Tour de France 2025 GC Update: Tadej Pogacar builds almost unassailable lead with incredible stage 12 summit win
Cycling
If it was ever in any doubt, Tadej Pogacar has firmly put to bed any debate over who is the top dog at the 2025 Tour de France. In an astonishing display of dominance on stage 12, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader absolutely obliterated any and all who had hoped to challenge him. As a result, the Slovenian now has an almost unassailable lead in the GC.
Attacking with 12km still to go on the Hautacam, Pogacar immediately distanced his main rival Jonas Vingegaard and with almost every pedal stroke from there on out, the gap would only increase. By the time he got to the line, Pogacar had put unthinkable 2:10 into the two-time Tour de France winner. What that means for the GC is that Pogacar takes back the Maillot Jaune from Ben Healy, who was dropped relatively early on in the day, and now leads Vingegaard by 3:31.
A brave and battling performance from Remco Evenepoel sees the Soudal - Quick-Step leader somehow retain his 3rd overall, although he's now 4:45 down on Pogacar. The other big performer of the day was Florian Lipowitz (+5:34), and as a result, the German is now up to 4th overall, leapfrogging Kevin Vauquelin (5:40) and Oscar Onley (6:05).
Completing the top-10 then are Primoz Roglic (7:30), Tobias Johannessen (7:44), Felix Gall (9:21) and Matteo Jorgenson (12:12).
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2025 Tour de France General Classification Standings After Stage 12
| 1 | ▲1 | Pogačar Tadej | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 45:22:51 |
| 2 | ▲2 | Vingegaard Jonas | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 3:31 |
| 3 | - | Evenepoel Remco | Soudal Quick-Step | 4:45 |
| 4 | ▲4 | Lipowitz Florian | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 5:34 |
| 5 | ▲1 | Vauquelin Kévin | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 5:40 |
| 6 | ▲1 | Onley Oscar | Team Picnic PostNL | 6:05 |
| 7 | ▲2 | Roglič Primož | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 7:30 |
| 8 | ▲2 | Johannessen Tobias Halland | Uno-X Mobility | 7:44 |
| 9 | ▲2 | Gall Felix | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 9:21 |
| 10 | ▼5 | Jorgenson Matteo | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 12:12 |
| 11 | ▼10 | Healy Ben | EF Education - EasyPost | 13:19 |
| 12 | - | Rodríguez Carlos | INEOS Grenadiers | 17:56 |
| 13 | ▲1 | Jegat Jordan | Team TotalEnergies | 18:00 |
| 14 | ▲1 | Martin Guillaume | Groupama - FDJ | 19:30 |
| 15 | ▼2 | Mas Enric | Movistar Team | 21:37 |
| 16 | - | Narváez Jhonatan | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 22:00 |
| 17 | - | O'Connor Ben | Team Jayco AlUla | 22:14 |
| 18 | - | Skjelmose Mattias | Lidl - Trek | 27:49 |
| 19 | ▲6 | Rodríguez Cristián | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 30:21 |
| 20 | - | Buchmann Emanuel | Cofidis | 31:22 |
| 21 | - | Kuss Sepp | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 33:00 |
| 22 | - | Yates Simon | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 35:14 |
| 23 | ▲11 | Higuita Sergio | XDS Astana Team | 40:53 |
| 24 | ▲14 | Yates Adam | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 49:15 |
| 25 | ▲18 | Cras Steff | Team TotalEnergies | 49:19 |
| 26 | ▲11 | Barguil Warren | Team Picnic PostNL | 51:13 |
| 27 | ▲22 | Paret-Peintre Aurélien | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 52:29 |
| 28 | ▲17 | Vlasov Aleksandr | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 54:19 |
| 29 | ▲24 | Velasco Simone | XDS Astana Team | 57:38 |
| 30 | ▲21 | Mühlberger Gregor | Movistar Team | 58:20 |
| 31 | ▲52 | García Pierna Raúl | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 1:12:33 |
| 32 | ▲56 | Armirail Bruno | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 1:18:19 |
| 33 | ▲57 | Buitrago Santiago | Bahrain - Victorious | 1:24:26 |
| 34 | ▲58 | Tejada Harold | XDS Astana Team | 1:24:49 |
| 35 | ▲61 | Storer Michael | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 1:26:30 |
| 36 | ▲72 | Rubio Einer | Movistar Team | 1:27:51 |
| 37 | ▲63 | Costiou Ewen | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | 1:28:22 |
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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