Paret-Peintre wins Tour de France stage on Mont Ventoux, where Pogačar deals Vingegaard another blow

MONT VENTOUX, France (AP) — Valentin Paret-Peintre triumphed on Mont Ventoux to become the first home rider to win a stage at this year’s Tour de France, while Tadej Pogačar consolidated his overall lead Tuesday.

Paret-Peintre followed former yellow jersey holder Ben Healy on a breakaway and then beat the Irish rider in a sprint for the line at the top of the famed barren mountain known as the “Beast of Provence.”

“A victory at the Tour is extraordinary, but to do it on the Mont Ventoux, that’s something completely different,” said Paret-Peintre, a climber and the first French winner on the mountain since Richard Virenque in 2002. "I can’t tell you what this win means for me. I’ll need some time for everything to sink in."

Santiago Buitrago was third, 4 seconds behind, ahead of Ilan Van Wilder and fifth-placed Pogačar, who withstood repeated attacks from Jonas Vingegaard to cross the line 2 seconds before his main rival.

After the Tour’s second rest day Monday, Pogačar stretched his overall lead to 4 minutes, 15 seconds over Vingegaard. The Danish rider won the Tour in 2022 and 2023 but seems powerless to stop defending champion Pogačar from achieving his fourth win when the race finishes Sunday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

“I think we’ll race until Paris and we’ll see who will be the winner,” Pogačar said. “Today was a proper hard day after the rest day, also for me.”

Stage 16 took the riders 171.5 kilometers from Montpellier in the south of France on a long flat course until they reached the brutal climb up Ventoux.

During the 1967 Tour, English rider Tom Simpson died ascending the 1,910-meter-high mountain after he had taken a mixture of amphetamines and alcohol. Simpson had been unwell and the heat was likely another contributing factor. Doping checks were not common at the time.

Mathieu van der Poel, who had been third in the points classification, withdrew before Tuesday’s stage with pneumonia.

Wout van Aert, the last winner when the route went through Ventoux in 2021, attacked from the off, prompting responses from Jonathan Milan, Ivan Romeo and others.

Six were in the lead by the time they got to Bedoin at the bottom. Only 22 kilometers remained, but they were to get increasingly tough with 15.7 kilometers at an 8.8% incline from Saint-Esteve to the finish.

Healy, leading a group of chasers, overtook Julian Alaphilippe while Vingegaard made his initial move. Vingegaard attacked again, then again, but Pogačar stayed doggedly on his wheel. The gap was closing on Spanish rider Enric Mas in the lead.

Vingegaard got support when he caught up with Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Victor Campenaerts, but Healy was moving fast in front of them and took the lead from Mas with 3.7 kilometers to go. Paret-Peintre followed and was supported by Soudal–Quick-Step teammate Van Wilder to finish just ahead of Healy.

Vingegaard could not shake off Pogačar, who attacked with 2 kilometers to go to deal his rival another demoralizing blow.

“There were some points of course where I was suffering,” Pogačar said. “But I think today was just one climb, one effort, and it was more or less full gas from bottom to the finish line. But in the next days I think it will be just more and more tiring for the body.”

It’s the last chance for sprinters to shine on the relatively flat 160.4-kilometer route from Bollène to Valence, where a wide flat road should provide the stage for an exciting finish. Riders will need to watch out if the local winds pick up, however, adding an element of unpredictability to Stage 17.

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Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, follows Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard as they climb to the summit of Mont Ventoux, rear, during the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, follows Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard during the last kilometers of the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Bernard Papon/Pool Photo via AP)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium after sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

France's Valentin Paret Peintre crosses the finish line to win the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

France's Valentin Paret Peintre crosses the finish line ahead of Ireland's Ben Healy to win the sixteenth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.5 kilometers (106.6 miles) with start in Montpellier and finish on the Mont Ventoux, France, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — An army general and several soldiers were killed during an attempt to raid a military base in northeastern Nigeria early Thursday, officials said.

The attack occurred in Benisheikh in Borno State, army spokesman Michael Onoja said in a statement, but it was repelled.

Onoja described the assailants as “terrorists,” which is the term the military uses to describe members of Islamic militant groups in the northeast of the country.

President Bola Tinubu confirmed that a general was killed in the attack.

“The insurgents’ counterattack is a sign of desperation,” he said in a statement. “I extend my condolences to the families of our gallant soldiers, led by Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country today in Borno State. The government will never forget their sacrifices.”

“Their sacrifices will not be in vain," Tinubu said. "Because of the courage and dedication of our troops on the front line, our resolve to defeat terrorism and all forms of violence across Nigeria is stronger than ever.”

Onoja didn’t specify how many soldiers were killed in the latest attack on military bases.

“This attack is a clear indication of the desperation of terrorist elements who, having suffered significant losses in recent operations, continue to resort to futile and ill-fated offensives against well-defended military positions,” he said. “Regrettably, the encounter resulted in the loss of a few brave and gallant soldiers who paid the supreme price in the line of duty.”

Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country, is battling a complex security crisis, especially in the north where there is a decadelong insurgency and several armed groups who kidnap for ransom.

Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, which is affiliated with the Islamic State group and known as Islamic State West Africa Province. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa group operating in communities in the northwestern part of the country that borders Niger Republic.

The crisis has worsened recently to include other militants from the neighboring Sahel region, including the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

Earlier this year, the U.S. sent 200 troops and drones to Nigeria to assist the Nigerian military in fighting extremists. The U.S. military said that the American troops won’t engage in combat or have a direct operational role, and that Nigerian forces will have complete command authority.

The deployment is part of a new security partnership agreed on after U.S. President Donald Trump alleged that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis. The U.S. launched strikes against IS forces on Dec. 26.

Several thousand people in Nigeria have been killed, according to data from the United Nations. Analysts say not enough is being done by the government to protect its citizens.

FILE - Nigerian soldiers ride on an armored personnel carrier during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Maiduguri, in Borno state, Nigeria. Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba, File)