"It's nice to prove to myself that I can be there" - Oscar Onley in the mix with Pogacar, Van der Poel & Vingegaard at 2025 Tour de France
Cycling
In the all-star group of world champions, Grand Tour winners and superstar domestiques that battled for the win on stage 4 of the 2025 Tour de France, one name in particular stood out, Team Picnic PostNL's British GC hopeful Oscar Onley.
In just his second ever Tour de France, the 22-year-old Scot managed to bounce back from ill-timed crash at around 25km to go, working his way back through the riders being dropped, to reach the head of the race and then take 4th in an all-star sprint, only bettered by world champion Tadej Pogacar, Yellow Jersey Mathieu van der Poel and two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.
"I really went to the limit there on that climb, but yeah it's always good to be up there with those front guys," Onley exhales in a post-stage interview at the line with ITV Sport. "Before the stage, we said that if I was in position I should try to get 1st or 2nd going into that final corner. But I was really feeling it in the legs in that final kilometre and that was all I had."
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Nevertheless, surrounded by the biggest superstars in the sport, Onley continues to prove himself. "It's pretty cool, I mean, it doesn't get much bigger than this in terms of races and competitors," he assesses. "So, it's nice to prove to myself that I can be there. Right at the top."
There was no chance of Onley using his underdog status to surprise those superstars in the finale though, as he admits himself. "I was absolutely dead," he admits in conclusion. "When it's fast and flat like that I'd never stay away, especially with Matteo Jorgenson and Joao Almeida there, really strong riders in their own right, doing a job for their leaders. I didn't have much of a chance.
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"It's pretty cool, it doesn't get much bigger than this"
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 8, 2025
Daniel spoke to Oscar Onley after he came 4th on stage 4 behind Pogačar, Van der Poel and Vingegaard 🔥🏴#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/hfSIDAcocG
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- It doesnt take a genius to understand that Pogi is 1 level above and Pogi is younger that Jonas, so Jonas will not win under ordinary circumstances. Pogi has to crack hard for Jonas to win. It doesn't matter whether you defend Jonas or not , facts remain facts. Jonas himself says his numbers are better than 2022/2023, so Jonas is more or less optimized and we are just see the stochastic variation due to other factors. I think he will retire along with Pedersen in WC denmarkabstractengineer13-11-2026
- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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