Tour de France 2025: Simon Yates wins epic stage 10 as Ben Healy takes yellow jersey – live reaction
EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy becomes the fourth Irishman to ever wear the yellow jersey.The last Irish rider to wear the maillot jaune was Stephen Roche in 1987.The GC top five1.Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) 2.Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), +29secs 3.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), +1min 29secs 4.Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), +1min 46secs 5.Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), +2mins 6secsTadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) are being towed to the finish by a visibly tired Lenny Martinez.Pogačar has decided to let the yellow jersey go for now.Earlier, the pundits pondered if this might happen if the time gap wasn’t too dangerous for him.
There’s a long transfer of about 4hrs 30mins for the riders to Toulouse for their rest day tomorrow so it means he can get straight on the bus and avoid the podium.Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) makes his move! He’s out the saddle accelerating and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the only one that can follow.They’re doing a little cat and mouse action now.Simon Yates takes a quick look back over his shoulder and rides to the finish to take the win on stage 10.Thymen Arensman rolls over the line to take second and Ben Healy finishes 31secs after Yates.
Remco Evenepoel attacks! Tadej Pogačar doesn’t react,900m: Simon Yates doesn’t have too far to go now, surely it’s his now? He’s on le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy (3,3km at 8%),Ben Healy grits his teeth and pushes,Yates is looking really strong.
1.5km to go: Arensman is 30m behind Simon Yates.Ben Healy and Ben O’Connor are 24secs behind.2.6km to go: Thymen Arensman bridges across to Ben O’Connor and Simon Yates.
Yates attacks again and O’Connor can’t keep up.Arensman overtakes O’Connor and is about 10m behind Yates.4km to go: Simon Yates attacks! Ben O’Connor follows but Ben Healy can’t.The yellow jersey group is down to 10 riders and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) is isolated but looks comfortable.7km to go: The break reached the summit of Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert and are sweeping down the descent on.
KOM results at Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert1.Healy, 5 pts 2.Arensman, 3 pts 3.O’Connor, 2 pts 4.Storer, 1 ptVisma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson attacks again but Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) is stuck on his wheel.
10km to go: Ben Healy has been awarded the most combative rider of today’s stage.In the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson attacks but Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) was straight on his wheel.13km to go: Ben Healy pushes on to the penultimate climb to Col de la Croix Saint-Robert (5.1km at 6.4%).
Simon Yates is on his wheel and looking quite relaxed.I’m starting to think David could be right about Yates (see 3.50pm BST).14km to go: It’s rather chaotic.There seems to be six groups on the road at various points.
Victor Campenaerts, Anders Halland Johannessen, Pablo Castrillo and Lenny Martinez are about 1min 30secs behind the break.Oh, Quinn Simmons has cracked and been dropped from the Ben Healy group.Roland has emailed in and shares his thoughts on the team kits in the peloton:In my very humble opinion, I think the Arkea and Cofidis jerseys are possibly the best of the bunch, due to their somewhat retro look (different coloured sleeves to the torso); even if it does use the Noddy colour scheme, the Lidl-Trek jersey has something about it too.However, in my not at all humble opinion, no jersey can ever beat the fairly recent light blue Belgian national jerseys, although we obviously won’t be seeing them until the world championships.I wasn’t behind my computer yesterday, but after reading your coverage, I have to admit I too was shouting unrepeatable things at the peloton before the caught the very brave MVDP.
16km to go: The breakaway have 5mins 3osecs on the peloton.The break is down to six riders now: Ben Healy, Ben O’Connor, Simon Yates, Thymen Arensman, Quinn Simmons and Michael Storer.20km to go: Adam Yates has closed the gap to Sepp Kuss and Oscar Onley.Matteo Jorgenson attacks, Sepp goes again, Onley chases them down … and on and on it goes with the attacks.21km to go: Poor Lenny Martinez has a nose bleed.
Back in the peloton Visma-Lease a Bike have upped the pace, with Tiesj Benoot pushing it and Sepp Kuss on his wheel.Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) is dropped.Kuss and Oscar Onley manage to open a gap.It’s all starting to kick off.26km to go: Quinn Simmons attacks.
The US national champion opened a gap but Ben Healy lead the chase, with Michael Storer on his wheel.Simmons has been reeled back in now.29km to go: Ben O’Connor attacks again.Ben Healy and Michael Woods follow him.Healy pushes on and tries to get a gap from some of the other breakaway riders.
