Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France hopes suffered a blow on Sunday as the Slovenian's key domestique Joao Almeida withdrew following a crash on Friday.

Belgium’s Tim Merlier won his second stage at this year’s Tour de France on Sunday, outsprinting Jonathan Milan and Arnaud De Lie in Châteauroux, but the real story of the day was an incredible day-long break from Alpecin-Deceuninck pair Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert.

Portugal's Joao Almeida retires from the race during the ninth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 174.1 kilometres (108 miles) with start in Chinon and finish in Chateauroux, France, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP)

Tim Merlier powered past Jonathan Milan to win stage nine of the Tour de France on Sunday, denying the green jersey holder back-to-back wins after Mathieu van der Poel's audacious solo attack ended in heartbreak just 700 metres from the finish.

Tadej Pogacar reflects on the team effort that resulted in his Stage 7 Tour de France win, discussing how he was able to execute the game plan and win at Mûr-de-Bretagne.

Tadej Pogacar took the 100th victory of his stellar career on Tuesday, beating Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard to win stage four of the Tour de France.

Race-against-the-clock specialist Remco Evenepoel produced a stunning display of power to win the first time trial of the Tour de France on Wednesday and defending champion Tadej Pogacar cemented his favorite status by grabbing the yellow jersey.

"We were expecting a stage like this one in Châteauroux. The heat made it harder, and having Mathieu Van der Poel up the road didn’t help either. It turned out