on 58:29:01.

Onley’s top-15 placing on Tuesday followed a rest day on Monday and finishing 55th on Sunday going 169km from Muret to Carcassonne, sixth on Saturday following a 183km ride from Pau to Luchon-Superbagneres, seventh on Friday in an 11km individual time-trial from Loudenvielle to Peyragudes, fifth last Thursday after 181km from Auch to Hautacam and 41st last Wednesday upon completing a 157km loop starting and ending in Toulouse.

The Borderer is part of an eight-strong roster of riders also featuring fellow Scot Sean Flynn, Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen, France’s Warren Barguil, Czechia’s Pavel Bittner, Germany’s Niklas Markl and the Netherlands’ Frank van den Broek and Tim Naberman.

This year’s tour, the 112th since its launch in 1903, is Onley’s second after finishing 39th in general classification and as tenth young rider in 2024’s.

Looking back on the sixth place on Saturday that lifted him up to fourth in general classification, the former Kelso Wheelers member said: “It was a hard day again, with the break only going on the Tourmalet and then UAE Team Emirates XRG set a hard pace during the stage.

“It was quite a good pace that UAE’s Adam Yates set on the last climb and I was hoping that they would do that for as long as possible. It was then basically all out to the line after Vingegaard attacked and I did what I could.

“It’s one more stage down and one more day closer to Paris, but it’s still a long way to go and we still have some pretty tough climbs to cover in the Alps next week.

“I’m continuing to surprise myself.

“We didn’t really come here with any big general classification ambitions pre-race, and that day was probably the biggest test of my long-climbing abilities in my career so far.

“It’s nice to be in fourth and gain some time on a few guys, but it’s a long way to go and a lot can change this week.”

Team coach Matt Winston added: “Our sprint group did really well in the flatter start to keep an overview and things under control, and then when we hit the Tourmalet, the peloton exploded.

“Frank and Warren rode really well and could support Oscar all the way until the final climb, which was great, then in the final it was all about Oscar trying to do his own race and giving everything he had to the finish, and it was great to see him hang on for sixth on the day, which saw us move up to fourth on general classification.

“So far, Oscar’s gone 100% in every stage, so his fatigue level could go up in the last week, which can and should be expected, and whatever happens going forward, we’ve had a really nice Tour de France.

“He is still riding only his second Tour de France so we are still seeing him develop as a rider.

“With the six guys that have come from our development programme into the tour, it is all about keeping that progression going now that they are at the highest level.

“With Oscar doing what he has done so far in the tour and with Pavel and Tobi performing in the sprints, you can really see that they are coming to that last level of their development at the top level of the sport.”

Reviewing Tuesday’s sixth-from-last stage, the 38-year-old added: “It was a really good day.

“The guys did a fantastic job looking after Oscar, making sure he hit the climb well hydrated and cool.

“Oscar put in a strong performance on the Ventoux, and I think we can be proud of both his effort and the team’s work overall.

“We’re still in a good position in general classification, with plenty left to fight for in this final week.”