In a dramatic turn during Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2025, defending champion Tadej Pogacar survived a late crash while Jonas Abrahamsen etched his name into cycling history with a career-defining stage victory.
Pogacar’s scare near the finish
The Slovenian sensation and three-time Tour de France winner, Pogacar, faced a major scare on Wednesday when he crashed roughly 4 kilometers from the finish line in Toulouse. As the peloton surged forward during the final moments of the 156km flat stage, Pogacar clipped the rear wheel of another rider and went sliding across the tarmac. He appeared shaken and struggled momentarily to get his chain back on.
In what was hailed as a true display of sportsmanship, key general classification (GC) rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel slowed down to allow Tadej Pogacar to recover and rejoin the group. The reigning champion ultimately crossed the finish line unharmed, avoiding any major time loss in the GC standings.
“I’m quite okay, a bit beaten up, but we’ve been through worse days,” Pogacar said after the race. “Thanks to the peloton in front, they actually waited. Really big respect to everybody.”
Abrahamsen’s emotional triumph
While chaos unfolded behind, it was Norwegian rider Jonas Abrahamsen who stole the spotlight at the front. The 29-year-old broke away early alongside Swiss national champion Mauro Schmid and managed to hold off a late surge from Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel.
In a thrilling sprint finish, Abrahamsen edged out Schmid by inches to secure his first-ever Tour de France stage win — a victory made even more poignant by his recent injury. Just four weeks ago, Abrahamsen suffered a broken collarbone during the Tour of Belgium and feared he wouldn’t make it to the French grand tour at all.
“I was crying in the hospital because I thought I wouldn't ride in the Tour de France,” Jonas Abrahamsen shared. “Every day I did everything I could to come back… now I'm sat here with a Tour de France stage win. It's amazing.”
This win also marked the first Tour stage victory for his Uno-X Mobility team.
A disrupted finish and what’s next
Adding to the drama, a protester briefly disrupted the final stretch of the stage by running onto the course, just 50 meters from the finish, wearing a shirt reading “Israel out of the Tour.” The protestor was swiftly tackled by security and did not impact the outcome of the race.
Ireland’s Ben Healy retained the yellow jersey and still leads Tadej Pogacar by 29 seconds in the overall standings.
With the Pyrenees looming, riders now brace for Stage 12 — a 180.6km mountain test ending in a punishing summit finish at Hautacam. The Tour’s first true high-altitude showdown will surely test every contender’s resilience, including the recently bruised but undeterred Pogacar.