Bluegrass Endurance: 2025 Tour de France Stage 7 Thoughts

Stage 7 - Saint-Malo to Mur-De-Bretagne Guerledan

Once again things were hot as the first hour was at about 30mph so up to then no break was gone. Once one did get separation they still never were given much of a gap. This was likely due that not only did the hills hit later in the stage but they were after the Sprint point at 140K and thus the sprinter teams, especially Lidl-Trek with Milan who was leading the points category wanted the 20 first place points as they know he was not going to be in it at the end where there were 50 points fro first up for grabs. But also MVDP wanted to keep the jersey if he could so Alpecin was going to not let tiebreak have to much time - Same with UAE. So with 20 miles to the sprint the break only had 1:30+ on the peloton.

In watching I really thought that the Peloton would catch the break before the sprint but they still had a 1:30 or so coming into the sprint. So the peloton was going to spring for less points but still would sprint. Was interesting to see Quinn Simmons lead out and Milan could not get his wheel so near the line Quinn basically stopped and Milan got Girmay at the line - not a lot of points but some and one more than Grimy. All that said the final sprint at the line was going to be a difference with 50 for first then 30 for second.

With 40K to go the break only had a 1:00 lead and with the tough section coming with about 20K to go the break was not going to last much longer. While there is no one to worry about ahead in the break there are those in the peloton who want to put the hurt on for the GC so just makes things stay fast. Also, they all know that come stage 10 on Monday where the mountains start there are few stages to have a chance on so they just are all n for this. Then add to this that Stages 8 & 9 are going to be flt and likely for the sprinters this could be the last chance for those who are not climbers or sprinters. Then again there is Poggy, MVDP and Jonas who still seem to want in on this and for sure MVDP.

So they hit the Mur-De-Bretagne for the first of two passes and the pace went up drastically with one lone remainder of the break just hanging on and MVDP having troubles, but still in there, as the big three and their teams put the hammer down. At the top the leader only had about 20 seconds with the peloton in sight and still 15K and another time up the Mur-De-Bretagne. MVDP looked like he was suffering but hanging on so how he would do with the last climb did not look god to hold on to his 1 second led in Yellow. He did have some rest -well no real climbs but who can rest - till the last climb up the Mur-De-Bretagne which was a 2k climb. Was setting up to be a great finish - well for those watching but not so much for those riding.

Then when you think it is all down to the sprint there is a big crash at the back of the pack evening a small group. Not good anyone crashed but Almeida did not look good, he did finish which is a good sign but will see how things go for him for tomorrow, and Healy the winner yesterday who had to work to just try get back on before the final climb. Watching live it sure seemed Visma might be up to something with the number of the riders up front - but UAE did as well.

As they went into the final 2k climb Wellens was up pulling with Tadej on his wheel then you suddenly have the big three just waiting to make a move and Vauquelin latching back on with 1K to the top - man this is the kind of finish you like to see and we are only on stage 7. It came down the final 300m and Tadej went with Jonas on his wheel and while Remco was dropped Jonas hung on but could not get by so Tadej picked up 10 seconds and some more seconds on Remco. MVDP struggled to the finish but still up there but lost the Yellow Jersey and dropped to 5th.

It becomes clear that for now this is a three man race but don't rule out Mateo who was 5th on the stage and in there till the sprint. This helps Jonas later in the race as Visma still keeps multiple GC options - if they need them. All in all maybe the one no-one saw coming was Oscar Onley who was third on the stage and moving into the top 10 at 7th. Also Kevin Vauquelin showed he is no slouch either as he is now third overall and was 7th on the stage with the small gourd that followed in behind Tadej and Jonas.

The next two days are flat as the sprinters will be working to get wins before the first mountain stage on Monday. Usually by now the last few years the second Monday is a rest day but with not transfer early early with a break and an extra day there was no rest this year till after stage 10 - going to be some tired legs resting up.

Race Highlights: