War of attrition continues as Brittany dazzles: stage 7 Domestique Debrief

Time flies when you're having fun, or so the saying goes. With seven stages completed, we are exactly a third of the way through the 2025 Tour de France already, and while the outcome of yesterday's stage may appear to have been pre-destined on paper, the way it unfolded was certainly eye-opening. 

Just as they did on stage 2, and for the 13th time in the history of their rivalry, Pogačar and Vingegaard finished 1-2 in a Tour stage, with Pogacar head and shoulders ahead in terms of victories, with 10 wins to Vingegaard's 3. It's telling, however, that the pair have added two head-to-head finishes already, on terrain that ordinarily might result in a different kind of battle - with the two titans of the race reserving their conflicts for the mountains. These days however, it's a case of any place, any time - the two are ready to duke it out, and everyone else falls by the wayside.

Two days, two breakaways – but they couldn’t have been more different, in terms of their likelihood of success. On stage 6 there was a tangible sense of hope around the breakaway – partly down to the route design, and partly down to the composition of the group, which went on to succeed for the first time at the race. 

Yesterday, the breakaway seemed to be doomed from the start, though it didn’t deter another big fight to be a part of proceedings – because you never know, right? Wrong. With a small cluster of significant difficulties placed at the end of the stage, it was all but guaranteed the peloton would catch the escapees, with the two heavyweights of the race thus far – Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar – with their eyes on the Mur de Bretagne. Their teams combined forces to dash any hopes of another win for a baroudeur, with a little help from Visma | Lease a Bike for good measure. One of the five brave souls who got away in the break, Geraint Thomas described himself and his comrades as 'lambs to the slaughter' - a dramatic, if not apt, response.

Stunning weather, beautiful, rugged coastline and quaint villages. Brittany isn’t only a perfect location for a bike race, but it also happens to be home to some of the most passionate fans in the country. They were out in force on an idyllic day on the north coast, as the Tour continued to showcase some of its more hidden gems. Speaking of Breton gems, the last man to win the Tour for the home nation, Bernard Hinault himself, was on site for the spectacle, taking in the sights in the VIP car, including his birthplace of Yffiniac, which was decorated in his honour.

After yesterday’s show of Norman pride celebrating Arkéa-B&B Hotels’ Kévin Vauquelin through the medium of, er, hot air ballooning, more fan clubs were out in force yesterday – Cofidis’ Alexis Renard and Arkéa’s Mathis le Berre both had huge supporters groups out on the road, with another Breton hero, Valentin Madouas, celebrated along the route also. Madouas tried his luck twice to get away into the break but was sadly unsuccessful. The home team, Arkéa, did have a representative in the break though – himself a Breton rider. 

While his teammate Vauquelin has been soaking up the lion’s share of French adoration so far this Tour, it was local rider Ewen Costiou who enjoyed his day in the spotlight, part of the day’s early break and also its sole survivor, riding solo up the Mur de Bretagne the first time around, to the delight of the packed and vibrant crowd. If Costiou wasn’t on the radar of other teams before today, he certainly will be now, though Daniel Benson reported back in June that he may be on his way to INEOS Grenadiers, along with Vauquelin and Embret Svestad-Bårdseng, in what could turn out to be a significant shopping spree for the British side at the troubled team.

The main talking point on the morning of stage 7 was the previous day’s tactics employed by Visma | Lease a Bike. Pogačar seemed somewhat irritated by what he claimed was a Visma plan to keep him in yellow, while Grischa Niermann hit back, saying that the Dutch team were riding their own race, and that Pogačar didn’t ‘get’ it. 

Visma continued to ride aggressively in key moments on stage 7, once again pushing the breakaway battle through both Victor Campanaerts and Wout van Aert, and showing their cards as the categorised climbing began, attacking into the final 20km of the race to keep Jonas Vingegaard front and centre. On the face of it, it was Pogačar who answered back, taking his second stage win at the race, but Vingegaard was buoyant in his post-race interview, having only just lost out to the Slovenian in a punchy, uphill sprint – formerly a weakness of his, compared with his rival – and clearly backing his team to support him all the way to Paris.

It leaves the finely race poised ahead of a weekend of flat stages, before a Bastille Day showdown on Monday will likely draw the two protagonists out once again. But as he regains control of the yellow and green jerseys, and nudges his career victory total up to 101, Tadej Pogačar is likely to feel very satisfied with his day out, all things considered.

It’s not been a hugely successful Tour de France for Bahrain-Victorious thus far. Prior to yesterday’s stage, the team had barely made an impact on the race, with Lenny Martinez in erratic form, their best-placed rider on GC Santiago Buitrago down in 14th position, and only one decent result on a stage – Phil Bauhaus’ third place on stage 3. 

They were already a team with mixed ambitions, but even those were dealt a significant blow on stage 7, with UAE's João Almeida’s crash causing a ripple effect which immediately took out two of the team’s riders. They will miss dearly the wisdom and experience of road captain Jack Haig, who withdrew from the race immediately following the crash. As for Buitrago, he made it across the line, but will be physically depleted, and will obviously struggle to continue a GC raid if he is hurt. The team will revert to stage-hunting and hope that riders who’ve struggled to find their form this season such as Fred Wright and Matej Mohorič will hit their peak, and give the beleaguered team a reason to be cheerful.

I've said it before, but the statement bears repeating: Oscar Onley is absolutely smashing this Tour de France. He made the podium on yesterday’s stage, third only behind the race’s two main men, and moved himself into seventh position on GC – and this is all before the route moves onto his favoured terrain of the mountains. 

The boy from Kelso, still just 22, is taking all hopes and expectations for what he could achieve at this race, and blowing them out of the water. It’s a major shot in the arm for his team, Picnic-PostNL, who are struggling in the UCI rankings, and suffering the loss of Romain Bardet, a hugely experienced rider, leader and mentor who has been at the heart of their team since 2021. The future is bright, should the team be able to retain their WorldTour status – and with Onley’s performances so far, that outcome may not be outside the realms of possibility.