The 25-year-old broke Tadej Pogacar (UAE) with help from Belgian team-mate Wout van Aert after the tireless green jersey’s latest display of dominance in a breakaway that almost covered the distance on the thrilling 143.2km course in the Pyrenees. Pogacar, the reigning two-time champion, crashed on the descent of the Col de Spandelles – only for Vingegaard to sit back and wait for his rival to return to the fold in a stunning display of sportsmanship. The pair then agreed to a ceasefire for the rest of the technical descent before resuming hostilities on the final big climb of the race. The Tour de France Opinion: The tireless Van Aert must make Pogacar green with envy 6 HOURS AGO In the punishing slog at Hautacam, Vingegaard was able to rely on the support of teammates Tiesj Benoot and Sepp Kuss as the two best riders in this year’s Tour dropped Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and shut down the remaining three riders on the road. . And just as Kuss was breaking away with five kilometers to go, Van Aert – in that trio with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) – was able to relax. On his Belgian National Day, Van Aert was buried at the front for Vingegaard before the tire finally blew with just over four kilometers to go and Pogacar conceded the Tour. Vingegaard led clear to the delight of tens of thousands of fans on the climb, blowing a kiss to the crowd as he crossed the line over a minute clear of Pogacar to extend his lead over the 23-year-old Slovenian to 3’36. ” with three stages remaining. His second race win also secured the Dane the polka dot jersey after Wingegaard moved eight points clear of Germany’s Simon Geschke (Kofidis) in the KOM standings. Van Aert took third on a day he also extended his unassailable lead in the green jersey classification by winning the intermediate sprint from the 33-man breakaway at Laruns before the first of three climbs, the Col d’Aubisque. “Glad it’s finally over!” – Vingegaard for punishing the Stage 18 win “It’s unbelievable. This morning I told my girlfriend and my daughter that I wanted to win for them – and I did. I’m very proud to do this for my two girls at home,” Vingegaard said. “Now there are still two stages left before Paris, so we have to stay focused and take it day by day. I don’t want to talk about it yet. Let’s talk about it in two days.” Asked about Pogacar’s fall and his reaction, the Dane said: “He missed the corner and went down on some gravel. When he tried to steer it, the bike – how do you say it? – disappeared from under him. And, yes, I was waiting for him. “Today I have to thank all my teammates – unbelievable. You see Wout van Aert drop Tadej Pogacar at the end. Sepp Kuss was unbelievable. Everyone – Tiesj [Benoot]Christopher [Laporte]Nathan [van Hooydonck] – they were all incredible.” Welshman Thomas finished fourth almost three minutes down to secure his third podium, although the 2018 champion fell eight minutes behind Wingegaard in the general classification. France’s David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) moved up to fourth and swapped places with Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) after battling for fifth on the stage. Britain’s Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) dropped one place to tenth while Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Kazakhstan) moved into the top 10 at the expense of Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) after breaking away and maintaining a solid sixth. the category hors climb. Stage 18 highlights: Sufferers, crashes and athleticism as Wingegaard falls to yellow
Jumbo-Visma tour de force on the day that mattered
If the first of two mountaintop finishes in the Pyrenees on Wednesday was shaped by a defiant show of strength from the weakened UAE team Emirates, then Jumbo-Visma took things up a notch when the chips fell a day later. Wout van Aert attacked from the gun and was ever present in an active start time as a large group of 33 riders eventually formed in front of the Col d’Aubisque. With compatriot Tiesj Benoot also on the move, Jumbo-Visma had two strong men on the road and three capable deputies in Christophe Laporte, Nathan van Hooydonck and Sepp Kuss around their man in yellow. Instead, Pogacar quickly found himself with only Brandon McNulty in support after Mikkel Bjerg and Marc Hirschi left the back well before the first of three climbs. With German Simon Geschke (Cofidis) losing the drive, Italy’s Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) spotted an opportunity and put Aubisque at the front of the break to revive his hopes of an unlikely polka dot jersey. Had the Italian held on to maximum points over the Cat.1 Col de Spandelles, he would have taken the jersey regardless of the outcome at Hautacam – but that was not to be. ‘Terrible!’ – Bauer with UAE press bike and car With 40km to go, Van Aert began to turn the screw at the front of the race, picking up the pace significantly to erase the break on a climb that was making his first Tour appearance. And it was the Belgian who came out on top ahead of Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) to enter the grid for the points alongside the green that had put anyone else out of mathematical reach 24 hours earlier. Behind, McNulty came to the front for Pogacar as the UAE tried the same tactics they used in Stage 17. Once the American called time on his shift, Pogacar launched the first of a series of attacks that never troubled Vingegaard , but they showed the never-say-die attitude of the man in white. A brief lull allowed Thomas to return to the pack – and the Welshman went clear after an attack of his own before a fifth acceleration from Pogacar saw the white and yellow escape before the summit. Trailing the top three by a minute and a half on the descent, Pogacar tried to put Vingegaard under pressure – and the Dane was nearly clipped when his rear wheel locked up and forced into an acrobatic save when rounding a sweep. turn. Once Wingegaard got back in and caught Pogacar, the boot was on the other foot – and this time, the Slovenian wasn’t so lucky. Overbaking a turn, Pogacar slid onto the curb and went down the side – tearing a hole in his shorts and grazing his left hip. ‘Wow’ – Vingegaard lets Pogacar overtake after crash with ‘incredible’ gesture In a gesture of fairplay that defines this wonderful rivalry between the two young stars, Vingegaard slowed down and waited for Pogacar – the pair then shook hands before continuing the descent. Their battle was put on hold for the remainder of the descent and the likes of Thomas, Kuss, Benoot and Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) had returned before the Hautacam climb. Meanwhile, the top trio of Van Aert, Martinez and Pinot started the final 13.6km climb with a two-minute gap and faint hopes that they could hold on for victory. But the pace of Benoot, who had fallen behind from the break, and Kuss back saw their advantage drop to under a minute by the time Van Aert’s acceleration ended Pinot’s hopes of ending his drought on the French stage in this year’s Tour. Kuss’s pace back saw Thomas drop as the riders in yellow and white caught Pinot shortly after the other two remaining escapees on the road – Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Kazakhstan) and Spain’s Carlos Verona (Movistar). . With the trio closing in, Van Aert eased back with 5.5km to go before Martinez pulled away to help team-mate Thomas. Van Aert empowers Vingegaard to top Tour title with explosive attack Van Aert took over pacing duties from Kuss as Pogacar clung to Vingegaard’s wheel knowing that with every pedal stroke his hopes of a third consecutive Tour title slipped further away. The final nail in Pogacar’s coffin came with 4.5km to go when the Slovenian gave up the ghost – cracked by the man in green’s pace. Belgium’s contemporary Merckx enjoyed the presentation of the final climb as Jumbo-Visma showed her colors – yellow and green – with the crowd watching. He then sat back to allow Vingegaard the honor of driving to a maiden victory on stage in yellow – the color he will wear in three days in Paris. Only one more major test stands between Vingegaard and victory in the world’s biggest cycling race – but although Pogacar is in form on the humiliating Jumbo-Visma in the penultimate day’s time trials, even he won’t be able to close a gap of more than three minutes on the largely flat road to Rocamadour on Saturday. Before then, the Tour continues on Friday with a rare day for the sprinters – a mostly flat 188.3km course from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors. Although it would take a brave man to bet against Van Aert, who will continue his strange run by completing a hat-trick of wins. —- Stream the Tour de France live and on demand on Discovery+. You can also watch all the action live on eurosport.co.uk. Cycling “This is just a stepping stone” – argued Froome on the return of the Tour after an early exit 7 HOURS AGO The Tour de France Vingegaard waiting for Pogacar is a ‘beautiful moment in the sport’ 8 HOURS AGO
