Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) delivered a masterclass performance on stage 12 of the Tour de France, storming to a solo victory atop the punishing Hautacam climb and seizing the overall lead.
The world champion left his rivals in the dust, finishing 2 minutes 10 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who took second, and 2 minutes 23 seconds ahead of Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in third.
The 180.6km stage from Auch marked the race’s first hors catégorie summit finish, where Pogacar, despite a crash in the previous stage, showed no signs of weakness. Launched by teammate Jhonatan Narvaez’s blistering pace, Pogacar attacked 12km from the summit, overtaking breakaway rider Bruno Armirail and powering to his third stage win of the 2025 Tour, his 20th career Tour stage victory.
Pogacar’s triumph erased memories of his 2022 defeat on Hautacam, where Vingegaard had gained significant time en route to the overall title.
“I was looking forward to this climb,” Pogacar said, dismissing talk of revenge. “I’m super happy to take time and win here.”
His victory was dedicated to the Italian rider Samuele Privitera, who tragically died in a crash yesterday in an U23 race.
The win propelled Pogacar back into the yellow jersey, previously held by Ben Healy, with a commanding 3-minute-31-second lead over Vingegaard in the general classification. Remco Evenepoel struggled, falling to 4 minutes 45 seconds back, while young talents like Oscar Onley (sixth overall) and Lipowitz (fourth) showed promise.
Simply out of this world from Pogi 🤯
Tadej Pogačar launched a fierce attack with 11.8km to go on Stage 12 of the Tour de France. He went on to win by 2’10” from Jonas Vingegaard and regained the overall lead.
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🇫🇷 #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/BWS2vd9RER— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 17, 2025