He’s sweeping down the descents.Quinn Simmons chases, with Michael Storer and Simon Yates.The attackers achieve about a 10sec gap but are caught.33km to go: Victor Campenaerts and Joe Blackmore get back after they were dropped towards the summit of that last climb.There are now 13 riders in the breakaway and they have almost 6mins on the peloton.
David has been in touch about today’s breakaway and reckons Simon Yates is a strong bet for the stage win:If you were in that lead group now 50km from the finish and you see Simon Yates sitting there, looking ridiculously fresh and relaxed, you will probably get a sense of impending doom and hopelessness,His to lose at this point,41km to go: Victor Campenaerts gets out of the saddle and pushes up the next climb, the category three Col de la Croix-Morand (3,5km at 5,7%).
Alex Baudin is dropped.Quinn Simmons takes over and then Ben Healy.Lenny Martinez can’t contest for the KOM points this time.KOM results at Col de Guéry1.Healy, 2 pts 2.
Simmons, 1 ptHere are some more pictures from today’s stage:46km to go: Ben Healy attacks! But Ben O’Connor is on him straight away.He’s not been able to get away this time.It’s going to be tough as all eyes are on Healy given his previous success with solo breaks.48km to go: Ben O’Connor has attacked again.But Ben Healy’s EF Education-EasyPost teammate Alex Baudin controls the move.
Lenny Martinez has taken the maximum five KOM points on each climb so far today.KOM results at Col de Guéry1.L.Martinez, 5 pts 2.Healy, 3 pts 3.
O’Connor, 2 pts 4.Simmons, 1 pt50km to go: The breakaway are on the category two Col de Guéry.It’s 3.4km with an average gradient of 6.7%.
Here comes Lenny Martinez to get some more KOM points!54km to go: The average speed of the stage so far has been 38.4km/h.Oof, and that’s with four category two climbs covered.EF Education-EasyPost continue to drive the breakaway, which has almost 5mins on the peloton now.59km to go: The 17 riders in the breakaway have 4mins 26secs on the peloton.
EF Education-EasyPost are leading the way at the front – they have three riders in this group.Over in the peloton, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are driving the bunch.62km to go: In case you were wondering what the time cut off might be today, the Tour race centre has this explainer:This stage has a coefficient of four.Finish time limits will be calculated based on the winner’s time, plus:9% if the average is less than or equal to 31 km/h10% above 31km/h up to 32km/h11% above 32km/h up to 33km/h12% above 33km/h up to 34km/h13% above 34km/h up to 35km/h14% above 35km/h up to 36km/h15% above 36km/h up to 37km/h16% above 37km/h up to 38km/h17% above 38km/h up to 39km/h18% Above 39km/h up to 40km/h19% above 40km/hFor example, if the stage is won at an average speed of:37km/h, the time limits will be 40 minutes and 13 seconds39km/h, the time limits will be 43 minutes and 14 seconds41km/h, the time limits will be 45 minutes and 58 seconds67km to go: Raúl García Pierna is back in the breakaway.The green jersey group are 14mins and 38secs behind the break.
73km to go: Mauro Schmid, Luke Plapp and Raúl García Pierna have been dropped by the breakaway, which now consists of 16 riders.Just as a reminder, the break consists of: Victor Campenaerts, Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step), Ben Healy, Alex Baudin, Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Michael Woods, Joe Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech) and Anders Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).They have 3mins 40secs on the peloton.Alistair has emailed from Lyon to say how much he’s enjoying stage 10:I’m finding today’s stage very compelling – not only for the drama of the race, but because I have cycled most of these roads myself.One time, I was on a gravel track in the woods with my brother, he was visiting from New Zealand, and he said: “Is there a race track around here?”I didn’t know it, but we emerged at Charade, where he had covered motorcycle races as a photographer in the 1970s.
Yes we’re a bit senior.That’s a cool story.Thank you for sharing! And kudos to you for having cycled parts of this route.It looks tough.79km to go: Bruno Armirail, Julian Alaphilippe and Neilson Powless are chasing the breakaway and are about 50secs behind.
