Pogacar wins stage but Vingegaard keeps jersey

TADEJ POGACAR outfought Jonas Vingegaard in an uphill sprint to claim his third stage win of this Tour de France but could not shake the Dane’s grip on yellow as the pair left all other rivals behind on the road to Peyragudes.

It came down to a slowmotion sprint on gradients of up to 16 per cent at the finish, the pair exchanging blows before Pogacar’s landed, but beyond the four extra bonus seconds that came the Slovenian’s way, there was nothing to separate the top two in the general classification.

And with Geraint Thomas losing two minutes after being dropped on the penultimate climb, the Col de Val LouronAzet, they are set to be the only riders in contention to be wearing yellow in Paris on Sunday.

Like everybody else in the peloton, Thomas was unable to live with the pace set by Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates, who defied their depleted numbers – Pogacar was left with only three team-mates – to dictate terms on the second day in the Pyrenees.

“How the team rode today, we were only four and to take the stage win is already incredible,” said Pogacar, who now has nine Tour stages at the age of 23 – five more than Mark Cavendish had achieved by that age while Eddy Merckx had none.

“Tomorrow is another chance but for now I’m happy. I win today and tomorrow is another day I’m really looking forward to.”

Vingegaard, still two minutes and 18 seconds clear, was satisfied with second place.

“[Pogacar] came with some good attacks and I had to be ready and I had to fight,” the Jumbo-Visma rider said. “I’m happy I could stay with him. I think on a finish like this he’s a bit more explosive than I am, I need it to be a bit harder before to make a difference, so I can be happy with how it went.”

Though left behind, Thomas rode smartly to strengthen his grip on third place overall, with Nairo Quintana almost three minutes down.

“I felt alright but I didn’t quite feel as light on the pedals as I have earlier in the race,” he said.