Awe-inspiring Vingegaard edges closer to Tour de France title

HAUTACAM, France : Jonas Vingegaard put the hammer down on the Tour de France on Thursday, extending his lead massively with an awe-inspiring victory in the final mountain stage as defending champion Tadej Pogacar's all-in strategy backfired.

Vingegaard went solo some four kilometres from the finish at Hautacam after some massive work from his Jumbo-Visma team mates, Pogacar slowly disappearing from his rear-view mirror and crossing the line in second, one minute and four seconds behind.

He now trails the Dane by 3:26 ahead of Saturday's individual time trial after a flat 19th stage on Friday.

The Slovenian threw everything, and the kitchen sink, at Vingegaard in the penultimate climb to the Col de Spandelles, also throwing caution to the wind in the descent on a gruelling 143.2-km trek from Lourdes.

Pogacar crashed after Vingegaard also came close to hitting the deck and after the duo called a brief truce, the strongest climber prevailed where his compatriot Bjarne Riis produced in 1996 one of the most astonishing climbing effort ever seen on the Tour.

Riis later admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs to win that Tour and his name was taken off the list of champions by the organisers in 2007, only for the International Cycling Union (UCI) to add it again a year later after ruling that the offence was prescribed.

Pogacar attacked some six kilometres from the top of the Col de Spandelles but Vingegaard followed, barely getting out of the saddle in a spine-chilling show of power and control.

The Slovenian went for it again four more times on that climb with Vingegaard always covering and the duo whizzed past Geraint Thomas, who had gone solo earlier.

The 2018 champion again limited the damage, taking fourth place, 2:54 off