Vingegaard on track for Tour de France title after crushing Pogacar

Jonas Vingegaard climbed into a rock-solid lead in the Tour de France on Wednesday as his main rival Tadej Pogacar lost almost six minutes on the toughest climb on the 21 stages.

Felix Gall won stage 16, billed as the "Queen" stage with 69km of Alpine climbing, ahead of Simon Yates.

Defending champion Vingegaard of Jumbo Visma increased his lead in the overall standings to a crushing 7min 35sec, with Pogacar second and his UAE teammate Adam Yates up to third at 10min 45sec.

After the race Vingegaard strolled around the paddock with his daughter in his arms, while his defeated rival sat on a pile of tyres staring head down at the ground.

"I don't know what happened, I was empty at the bottom of the climb. I'm extremely disappointed," said Pogacar, who fell early in the stage.

??Teamwork made the dream work.??Un pour tous et tous pour un. #TDF2023 @JumboVismaRoad pic.twitter.com/OrBpGXikR4

Vingegaard was asked if he felt he had clinched the Tour.

"I think so. I have more than seven minutes lead now so I'm very happy," said the 26-year-old who won the Tour in 2022.

"But we're not in Paris yet. Tadej will never give up. You know that," he said.

Stage 17

1. Felix Gall (AUT/ACT) 4hr 49min 08sec, 2. Simon Yates (GBR/JAY) at 34sec. 3. Pello Bilbao (ESP/TBV) 1:38, 4. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TJV) 1:52, 5. David Gaudu (FRA/GFC) 2:09, 6. Tobias Johannessen (NOR/UXT) 2:39, 7. Chris Harper (AUS/JAY) 2:50, 8. Rafal Majka (POL/UAD) 3:43, 9. Adam Yates (GBR/UAD) 3:43, 10. Wilco Kelderman (NED/TJV) 3:49.

Selected: 12. Jai Hindley (AUS/BOH) 4:2, 15. Carlos Rodriguez (ESP/IGD) 4:54, 16. Sepp Kuss (USA/TJV) 5:43, 22. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) 7:37. 154. Simon Geschke (GER/COF) 44:56.

Overall

1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TJV) 67h 57min 51sec, 2. Tadej Pogacar