Tour de France

Tour de France (63)

Tadej Pogacar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard to victory on stage 20 of the Tour de France in Le Markstein, but it was the Dane who could begin celebrating the defence of his title ahead of Sunday’s procession into Paris.

Pogacar proved unable to challenge Vingegaard for yellow in the final week of this race as his hopes evaporated in the Alps, but he made a point on the final mountain test as he beat Vingegaard in a five-man sprint at the end of the 133km stage from Belfort.

Felix Gall snuck ahead of Vingegaard for second place on the day, while Simon Yates and Adam Yates came in fourth and fifth, results that seal third overall for Adam and move Simon up to fourth after an early crash left Carlos Rodriguez bloodied above his left eye.

Vingegaard will carry a lead of seven minutes and 29 seconds on to the Champs-Elysees on Sunday as he celebrates his second Tour crown at the age of 26.

“The second one is really amazing,” the Jumbo-Visma rider said. “Of course there’s the stage tomorrow into Paris and we have to be careful not to do anything stupid, but to take my second victory in the Tour de France I almost can’t believe it.”

The front five finished 33 seconds ahead of Warren Barguil and Thibaut Pinot, who dared to dream that the final mountain stage of his last Tour de France – raced on his home roads – could end in victory when he went clear from a breakaway with 30 kilometres left.

But Pinot was caught on the last climb as Pogacar, Vingegaard and Gall went away before being joined by the Yates twins, with Adam proving the lead-out for Pogacar in the sprint.

“Today I finally feel like myself again,” Pogacar said. “It was just really good from start to finish, to feel good again after many days suffering and to pull it off in the finish I’m just super, super happy.

“Adam did a super job. I was waiting for him to come back…I know him now well, he led me out really good and thanks to him it was a bit easier to prepare for the final, less nervous and I’m super happy the team did such a great job once again.”

Both Yates twins could celebrate their best overall result in the Tour, with Adam improving on his fourth place from 2016.

“For me personally third is the best result I’ve ever had in a Grand Tour so obviously I’m pretty happy,” the UAE Team Emirates rider said. “We’re a little bit disappointed as our goal was to get yellow, but in the end there was only one guy better than us.”

For the first two weeks it was one of the closest Tours in history, but in the space of two days Vingegaard’s 10-second advantage became seven-and-a-half minutes as Pogacar was beaten by the Alps.

There had been questions over the Slovenian’s form before the Tour given his lack of racing since he broke his wrist in April, but Vingegaard’s dominance goes beyond the struggles of others, as shown by the near 11-minute gap to Adam Yates in the overall standings.

He beat Pogacar by 98 seconds in Tuesday’s time trial, but just as notable was the near three minutes between him and team-mate Wout Van Aert in third place. The way Vingegaard rode then away from the other favourites on the Col de la Loze a day later was the mark of a champion.

“It’s been a crazy battle we had over these last three weeks,” Vingegaard added. “I think it’s been a really really nice ray to watch and also for us.

“I appreciate the battle I’ve had with Tadej. It’s been an amazing fight since Bilbao and hopefully we’ll do it again in the future.”

Tadej Pogacar outsprinted Jonas Vingegaard to victory on stage 20 of the Tour de France in Le Markstein, but it was the Dane who could begin celebrating the defence of his title ahead of Sunday’s procession into Paris.

Pogacar proved unable to challenge Vingegaard for the yellow jersey in the final week of this race as his hopes evaporated in the Alps, but he made a point on the final mountain test as he beat Vingegaard in a five-man sprint at the end of the 133km stage from Belfort.

Felix Gall snuck ahead of Vingegaard for second place on the day, while Simon Yates and Adam Yates came in fourth and fifth, results that seal third overall for Adam and see Simon move up to fourth after Carlos Rodriguez was left bloodied above his left eye following a nasty early crash.

Pogacar’s stage win earned him six bonus seconds over Vingegaard, who will carry a lead of seven minutes and 29 seconds on to the Champs-Elysees on Sunday.

