'It's amazing, but it wasn't the plan' - Valentin Paret-Peintre defies odds on Mont Ventoux to clinch spectacular win, holding off chase from Tadej Pogačar

Success could rarely taste sweeter than it did for Valentin Paret-Peintre in the Tour de France on Tuesday as the Soudal-QuickStep climber fended off Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) in a dramatic duel to win stage 16 on the summit of the Mont Ventoux.

In one fell swoop, Paret-Peintre managed to claim his country's first win of the 2025 Tour de France, his first WorldTour victory since a stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia and the biggest triumph of his career.

Not only that, he did so with less than a minute to spare on Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), whose main goal at this point may be capturing the Tour de France but who would likely have had no objections to adding a fifth stage victory to his four so far.

That the 24-year-old Frenchman managed to keep Pogačar at bay on what is historically the most emblematic summit finish of the 2025 Tour only underscored the scale of his achievement even further. And as if all that wasn't enough, Paret-Peintre pulled off his victory at least partly thanks to the key last-minute support of teammate Ilan Van Wilder, confirming that after several miserable days for the squad following the abandon of GC leader Remco Evenepoel, Soudal-QuickStep are still very much alive and kicking in the 2025 Tour de France.

Simultaneous success on so many levels was a stunning triumph in anyone's book, and Paret-Peintre was understandably over the moon when he talked to reporters after stepping onto the winner's podium.

"It's amazing, but it certainly wasn't the plan [for me to win]", the Frenchman said afterwards. "I really thought Pogačar would want to win and he'd tie down the stage to do that.

"So I didn't believe in it too much, but I told myself that if there was a big group ahead", as was the case, with a break of 30-plus riders attacking mid-stage, "why not get in it?"

"But when I told myself that today was a good day for the break, I wasn't really thinking too hard about it."

In a thrilling finale where Healy and Paret-Peintre closed down long-distance attacker Enric Mas (Movistar) some four kilometres from the line, then began trying in vain to drop each other. The Frenchman said that he was all too aware that Pogačar and Vingegaard were closing in behind.

At the same time, he knew that, as a lighter climber with a good turn of speed, he had a sporting chance of outsprinting Healy on the steep uphill finish of Mont Ventoux if it came down to a duel - and if they managed to keep a certain Slovenian from wrecking their party.

"I heard on the radio that Pogačar and Vingegaard were closing in, but it was hard to hear what was happening with the noise," he recounted.

"At the same time, it was a unique occasion to win a stage in the Tour, so I had to go on playing the game, and too bad if I lost."

Although Mas returned to the front on more than one occasion, and then Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) also put in a late appearance in the front group, Paret-Peintre said he was fully focused on Healy.

"I knew I could beat him on such a steep climb at the end, and I was faster; I could get past him, although of course I was worried too about the yellow jersey coming back."

Another key factor was the last-minute arrival of Van Wilder, part of the early break alongside the Frenchman, who made it clear when he appeared in the final kilometre that he would work for Paret-Peintre.

"I had no idea where Ilan was, but then suddenly he was there. I thought that was great - if he went to the front a bit, it would put pressure on Healy. He made a gesture with his head that he was happy to do that, and I could focus on my sprint. So it was a great tactic."

As Van Wilder added later, such a prestigious victory after such a tough time for Soudal-QuickStep following Evenepoel's abandon was more than welcome. Being part of a collective win only underlined their strength as a squad, he added, and the duo's huge hug at the finish confirmed that his words could not be more heartfelt.

"We've had some really shit days to get through, and we've had lots of criticisms; some people have said we weren't strong enough," he added.

"Now we can say to them - go screw yourselves, we've won on the Ventoux.

"I'm really pleased for Valentin and the team, words fail me. But it worked out, I worked a bit at the foot of the climb, and then he attacked. He said he felt good, I wasn't feeling so great, so it was really easy to make the choice of playing his card, because I'm no egotist."

"I'm so pleased for him, it feels like I've won myself."

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