How long will the fairytale of Tour de France sensation Onley last? "It certainly won’t come from within the peloton"

For a moment, it looked like Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel would be the strongest three, but the group behind managed to reel them back in on the final climb, setting up another explosive sprint. Onley had already proven this Tour that he can hold his own in these punchy finishes against the best riders in the world, and Mûr de Bretagne was no exception. Third place marked his best result so far in this race. A reminder: this is his debut Tour de France.

“I didn’t think much on that last climb, but if you have the legs, it’s easier to make decisions,” he told English-speaking media afterwards. Onley stayed calm when the leading three riders attacked from the bottom and seemed to create a decisive gap. “I think everyone in that second group was at their limit, even though the front three eased up just a bit.” That allowed Onley and the others to catch back up.

The young climber was all smiles after days 2 and 4, happy with his strong finishes among the world’s best. But after Mûr de Bretagne, Onley added a note of caution about his current role in these punchy finishes. “On finishes like this, I seem to be ‘best of the rest’ behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, and that’s nice. But the gap to those two stays the same, so I don’t know if I’ll really get close to a stage win in this Tour.”

Because Onley came to this Tour aiming for a stage victory, and he suspects that won’t happen if he keeps finishing with the favorites. “What can I do in the high mountains? Good question, honestly, I don’t know. The longest climbs I’ve done were in the Tour de Suisse, and based on that, I can have some ambitions, but it certainly won’t come from within the peloton.”