Vingegaard extends advantage over Pogacar and aims for overall victory

Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard may have time-trialled his way to a second straight Tour de France victory.

A sensational time trial from Vingegaard on Tuesday saw the overall leader extend his advantage over two-time winner Tadej Pogacar to nearly two minutes with just five stages remaining; including Sunday’s largely ceremonial, final procession to Paris.

Vingegaard, who rides for the Jumbo-Visma team, started the day only 10 seconds ahead of Pogacar after little could separate the duo in a fascinating duel over the last two weeks.

However, when it came down to a direct head-to-head battle, Vingegaard was in a class of his own.

The Danish cyclist finished the 22.4-kilometre hilly route from Passy to Combloux 1 minute, 38 seconds ahead of Pogacar. Wout van Aert was third at the end of the 16th stage, 2:51 behind Vingegaard.

The 26-year-old Vingegaard now leads Pogacar by 1:48 overall and it will take something equally sensational from the Slovenian cyclist to wrest the yellow jersey from his rival.

Adam Yates moved into third overall, almost nine minutes behind Vingegaard.