Jonas Vingegaard extends Tour de France lead with victory on stage 18

A handshake from Tadej Pogacar to Jonas Vingegaard showed gratitude for a moment of great sportsmanship but could yet double as the defending champion’s concession after Vingegaard moved to the brink of Tour de France glory on Thursday.

The pace set by Vingegaard’s outstanding team-mate Wout Van Aert proved too much for Pogacar in the last four kilometres of the Tour’s final mountain stage, allowing Vingegaard to ride away to his second stage win and first in the yellow jersey.

Putting more than a minute into Pogacar by the summit of the Hautacam, the Jumbo-Visma rider stretched his lead to three minutes 26 seconds, with Saturday’s time trial expected to be the last real chance to create significant time gaps.