Ben Healy produced an astonishing climb up the legendary Mont Ventoux but was denied a second stage victory of this year's Tour de France by two bike lengths.
The 24-year-old EF Education-EasyPost rider chased down Enric Mas on the upper slopes of the 'Bald Mountain' - the scene of some of the Tour's most famous moments.
The Birmingham-born Irish cyclist was pipped on the line by French favourite Valentin Paret-Peintre in the final metres of the 171.5-kilometre 16th stage that started in Montpellier and finished on the bare roads leading to the renowned observatory.
A typically aggressive ride from Healy saw him battling to the line with Mas, Ilan van Wilder, Santiago Buitrago and Soudal Quick-Step rider Paret-Peintre.
TOUR DE FRANCE RESULTS AND STANDINGS
Healy and Paret-Peintre broke from the others in the last few hundred metres and it was the home rider who won out in the final moments of another exciting stage.
Healy gained one place in the general classification, jumping Carlos Rodriguez to take ninth spot.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar finished fifth, 43 seconds back, gaining two seconds on his closest rival Jonas Vingegaard.
Last week, Healy became the fourth Irish cyclist to wear the famous yellow jersey, leading the Tour de France for two days, having won Stage 6 before taking the lead with a third-place finish on Bastille Day.
"I knew it was a right-hand turn into the line, so I tried to get the jump on Valentin [Paret-Peintre] before that," he said after narrowly missing out on a second stage victory.
"I managed to do that, but those last hundred metres are so hard. He had a better kick and beat me to the line.
"In hindsight, I should have pushed a bit more in the steep part at the bottom before we came to the open section because, in the end, we played the victory to the line.
"I need to pick the hard days, because those are the stages that suit me the best. There are some stages left that could suit me."
🏆 Le jour de gloire de 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret ! Revivez le dernier kilomètre et cette incroyable bataille avec Ben Healy !
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 22, 2025
🏆 🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret's day of glory! Relive the last kilometer and that incredible battle with Ben Healy!#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/nPP8byXK6Z
It is a fourth win of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, who lost leader Remco Evenepoel last week.
"How I won that stage is hard to say, I was thinking 'maybe I can win today, maybe I'm the best climber in this breakaway’," Paret-Peintre said.
"I asked my team-mates to make a good pace at the bottom and I tried so many times to drop Healy but he was very strong and at the end, I was just waiting for the sprint and then I won."
It was the first finish on Mont Ventoux since the chaotic scenes in 2016 when Chris Froome was left running up the mountain after breaking his bike in a crash.
There was not quite that level of drama in the general classification fight this time but it was not for lack of trying on the part of Vingegaard and Visma-Lease A Bike, who had riders up the road in the break and tried to use them to set up the Dane to take time back on Pogacar.
Vingegaard launched his first attack after a big pull from Sepp Kuss, catching Tiesj Benoot before trying again, then taking a turn from Victor Campenaerts before a third dig.
The tactics were excellent, but Pogacar was equal to them all and then put in his own attack going into the final hairpin.
To add to Vingegaard’s disappointment, the Dane collided with a photographer after the finish line and hit the deck.
"I went down," Vingegaard said. "People in the finish area should use their eyes a bit more.
"I was feeling very good today so I’m happy with the feeling, happy with the attacks. Of course we didn’t gain any time today but I take a lot of motivation."
Mathieu van der Poel has been forced to abandon the Tour de France due to pneumonia, his team Alpecin–Deceuninck said today. The 30-year-old Dutchman was 62nd in the standings after stage 15.
