It was a day to remember for UAE Team Emirates-XRG as their Belgian rider Tim Wellens won the 15th stage of the Tour de France, even as star champion Tadej Pogacar retained the overall lead.
Wellens won a baking and hilly stage at the walled citadel of Carcassonne as his UAE teammate Pogacar remained ahead of the pack.
The 34-year-old Belgian champion Wellens has won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, while this was a fifth stage win on the 2025 Tour de France for UAE Team Emirates, Pogacar having already won four himself.
Wellens was in a four-man leading group with Michael Storer, Quinn Simmons and Victor Campeanaerts as they climbed the three kilometre incline Pas du Sant.
Carlos Rodriguez, Warren Barguil, Aleks Vlasov and Alexey Lutsenko were chasing, and Wellens waited for the trailing group to catch up before he attacked with 43.5km to go, knowing his rivals would find it hard to react with the downhill to come.
The Belgian rider finished one minute and 28 seconds ahead of Campeanaerts and 1:36 ahead of Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, and Axel Laurance.
Pogacar and his closest general classification rivals, Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz, finished in a large group 6:07 behind Wellens.
Pogacar maintained his overall lead of 4:13 over Vingegard and 7:53 over German rider Lipowitz.
After a mass fall early on with Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a group of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up.
Pogacar, aiming for his fourth title in the iconic race, entered the Pyrenees on Thursday tucked in at second to surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four minutes advantage on top of the overall standings.
Monday is the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 per cent gradient to its 1901m high summit.
After the stage, Wellens celebrated a special win.
“It is a very special victory. Everyone knows the Tour de France and everyone wants to ride the Tour de France, and not many people win at the Tour de France, so it is a very beautiful victory,” said Wellens.
“I felt super good before the stage. Before the stage, Nils [Politt] and me were laughing a little bit that we would go in the break, suddenly there was a crash. I kept on attacking and followed one move, and I was in the breakaway,” Wellens said.
“On the climb, it exploded again, and then on the last climb of the day, I felt really good. I saw the others also felt good, but I knew I had to go solo. At the top of the climb, I knew I had my moment and had the legs to keep it until the end.”
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Youth YouTuber Programme
The programme will be presented over two weeks and will cover the following topics:
- Learning, scripting, storytelling and basic shots
- Master on-camera presence and advanced script writing
- Beating the algorithm and reaching your core audience
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
