'It doesn't get much bigger than this' – Young Briton Oscar Onley battles with Pogačar, Vingegaard, Van der Poel at the Tour de France

Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narvaez of UAE Team Emirates, Dutch Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Soudal Quick-Step and British Edgar Oscar Onley of Team Picnic PostNL pictured in action during the second stage of the 2025 Tour de France cycling race, from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer (212 km), on Sunday 06 July 2025 in France. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, and will finish in Paris on the 27th of July. BELGA PHOTO POOL BERNARD PAPON (Photo by POOL BERNARD PAPON / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)
22-year-old Oscar Onley (right) has battled with cycling's superstars during the opening four days of the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images)

At this year's Tour de France, only eight riders of the 184 rolling out to start the race in Lille were younger than Picnic PostNL's British racer Oscar Onley, but few of the other Tour youngsters can boast a start as impressive as the 22-year-old, who hails from Kelso in Scotland.

Racing his second Tour following a strong debut which saw him make four breakaways last July, Onley has already bettered his top finish from last year's race, where he took fifth on the mountainous stage 17 to Superdévoluy.

Stage 4's hilly test in Rouen saw him racing among the elite and finishing among the front group of six in fourth place, with only the superstar names of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel, and Jonas Vingegaard ahead of him at the finish line.

He and fellow 22-year-old Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), who finished fifth in Rouen, have shone on each of the hilly days contested during this opening week of the Tour. The pair are shining brightly as part of cycling's up-and-coming generation.

Onley had fought back to the front after getting caught up in a crash with just over 20km to race. He, along with everyone else, was dropped by the accelerations from Pogačar and Vingegaard on the Rampe Saint-Hilaire before making it across with several other chasers and then finding himself sprinting for a top placing at the line.

"When you have guys like Matteo Jorgensen and João Almeida to close the gaps, and when it's flat and fast like that, I was never going to be able to stay away in the end if I attacked. I was really on the limit. It doesn't get much bigger than this in terms of races and competitors, so it's nice to be able to prove to myself that I can be there right at the top."

Onley is flying through four days at the Tour, holding seventh overall at 55 seconds down on yellow jersey Van der Poel and race favourite Pogačar

Dani Ostanek
Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.