In the peloton, Matis Louvel (Israel-Premier Tech) locked up coming round a corner but luckily he was near the back and managed to stay upright.Apparently, Ben Healy is now the virtual yellow jersey leader.81km to go: Two of the three EF Education-EasyPost riders in the breakaway have done a turn on the front and Tudor Pro Cycling’s Michael Storer is now doing his part.Another interesting fact from the Tour race centre: The grandfather of Lenny Martinez, Mariano Martinez, won in Morzine on Bastille Day 45 years ago.85km to go: The first chase group has joined the leaders and there are now 18 riders in the breakaway
Thames Water announces hosepipe ban as dry weather depletes reservoirs
Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban as a record dry spring and summer has severely reduced water supplies.Households in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire will be banned from using hosepipes to wash cars or water gardens from Tuesday 22 July.The ban will affect all OX, GL and SN postcodes, as well as RG4, RG8 and RG9.The recent hot weather has caused a large surge in demand as people water their gardens and keep cool in the heatwave.Nevil Muncaster, strategic water resources director at Thames Water, said he did not “anticipate the situation will improve any time soon”, adding: “We have to take action now
Tax pubs on profit not turnover, urges Greene King boss
The boss of the pub chain Greene King has called for changes to business rates to remedy “unfairness” that he said added to financial pressures on the struggling pubs industry.Nick Mackenzie, Greene King’s chief executive, said the business rates system of property taxes should be changed to a tax on profits.The British pub industry has complained that it is under pressure from a series of increasing costs. The trade body the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said last week it expected pub closures at a rate of more than one a day during 2025, adding to the 350 net closures during 2024. It said business rates were a factor in those closures
Number of UK job hunters rises at fastest rate since Covid pandemic
The number of people hunting for jobs in Britain surged in June at the fastest rate since the height of the Covid pandemic, industry figures show, amid growing business fears over tax rises and the economic outlook.The snapshot from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG showed the number of new candidates looking for work rose at the sharpest rate since November 2020, when the UK entered the second nationwide lockdown.The trade body representing Britain’s recruitment industry blamed the “scar tissue” left by tax rises introduced in April by the government, including a £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions (NICs).In a survey of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies, the REC found that permanent placements had dropped at the fastest pace in 22 months, alongside weaker levels of pay growth and reports of redundancies and reduced appetite for staff.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is under pressure to reboot Britain’s economy after output unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive month in May, fuelled by a downturn in construction and manufacturing
Sales of UK country houses rise as buyers tempted out by lower prices
Sales of expensive UK country houses rose in June, signalling a possible recovery in demand as buyers are tempted out by lower prices after an extended slump.The estate agency Knight Frank said the number of exchanges of contract for sales of country houses – defined as a rural home worth more than £750,000 – was up 7% in June compared with last year as the number of properties for sale rose while prices fell.Second-home owners are driving the increase in properties coming to market, the agency said, after recent council tax changes designed to level the playing field for local people living in popular holiday spots. Councils in Wales have the power to quadruple taxes on second homes, while English councils can double taxes.The number of country houses coming on to the market was 9% higher in the second quarter of the year compared with last year
Turn empty London office blocks into ‘late-night party zones’, report suggests
Could the future of Canary Wharf lie in thumping beats and dancefloor raves? Could the City of London become a global hub of nocturnal revelry?With financial districts struggling to bounce back to full capacity post-Covid, and the nightlife industry facing an existential crisis, there are suggestions clubs could move into deserted office blocks at evenings and weekends.In its annual eccentric report on the future of leisure, the creative studio Bompas and Parr says it envisions “a future where financial districts in London and the world over are transformed into world-class late-night party zones”.“By day, the city bustles with suits and stocks. By night, it’s reborn as a pulsating rave arena,” the report says. “With few residents to file noise complaints, organisers capitalise on the empty, echoing canyons of glass and steel
‘Short hair is dying out’: 30% rise in cost of UK haircuts, not fashion, is driving the change
Skin fades and sculpted bobs are out. Messy tops and longer locks are in. For fashion hawks, the move towards lengthier hair is hardly news, but it may not be fashion alone that is driving the shift. Rising costs and tightened belts are among the reasons some believe are behind the trend for longer hair.The average cost of a haircut for men and women in the UK has soared by more than 30% since 2020, according to government data
Brenda, 95, and her soft toys become unlikely stars on TikTok
Ofcom head says age checks are ‘really big moment’ for children’s online safety
Teach First job applicants will get in-person interviews after more apply using AI
‘Workforce crisis’: key takeaways for graduates battling AI in the jobs market
Louis Vuitton says UK customer data stolen in cyber-attack
The CEO who never was: how Linda Yaccarino was set up to fail at Elon Musk’s X