Jason

It just is a unique change era Women's cycling is in right now. AvdB seeing it worthwhile to un-retire, Marion Rousse who left competition at 24 for better media work now running the event won by a childhood friend. Mavi Garcia winning at 41 who wasn't a pro until her 30s. Unlikely to happen again

And a world road champion at 22 likely barely paid enough to be truly professional. There's a reason so many women's pros her age have degrees when the men don't as it just wasn't worth it to fully bet their early career on the road. National team MTB probably gave PFP better support until recently

Also somewhat related but just because I'm feeling unapologetically Francophile:

I got to be in the Velodrome at Paris Olympics when Benjamin Thomas won Gold and it was incredible the whole place was thunder

It's a special country and I hope the celebrations are huge for PFP

I'd love it to have TTs more regularly, adding a prologue probably easiest way to add a day. Love to have enough stages for a mid race test that forces them to show a little ahead of the finale (like a Mende stage). It was a great finish but no one had ever seen PFP's true climbing level before Sat

Home page of lequipe right now is just this full spread and it's honestly the best thing that could happen for Women's cycling

Cycling needs le Tour to lift it and le Tour needs France to love it

Once the Tour de France Femme has captured the French public there's no going back

Why are they interviewing her with an American in front of this crowd?

This should be fully a moment of French celebration

La Marseilles is always one of the best national anthems, but for a French Tour de France winner it's just something extra special

Hope they give Pauline a huge celebration in Paris too

Kinda incredible that the Tour de France Femme has never had the same winner twice nor a final podium without both Kasia Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering

Also a lot of the Women's calendar has just had more exciting finales than the men's equivalent lately

Of course just the fact that more riders in more teams can be truly pro has been great for the competition and women's cycling as an entertainment product. Organisers should look to get be bolder with route design and length now and not fear of dulling the race. The riders are ready for it

ASO did have to be cautious initially as only AvV was really ready to excel on long climbs back then. When so few races had those long efforts most riders were just better at shorter climbs. But the event has been such a commercial success you can see how the field has adapted making it a big goal

It really is remarkable how much the overall level and depth of competition in the women's peloton has grown since TdFF started

Hope ASO start talking about adding a 2nd week tbh

Cycling is becoming ever more expensive to take part in and now watch too. So I dearly hope something like this one day returns

It was a beautiful show about a beautiful country and beautiful sport you'd find no where else. Just an exceptional piece of free to air TV that will be sorely missed

ITV4 brilliantly captured the beauty suffering and complexity of cycling

But never wanted to be exclusive to the die hard fans

Because it was always about France first, it's culture and history and the significance of the Tour within it. Made for anyone who wanted to feel on holiday for a moment

Honestly quite emotional watching ITV4s last ever Tour highlights show

For 18 years I've been watching the show

Probably more than I've watched any other TV show

Central really to how cycling became my lifelong passion

The record number of British pros we have now often say the same

Yeah watching that I basically thought the time cut should just be when they enter Paris anyway and then we immediately get an actually good post Tour Crit. Safer more exciting and in a way still quite traditional

Jonas doing what Remco never would and working fully for Wout

Post NL and Onley putting in a heroic Tour that literally is saving the team while Cofidis might as well be waving a white flag. Honestly can't remember seeing them since Coquard crashed out Phillipsen

So as I understand it there are 9 KoM points tomorrow and 4 on Sunday with 20 left today and Lenny needs 9 to tak the lead. Maybe Roglic stays away, takes 20 then there's 15 for 2nd... There's almost no way this happens unless Lenny also stays away

Is Ben O'Connor actually riding into a top 10 today? #tdf2025

Still personally aggrieved that an era of historically young Tour winners started with Bernal when I was only 24. I've accepted Roglic, my last hope for many years, can't win it anymore but I'll take any swansong on offer

Not to directly attack German cycling fans

But I'm very glad to see this Roglic ride and the chance he gets one more tour podium

Probably the last time someone older than me does

Grey jersey competition is honestly really close this year (as long as we agree Roglic isn't old enough yet)

And Thyman Arensman who can do both

Lenny Martinez KoM is the plotline I'm truly invested in

He'll lose it after Ventoux, but if he saves himself now two good raids in the Alps can do it. There's three mid stage HCs those days, enough to restore a lead even if Pog wins both and Ventoux. Still got to make both breaks and be strong

Do have to cheer for Arensman as he's the only pro (almost) as tall as me who can climb GC

Genuinely used his PCS as my goal weight training for l'Etape last year and it was HARD like rolling back 10 years hard

We know from Armstrong the 'no failed tests' =/= clean. And there are no tests to show Pogacar or UAE are doping.

But Mauro Gianetti doped. He rode for 90s Festina who doped. He managed teams from 04 to 2011 that doped and had results removed. Moral failure this is known and he's allowed back

Every rest day press conference for 15 years had a hostile lobby pitching 'how can we trust you're clean' to every leader and their team and now they just don't ask Gianetti a man who's former riders have years and years of doping bans between them

It's just... Unbelievable you know...

And really the soft touch Gianetti gets from the media is pretty inexcusable

So how okay are with: Only 90s pros rivalling Pogs climbing times

Politt 10kg+ more than the group pulling for hours, better than any ride by peak Kwiatkowski

Gianetti in charge a decade since his team doped to win la Vuelta and few years after his whole team was kicked from the tour for doping