Tadej Pogacar’s hopes of dethroning Jonas Vingegaard as Tour de France leader were extinguished after the final mountain stage in the Pyrenees, in which the Dane increased his overall lead with only three stages of this year’s race remaining.
As on the Col du Granon, Pogacar lost contact with Vingegaard halfway up the final climb, after a ferocious turn of pace from his Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert distanced the Slovenian.
Vingegaard rode ahead to claim his second stage win, while Pogacar came across the finish line over a minute later. The Tour’s last day in the mountains, before it turns and begins the journey north towards Paris, brought more stifling heat and plenty of suffering.
One of those to suffer most was Pogacar, who finished the stage with ripped shorts after crashing on the descent of the penultimate climb.