The front five came to the line 33 seconds ahead of Warren Barguil and Thibaut Pinot, who had dared to dream that the final mountain stage of his final Tour de France – raced on home roads for the 33-year-old – could end in victory when he went clear from a breakaway with 30 kilometres left.

But he was reeled in first by Tom Pidcock and Barguil on the final climb and then overhauled by those who would go on to contest the stage.

Pogacar, Vingegaard and Gall opened up a small gap before the Yates twins rode back up, with Adam then providing the lead-out for team-mate Pogacar in the sprint.

“Today I finally feel like myself again,” Pogacar said. “It was just really good from start to finish, to feel good again after many days suffering and to pull it off in the finish I’m just super, super happy.

“Adam did a super job. I was waiting for him to come back and his brother again was super good. I know him now well, he led me out really good and thanks to him it was a bit easier to prepare for the final, less nervous and I’m super happy the team did such a great job once again.”

Adam Yates said: “For me personally third (overall) is the best result I’ve ever had in a Grand Tour so obviously I’m pretty happy. We’re a little bit disappointed as our goal was to get yellow, but in the end there was only one guy better than us.”

That one guy was Vingegaard. For the first two weeks it was one of the closest Tours in history, but in the space of two days a 10-second advantage became seven-and-a-half minutes as Pogacar stumbled in Tuesday’s time trial, then fell completely on the Col de la Loze on Wednesday.

There had been questions over Pogacar’s form before the Tour given his lack of racing since he broke his wrist in April, but Vingegaard has not won purely by taking advantage of his rival’s troubles, as shown by the near 11-minute gap to Adam Yates in the overall standings.

Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France on this day in 2012.

Wiggins finished three minutes and 21 seconds ahead of compatriot and Team Sky colleague Chris Froome to be crowned champion in the 99th edition of the race.

The then 32-year-old was left on the verge of history following his impressive time-trial win on the penultimate day.

And there were no slip-ups during the 20th and final stage, where Wiggins helped another Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish to victory on the Champs-Elysees.

“I don’t know what to say, I’ve had 24 hours for it to soak in,” he said following his win.

“I’m still buzzing from the Champs-Elysees, the laps go so quick. I’ve got to get used to that (being in the spotlight), it’s going to take a while.

“I’m just trying to soak it all in. You never imagine it will happen to you but it’s amazing.”

Wiggins, who ended his career as a five-time Olympic gold medallist, had been favourite to win the previous year’s race, only to be sidelined after breaking his collarbone in a crash.

Following three weeks and 2,173 miles raced, wearing the yellow jersey for 13 consecutive stages, he came out on top ahead of Froome and third-placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali.

He was later named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Kenya-born Froome won four of the next five Tours, while Welshman Gerraint Thomas became the third British champion in 2018.

Matej Mohoric won stage 19 of the Tour de France in a photo finish at the end of a furious day’s racing in the Jura.

Mohoric and Thursday’s winner Kasper Asgreen came to the line neck and neck, with Ben O’Connor third, after the trio broke away from a 37-strong breakaway when it broke into several pieces on the final climb some 30 kilometres from the end of the 173km stage from Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny.

A stage characterised by non-stop attacking was raced at an average speed of 49.1kmh over rolling terrain, the fastest stage of this year’s Tour and the fifth fastest ever, but after all that effort it came down to a bike throw on the line.

O’Connor launched his sprint first 400 metres from the finish but knew it was a doomed move against two faster men. Asgreen was the first to come around but Mohoric timed it perfectly to take victory by a tyre’s width.

The front three came in just shy of 40 seconds clear of a chasing group, with Jasper Philipsen repeating his fourth place of 24 hours earlier.

There was no change at the top of the general classification, with race leader Jonas Vingegaard finishing safely within the main peloton almost 14 minutes down, needing now only to survive Saturday’s mountain stage to Le Markstein before he can begin celebrations on the road into Paris.

For a second day running the Tour passed through territory ideal for a breakaway, but such was the fight to get into it that 60km had been covered before a nine-strong group went away.

