Oscar Onley finishes fourth in Paris after unexpected GC ride at the 2025 Tour de France

Oscar Onley arrived at the 2025 Tour de France to help his team chase stage wins. He left Paris on a rain-soaked Sunday evening with fourth overall, a result few expected and even he is still processing.

“I guess this is a really big moment in my career,” Onley said after the final stage, surrounded by his jubilant Picnic PostNL teammates. “I don’t really realise it yet, but just from talking to other riders in the bunch, we’ve got something to build on and an exciting project for the future. It’s definitely sparked a bit of a dream, I guess.”

At 22 years old, and in only his second Tour de France, Onley became the best-placed British rider in the GC since Geraint Thomas finished third in 2022. His fourth place behind Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz confirmed what the peloton had seen over the last three weeks: Onley was regularly the last man hanging onto the top two and more than earned his spot as “best of the rest.”

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“I hadn’t ever thought about a top five in the Tour before, so to get it on my first try at GC is quite something,” he said. “I’m excited for the future.”

Sunday’s final stage around a new Montmartre circuit was neutralised for the GC, but Onley still found himself in the thick of the action, covering attacks and trying to set up teammate Tobias Lund Andresen. He even tried to follow Quinn Simmons and Florian Lipowitz but admitted the legs were empty. “Lipo just came over the top of me and I had nothing left. I couldn’t even close the gap, but it’s good fun.”

The Scotsman from Kelso soaked in the significance of the day despite the downpour. “It was really nice, the last time up Montmartre I could kind of soak it up with the guys around me. It was quite cool. Coming onto the Champs-Élysées on the first couple of laps, it was pretty special. It has been a really special three weeks, with the whole team.”

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While Pogačar and Vingegaard were once again in a class of their own, Onley proved he could contend just behind them. He held off all other challengers and came closer than anyone to dislodging Lipowitz from the podium, losing out by just under 30 seconds.

He might be dry now, but Onley’s breakthrough Tour GC ride won’t fade anytime soon. And though this Tour may not have ended with a jersey or stage win, his consistent strength and quiet rise up the GC has announced him as one of the names to watch going forward.