Tour of Britain: Evenepoel conquers Tumble climb to take first Welsh stage

Remco Evenepoel conquered the infamous Tumble climb in Monmouthshire, south Wales to earn his first Lloyds Tour of Britain stage win on Saturday 6 September.

Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), the reigning Olympic road race champion, had hinted before the start of the stage that he would be targeting the finish and this proved to be the case as he sprinted to victory ahead of two rising British stars in Thomas Gloag (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL).

Romain Grégoire (Groupama FDJ) finished in the elite lead group to maintain his slender lead in the general classification.

High spirits

Stage five, the Queen stage of the 2025 edition of the race from Pontypool to The Tumble, began in high spirits.  Local Welsh fans flocked to see Geraint Thomas take on the penultimate stage of his professional racing career on home roads.

The race itself started cagily however, with the peloton remaining together as it tacked the first of five categorised climbs, Llangwm, where Alexis Guerin (Anicolor / Tien 21) the first across the line.

Nine riders finally broke the elastic to the peloton with 105 kilometers to go, with the group including the leader of the King of the Mountains competition Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders – Baloise) along with Patrick Boje Frydkjaer (Lidl – Trek), Noa Isidore (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Frederik Frison (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility), Rafael Reis (Anicolor / Tien 21) and, on home roads in Wales, Finlay Tarling (Israel – Premier Tech).

Over the next two categorised climbs — the second category Itton Hill and the third category Old Ross Road — Vercouillie took maximum points to ensure an insurmountable lead in the King of the Mountains competition. Provided he finishes the race in Cardiff on Sunday, he will win the classification.

With the Belgian’s job for the day completed, he quickly dropped back to the peloton as the race reached the bottom of the famous Tumble climb for the first time. The rest of the breakaway began to splinter and drop back also, and at the summit just two members remained, Isidore and Reis. It was Reis who was the first across the line.

Rapid

Following a rapid descent into the picturesque Blaenavon valley, the race quickly came back together before Harttijs De Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and Siebe Deweirdt (Team Flanders – Baloise) seized on some complacency in the group to attempt a breakaway before the final kilometers.

This leading duo saw their advantage stretch out to over a minute on the quick valley roads, where they passed the Intermediate Sprint at Usk, with Deweirdt taking first and De Vries second. Stage three victor Matthew Brennan (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) took third place behind to earn a valuable bonus second.

As the race approached Govilon and foot of the second and final ascent of The Tumble, Deweirdt and De Vries’ gap had shrunk to just 20 seconds as the General Classification teams behind began to up the pace in an attempt to outdrag each other to the lower slopes.

When the peloton made the catch and the decisive climb began, it was Sam Watson and Lucas Hamilton (INEOS Grenadiers) who began to set the pace in an attempt to launch their teammates Thymen Arensman and AJ August. Arensman was the first of the GC favourites to make their move with 3.3km remaining.

The Dutchman was quickly closed down by the pre-race favourite Evenepoel, who was forced to set the tempo. When he slowed for just a moment, his rivals took advantage, with Alfonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) and Onley quick to attack. It was Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) however who launched the most dangerous move, quickly gaining over 15 seconds as Eulalio and Onley followed the Frenchman.

Unfazed and relaxed

Evenepoel appeared unfazed and relaxed, slipping back into the chasing bunch and relying on his teammate Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) to move to the front and close the gap. Van Wilder did just that, displaying the climbing form he has already shown this year, and taking Evenepoel back to the head of the race as they passed under the Flamme Rouge with a kilometer to go.

With the throngs of spectators lining the road now realising this was Evenepoel’s race to lose, he launched a vicious sprint with 350 metres left. The 23 year old Gloag hung onto the wheel and even looked as though he could edge out the Belgian on the line. However, Evenepoel crossed the line first, arm raised in victory, with Gloag chased home by Onley.

Ten bonus seconds on the line for Evenepoel means he now sits second in the General Classification, as a strong climbing performance by Grégoire means he retains the green leaders jersey as well as the lead in the young riders classification.

Julian Alaphilippe sits a further two seconds back on Evenepoel in third on GC, as Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) continues to lead the Points classification. Rafael Reis earned the combativity award for the stage.

‘Beautiful’ 

Speaking at the podium, Evenepoel said: “It was a very beautiful climb, the first part in the forest was very hard, very steep. I think the first time up the climb, we just wanted to see how it went. We went quite fast and the last 3k the wind was blowing hard in our face so I quickly realised we had to wait for the sprint.

“I know after a tough day and a hard line that I’ve got a good sprint so I just focused on my sprint and went out with a win. We’ll plan to go for the green leaders jersey I think. It would be great to come away with an overall win, it would be a really good confidence boost after a long time out of competition.”

Overall leader Gregoire added: “I’m really happy, it wasn’t easy. The last ascent was really hard, I wasn’t in an easy position but I wanted to fight to the finish and to keep the jersey.

“I’m in a good position, it’s better to be in front than behind. It’ll be a big fight tomorrow, I’ll try to keep the leader’s jersey, we will see tomorrow for the next stage.”

Speaking to British Cycling at the top of The Tumble, following stage five of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, the first of two consecutive stages in Wales, Geraint Thomas said: “It was really nice. It was quite emotional, actually.

“First, I just tried to keep the boys at the front, and it’s a two-edged sword because you don’t have great legs, and you’re working before the climb, and then you hit the climb and you think ‘oh my god’, but the crowds were amazing, and I came back to try and help the boys again and then I really enjoyed it the last time up there again. It was a special day.”

When asked what was going through his mind leading into the final climb, Thomas said: “Just how much it hurt. I was just trying to stay there for as long as possible. Once I stopped, I just tried to recover.

“Then I had Ben Swift around, Sam Watson came back as well, and it was just nice to ride up together and soak up the atmosphere. I saw a lot of faces up there that I recognised, which was really nice.

“Coming up the climb, it was mad. It felt like every person on there was cheering for me. Which was crazy. I saw a lot of friends and family, and it was a super nice way to finish my penultimate day. One more day… It’s going to be a nice day.”

Conclusion

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men concludes with stage six, on Sunday 7 September, from Newport to Cardiff, with the stage starting outside the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales at 11:45, with live coverage on ITV4, ITVX, S4C, and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland.

For full results and standings from the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, visit British Cycling here.

The final stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men, on Sunday 7 September, sees the race starting from outside the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport, to celebrate the career of Geraint Thomas. The 112.2-kilometre stage gets underway at 11:45 and features the climb of Caerphilly Mountain inside the final ten kilometres of racing, with the finish coming on North Road in Cardiff, with live coverage on ITV4 and ITVX.

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