After Nils Politt broke his chain, their advantage of a minute quickly tumbled and a counter move of 29 riders came up to join them.

Victor Campenaerts and Simon Clarke tried to go off the front but after Clarke cramped up the group exploded on the final climb still with nearly 30km to the finish.

That gave Mohoric, Asgreen and O’Connor their chance to go clear as they went over the top first, and a powerful chasing group could not close the gap on the straight descent into town.

Mohoric had to wait for confirmation of his win, but as soon as it came the emotions poured out of the Slovenian, who paid tribute to some of the unsung heroes of cycling – the mechanics and carers working behind the scenes – while also remembering his late team-mate Gino Mader.

It was a third stage win of Mohoric’s career, and also a third of this Tour for the Bahrain-Victorious team – another opportunity for them to pay tribute to Mader after his tragic death at the Tour de Suisse last month.

“It means a lot because it’s hard and cruel to be a professional cyclist, you suffer a lot in your preparations, you sacrifice your life, your family and you give everything you can to get here ready,” Mohoric said.

“After a couple of days you realise everyone is so incredibly strong, it’s so hard to follow the wheels some days…sometimes you feel like you don’t belong…

“When Kasper went I knew it was the decisive attack, he was so incredibly strong to win the stage yesterday but he has the will and determination to do it again today.

“I knew I had to do everything perfect, I tried my best for Gino and for the team and in the end you almost feel like you betray (your rivals) because you beat them to the line but it’s just the way professional sport is and everyone wants to win.

“If I want to win I have to follow the wheel of Kasper and then try to beat him in the last 50 metres. I just feel so many things right now.”

Kasper Asgreen outsprinted the chasing peloton to take victory from a breakaway on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bourg-en-Bresse.

The remaining sprint teams fell short on the 185km stage from Moutiers as a four-strong break held on by less than 50 metres, with Asgreen beating fellow escapees Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jonas Abrahamsen to take his first career Tour stage win.

Jasper Philipsen, hoping to add to his four stage wins in this first opportunity for the quick men in over a week, came home in fourth. There was perhaps some karma in that, given the aggressive tactics Philipsen had used earlier in the stage when trying to block Eenkhoorn’s bid to join the breakaway.

The 185km stage from Moutiers brought no changes at the top of the general classification, in which defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took an all-but-unassailable seven-and-a-half minute lead over Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday.

This slightly lumpy stage offered the prospect of a breakaway denying the quick men if enough riders could get up the road, although the sprinters who survived the mountains were desperate for their chance, with perhaps only the Champs-Elysees left after this.

But with exhausted legs throughout the peloton after some punishing days in the Alps only three – Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Victor Campernaerts – chanced their arm and were rarely given more than a minute’s advantage.

That short gap allowed Campernaerts’ team-mate Eenkhoorn to bridge over with 60km to go, despite being forced on to the verge by Philipsen as he tried to get away from the main bunch.

Even as a quartet the front group appeared to have little chance, but the number of teams interested in a pure sprint has been steadily diminished in this Tour with the loss of quick men Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Fabio Jakobsen, the latter two team-mates of riders in this breakaway.

Only Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck squad and Dylan Groenewegen’s Jayco-Alula seemed fully committed and, as the road narrowed into a couple of tight technical corners, it became apparent that the scales were tipping in favour of those out in front.

Asgreen came around Abrahamsen inside the final 100 metres, with the chasing Eenkhoorn unable to get on terms, earning a first stage victory of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, a perennial winning machine who had not reached stage 18 without cause for celebration for more than a decade.

“The situation was not ideal,” Asgreen said. “We’d have preferred to have gone with maybe six or seven (in the break) but also the last week of the Tour coming off some really, really hard days, we’ve seen it before that even a small group can manage to beat the sprint teams so I didn’t rule it out.

“It was a team time trial to the finish. I really couldn’t have done it without Pascal, Victor and Jonas. They all did amazing out there and to be honest we all deserved the win with the work we put in but I’m really happy to come away with it.

