Joy for local fans as Christophe Laporte secures first Tour de France stage win

Christophe Laporte gave local fans a moment to cherish by winning stage 19 of the Tour de France over the largely flat 183.3-kilometre route from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors on Friday.

The Frenchman powered past Britain's Fred Wright on the rising finish to for his first ever Tour de France stage victory and his team Jumbo-Visma’s fifth in the 2022 race.

Belgian Jasper Philipsen and Italian Alberto Dainese took second and third, both a minute behind the winner.

Defending champion and the UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar finished fifth to gain five seconds over the overall leader Jonas Vingegaard, who crossed the line in 13th.

However, with Vingegaard enjoying an advantage of 3 minutes and 21 seconds, Pogacar looks unlikely to claim the yellow jersey on Saturday’s time trial, a 40.7km solo run from Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour.

Behind Pogacar, the top 10 remained the same.

Briton Geraint Thomas sits in third place eight minutes behind Vingegaard, while Frenchman David Gaudu is in fourth at 11:05 and Colombian Nairo Quintana fifth at 13:35.

Laporte explained he was given freedom to go for the sprint after bringing Vingegaard safely into the final three kilometres.

“I still can’t believe I’ve won," Laporte said. “The team really trusted me today and Wout (van Aert) told me that today was for me after we had a great Tour.

“Our first goal was to make sure Vingegaard was safe with three kilometres to go. Then just before entering the last kilometre I saw that there was a gap and I made the jump to the front group. I can’t believe I could finish it off.

“I’ve been happy even if I haven’t had any results because I’ve been working hard for the team. I have always given everything and today I got my chance. It is an