2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, stage 5: Evenepoel conquers The Tumble to close on race lead
Remco Evenepoel underlined his return to winning ways with a ferocious uphill sprint on The Tumble, taking his first victory since the Tour de France and moving to within two seconds of race leader Romain Grégoire.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) claimed a statement win on the Queen stage of the 2025 Tour of Britain Men, sprinting to victory atop The Tumble ahead of Thomas Gloag (Visma | Lease A Bike) and Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL). The Olympic champion showed both patience and power on the double ascent of the iconic Welsh climb, sealing his first victory since abandoning the Tour de France and moving within striking distance of the leader’s jersey.
Featured image: SWpix.com
Report
The 133.5km stage from Pontypool to The Tumble promised fireworks, with the final climb tackled twice. An aggressive nine-man break established early, featuring Finlay Tarling (Israel–Premier Tech), Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X), Noa Isidore (Decathlon AG2R), Frederik Frison (Q36.5), Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Rafael Reis (Anicolor/Tien 21), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise) and Patrick Boje Frydkjær (Lidl-Trek). Their lead hovered around two minutes.
Breakaway – Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Finlay Tarling (Israel – Premier Tech), Frederik Frison (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). Image: Bruce Rollinson/SWpix.com
On the first ascent of The Tumble, Evenepoel briefly tested the legs, covered by race leader Romain Grégoire and his teammate Quinten Pacher, who duly set tempo to snuff out further attacks. Up ahead, Reis and Isidore pressed on from the break, with Reis taking maximum KOM points at the summit. By the descent, however, the peloton had regrouped.
Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets) sparked fresh life with 39km to go, joined later by Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise). The pair stretched their gap to over a minute, while behind Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease A Bike) picked up a second at the intermediate sprint. But by the foot of the final climb their adventure was over, swept up by a charging peloton led by British champion Sam Watson.
The attacks came thick and fast: Thymen Arensman (INEOS) with 3.3km to go, marked immediately by Evenepoel; then Zambanini (Bahrain) with Onley, Sivakov and Gloag bridging across. AJ August tried to counter, then Sivakov surged again inside 2km. Onley, Eulálio (Bahrain) and others gave chase, but Visma and Soudal Quick-Step kept the lid on.
Into the final kilometre, Evenepoel’s teammate Ilan Van Wilder controlled a reduced group of around 15 riders. August had one last dig, but it was destined for a sprint. When Pello Bilbao opened for teammate Eulálio, Evenepoel pounced — his trademark seated acceleration proving untouchable. Gloag followed closest, Onley just behind, but the Belgian had time to lift his arms in triumph at the summit.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) Wins Stage 5. Image: Bruce Rollinson/SWpix.com
For Evenepoel it was his sixth win of the season and a welcome boost ahead of the World Road Championships in Rwanda. “It feels good to be back winning, especially on such a tough finish,” he said.
Race leader Grégoire limited his losses to fifth on the stage, conceding only the 10 bonus seconds to Evenepoel. The Frenchman clings to the green jersey by two seconds over the Belgian, with Alaphilippe third at four seconds and Onley just eight seconds back.
With the general classification still separated by mere seconds, Sunday’s finale from Newport to Cardiff — featuring the sting of Caerphilly Mountain inside the final 10km — promises a dramatic conclusion.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) claimed a statement win on the Queen stage of the 2025 Tour of Britain Men, sprinting to victory atop The Tumble ahead of Thomas Gloag (Visma | Lease A Bike) and Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL). The Olympic champion showed both patience and power on the double ascent of the iconic Welsh climb, sealing his first victory since abandoning the Tour de France and moving within striking distance of the leader’s jersey.
Featured image: SWpix.com
Report
The 133.5km stage from Pontypool to The Tumble promised fireworks, with the final climb tackled twice. An aggressive nine-man break established early, featuring Finlay Tarling (Israel–Premier Tech), Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X), Noa Isidore (Decathlon AG2R), Frederik Frison (Q36.5), Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Rafael Reis (Anicolor/Tien 21), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise) and Patrick Boje Frydkjær (Lidl-Trek). Their lead hovered around two minutes.
On the first ascent of The Tumble, Evenepoel briefly tested the legs, covered by race leader Romain Grégoire and his teammate Quinten Pacher, who duly set tempo to snuff out further attacks. Up ahead, Reis and Isidore pressed on from the break, with Reis taking maximum KOM points at the summit. By the descent, however, the peloton had regrouped.
Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets) sparked fresh life with 39km to go, joined later by Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise). The pair stretched their gap to over a minute, while behind Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease A Bike) picked up a second at the intermediate sprint. But by the foot of the final climb their adventure was over, swept up by a charging peloton led by British champion Sam Watson.
The attacks came thick and fast: Thymen Arensman (INEOS) with 3.3km to go, marked immediately by Evenepoel; then Zambanini (Bahrain) with Onley, Sivakov and Gloag bridging across. AJ August tried to counter, then Sivakov surged again inside 2km. Onley, Eulálio (Bahrain) and others gave chase, but Visma and Soudal Quick-Step kept the lid on.
Into the final kilometre, Evenepoel’s teammate Ilan Van Wilder controlled a reduced group of around 15 riders. August had one last dig, but it was destined for a sprint. When Pello Bilbao opened for teammate Eulálio, Evenepoel pounced — his trademark seated acceleration proving untouchable. Gloag followed closest, Onley just behind, but the Belgian had time to lift his arms in triumph at the summit.
For Evenepoel it was his sixth win of the season and a welcome boost ahead of the World Road Championships in Rwanda. “It feels good to be back winning, especially on such a tough finish,” he said.
Race leader Grégoire limited his losses to fifth on the stage, conceding only the 10 bonus seconds to Evenepoel. The Frenchman clings to the green jersey by two seconds over the Belgian, with Alaphilippe third at four seconds and Onley just eight seconds back.
With the general classification still separated by mere seconds, Sunday’s finale from Newport to Cardiff — featuring the sting of Caerphilly Mountain inside the final 10km — promises a dramatic conclusion.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Share this:
Discover more from The British Continental
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.