“It means so much. With the period I had in the last year since my crash at the Tour de Suisse and having to leave the Tour de France I’ve come a long way. To cap it off with victory like this I really want to dedicate it to all the people who helped me throughout the last year.”

Philipsen played down the incident involving Eenkhoorn as he congratulated the breakaway.

“For sure I wanted to sprint for the win, but they stayed away in front, good work from them,” he said.

“I just wanted to go for the sprint, not have too many guys in front, but in the end (Eenkhoorn) bridged and for sure it was the right move for him. I think we did everything we could. They had amazing legs today.”

Before the stage, Jumbo-Visma announced that Vingegaard’s team-mate Wout van Aert had left the race to return home, where his wife Sarah is expecting their second child.

Kasper Asgreen outsprinted the chasing peloton to take victory from a breakaway on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bourg-en-Bresse.

The sprint teams got their sums wrong on the 185km stage from Moutiers as a four-strong break held on by less than 50 metres to take the stage, with Asgreen beating fellow escapees Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jonas Abrahamsen to take his first career Tour stage win.

Jasper Philipsen, hoping to add to his four sprint stage wins in this first opportunity for the quick men in over a week, came home in fourth having failed to make the catch.

There was perhaps some karma in that given the aggressive tactics Philipsen had used earlier in the stage when trying to block Eenkhoorn’s bid to join the breakaway.

The sprint finish to the 185km stage from Moutiers meant no changes at the top of the general classification, in which defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took an all-but-unassailable seven-and-a-half minute lead over Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday.

This slightly lumpy stage offered up the prospect of a breakaway denying the quick men if enough riders could get up the road, although the sprinters who survived the mountains were desperate for their chance, with perhaps only the Champs-Elysees left after this.

But with exhausted legs throughout the peloton after some punishing days in the Alps only three – Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Victor Campernaerts – chanced their arm and were rarely given more than a minute’s advantage.

That short gap allowed Campernaerts’ team-mate Pascal Eenkhoorn to bridge over with 60km to go, despite being forced on to the verge by Philipsen as he tried to get away from the main bunch.

Even as a quartet, the front group appeared to have little chance, but the sprint teams struggled to reel them in on the way into town, and as the road narrowed into a couple of tight technical corners, it became apparent that the scales were tipping in favour of those out in front.

Asgreen then came around Abrahamsen inside the final 100 metres with the chasing Eenkhoorn unable to get on terms.

It was a first stage victory of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, a perennial winning machine who had not reached stage 18 without taking a stage for more than a decade, but also a team who lost star sprinter Fabio Jakobsen to injury earlier in the race.

“The situation was not ideal,” Asgreen said. “We’d have preferred to have gone with maybe six or seven (in the break) but also the last week of the Tour coming off some really, really hard days, we’ve seen it before that even a small group can manage to beat the sprint teams so I didn’t rule it out.

“It was a team time trial to the finish. I really couldn’t have done it without Pascal, Victor and Jonas. They all did amazing out there and to be honest we all deserved the win with the work we put in but I’m really happy to come away with it.

“It means so much. With the period I had in the last year since my crash at the Tour de Suisse and having to leave the Tour de France I’ve come a long way. To cap it off with victory like this I really want to dedicate it to all the people who helped me throughout the last year.”

Tadej Pogacar conceded defeat to Jonas Vingegaard in the fight for yellow as Felix Gall beat Simon Yates to victory on stage 17 of the Tour de France in Courchevel.

While Gall and Yates fought out stage honours from the breakaway, the overall battle in this Tour was effectively decided on the mighty Col de la Loze, the highest mountain of this year’s race, at the end of this 166km stage from Saint-Gervais.

Having shown cracks in Tuesday’s time trial, Pogacar crumbled on this punishing 28km climb, losing the wheels still with eight kilometres remaining to the summit as he watched his rivals ride away without even needing to attack, the time gaps ballooning before the finish.

“I’m gone,” Pogacar told his team on the radio as he watched his rival ride away. “I’m dead.”

