“The script was ripped up” – Millar and Boulting on a wild day on Mont Ventoux

Ned Boulting and David Millar didn’t hold back in their post stage wrap after one of the most thrilling days of the 2025 Tour de France. From a huge breakaway, to the collapse of a top-10 GC rider at the finish, to the madness of the Mont Ventoux crowds, the pair tried to make sense of a stage that lived up to all of the pre-stage hype.

“Today was a day that I know lots of people were looking forward to, and it didn’t disappoint,” Boulting opened. He noted that the decision not to broadcast the full stage was made months ago, based on the belief it might be “formulaic.” But, he said, “It couldn’t have been more different.”

Millar, who rode Ventoux himself in the morning just to feel the atmosphere, said the slopes were already clogged with cyclists. “I had to stop at the bottom for five minutes. It was heaving,” he said. “Coming down was good fun, not so much going up.”

While fans soaked up the spectacle, drama unfolded both on and off the road. Daniel Friebe reported something more concerning from outside the medical truck, where Tobias Johannessen, riding inside the top ten, had been taken for checks after collapsing post-stage. “He had a big smile on his face wrapped in foil on a stretcher,” Friebe said, adding Johannessen was en route to hospital for further testing. His status for today’s stage remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, Vingegaard collided with a photographer after the finish but emerged with only a few bruises and a thumbs-up. That summed up Visma’s day, frantic, but not fruitless. “Visma Lease a Bike were stellar,” Millar said. “Textbook racing, really. It’s starting to redeem some of the criticism they received earlier in the race.”

Pogacar and UAE were another story. “It was telling today that UAE are not looking good as a team,” Boulting added. “They used Neils Politt but held back Tim Wellens. I think Pogacar maybe wasn’t 100% confident.”

Despite having Marc Soler and Pavel Sivakov in the break, UAE couldn’t make the most of the situation. “Good on paper, not in practice,” Millar said.

The win went to Valentine Paret-Peintre, who finished off a dramatic finale with a punchy sprint atop Ventoux to give France their first win of the Tour. “We saw Healey and him attacking each other, but the speed at which Paret-Peintre got back on—it was clear he had the better jump,” Millar noted. “He did a fantastic ride.”

Paret-Peintre himself admitted it was an emotional win for a team that’s endured recent turbulence. “This last few days we went through a little storm, I guess. And now the sun shines again,” he said, referencing the team’s struggles since losing Remco Evenepoel earlier in the race. “It’s amazing for me and for the team to win another stage, four now in this Tour.”

Their Sudal – QuickStep squad, somewhat quietly, has pieced together one of the most well-rounded Tour campaigns: two sprint wins, an individual time trial, and now victory in the iconic Ventoux breakaway. “On the quiet, they’ve had a brilliant Tour,” Boulting said.

The duo also reflected on the chaotic nature of this year’s race. “It was like a video game,” Boulting joked, referring to the sudden appearance of Ilan Van Wilder in the final kilometre. “We thought he was 15 minutes back, then boom, extra power unlocked.”

The GC battle saw minimal change. Pogacar gained two unnecessary seconds on Vingegaard, while Roglic edged ever closer to Oscar Onley’s fourth place. “Onley’s going to have to keep looking over his shoulder,” Boulting said. “Roglic is just rising through the rankings.”

Meanwhile, in the battle for the bottom of the top ten, Ben Healy jumped back ahead of Carlos Rodríguez. But Boulting summed it up bluntly: “That’s about it.”

As for what’s ahead, the next stage should favor the sprinters, should being the operative word. “It should be a bunch sprint,” Boulting said, before pausing. “But it’s going to be windy again… we’re very bad at predicting the future.”