"I was quite surprised when I saw others dropping" - Oscar Onley shocks with a fifth place on Hautacam

The winner on Hautacam was far from a surprise, but the rest of top-10 behind Tadej Pogacar was in a complete chaos. While the hopes of some favourites were buried during stage 12, Oscar Onley was among those who rose to the top on Thursday and the 22-year-old Brit suddenly became a serious contender for a final podium.

"I feel pretty tired," Onley exhaled after crossing the finish line in an impressive 5th place. Since Picnic PostNL was the only team not present in today's breakaway, Onley could enjoy full attention of his teammates who made sure the Brit didn't miss anything at least in the early phases: "It was hard all day but the guys looked after me as best they could."

UAE Team Emirates - XRG exploded the group of favourites for Tadej Pogacar on the early slopes of Hautacam, and the Slovenian was not seen again until the finish line. But further behind, a group of four riders formed to fight for the last podium spot available which included Onley. Ultimately Florian Lipowitz was the strongest, but Onley cannot be sad with his fifth place on the day and sixth overall.

"I felt good but maybe I just went a bit over my limit about halfway up, but it was still a pretty good day," he assessed. The only mistake he refers to was following the attack of Lipowitz, rather than riding his own pace.

Something he attributes to the numerical advantage of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe at the front of the race: "It’s difficult when there are two guys there from the same team, so I had to try and get away from at least one of them if I could."

While Onley can count himself among the victors today, many riders have struggled in the heat and some fell out of the GC completely. "I was quite surprised on the first climb when I saw a few others dropping, but I guess they probably suffered in the heat. I think the team managed that part pretty well for us today."

But the real test for the aspiring GC contender will come tomorrow with a hard mountain time trial to Peyragudes, Onley knows: "If I can recover well then I’ll give it a good shot tomorrow in the TT."