The Slovenian, involved in a minor crash at the start of the stage, had trailed Vingegaard by just 10 seconds on Monday’s rest day.

When Vingegaard took 98 seconds out of the two-time Tour winner in Tuesday’s time trial it looked massive, but a day later the gap on the road was almost six minutes, the difference overall now seven-and-a-half minutes.

While Pogacar crossed the line taking a consoling arm around the shoulder from team-mate Marc Soler, the usually reserved Vingegaard allowed himself a more vigorous celebration with his team. As long as the Dane makes it to Paris on Sunday, he will surely win his second consecutive Tour.

Pogacar’s form coming into the Tour had been an open question given his lack of racing since breaking his wrist in April. For two weeks he had kept the gap at the top tantalisingly close, but the third week has proven too much.

As soon as the 24-year-old radioed in his concession, his team-mate Adam Yates was told to ride on in order to protect his third place overall, and the Lancastrian put time into Carlos Rodriguez to solidify his podium spot, now 76 seconds up on the young Spaniard and three minutes behind Pogacar.

Up ahead, Gall had attacked from the remains of a 33-strong breakaway that had, for much of the day, been as big as what counted as the peloton. Simon Yates did his best to chase down the Austrian but could not quite bridge the gap and came in 30 seconds down.

It was a second runner-up finish of the Tour for Simon Yates, who was narrowly beaten by his twin brother Adam on the opening stage in Bilbao. His consolation prize this time was moving up from eighth to fifth overall.

Gall, making his Tour debut, delivered a first win of this year’s race for the AG2R Citroen team, having unexpectedly taken over the leadership role within the squad after Ben O’Connor’s overall ambitions faded in the first week.

“I don’t know what to say,” the 25-year-old said. “This whole year has been incredible and now to do so well in the Tour and to win the queen stage it’s incredible. I just want to say thank you to the team, they have given me so much.

“It’s not easy to do a three-week stage race and then to also have the role of leader after a few days, I slowly focused on that and I was stressing myself about that, it’s not easy but the last few days I’ve been more comfortable. I was afraid I would be caught in the last kilometre but it’s incredible.”

Jonas Vingegaard seized control of the Tour de France with a huge victory in the stage 16 time trial.

The defending champion began the day just 10 seconds ahead of two-time winner Tadej Pogacar after two mountain stages over the weekend failed to find any meaningful difference between the two men who have won the previous three Tours.

But in the only race against the clock this year, Vingegaard blew away the entire field over the 22.4 kilometres between Passy and Combloux, putting 98 seconds into Pogacar to open up a significant lead with only two mountain stages remaining.

After much speculation over tactics, Pogacar chose to change bikes midway through the stage, getting on to his regular road bike for the final climb to the finish while Vingegaard stuck to his time trial machine.

Pogacar was already more than 30 seconds down on Vingegaard at that point, and the bike change brought no benefits as Vingegaard only continued to make up time. Given the way the Dane was riding, it surely did not matter what Pogacar was riding – there was no way for him to win this day.

Having started his effort two minutes behind Pogacar, Vingegaard could see his rival up the road by the time they neared the finish – knowing he now has him where he wants him with five days still to go.

Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert was third on the stage with Simon Yates fifth and Adam Yates seventh.

That result for Adam Yates was enough to move him up to third overall, five seconds ahead of Carlos Rodriguez, although there was little sense of celebration around the UAE Team Emirates bus after Pogacar’s time losses.

It was only a second career time trial win for Vingegaard, and one with massively more significance than the one he took at the Gran Camino at the start of the season.

“I was feeling great today,” Vingegaard said. “I think it’s the best time trial I’ve ever done. I’m really proud of what I did today and really happy about the victory.

“I think today I even surprised myself with the time trial I did. I didn’t expect to do so well.”

Asked if the Tour was now over, Vingegaard added: “No. There’s still a lot of hard stages to come. We have to keep fighting the next days and we’re looking forward to it.”

Pogacar must now regroup, hoping that the Tour is not over by the time they crest the top of the Col de la Loze, the highest point of this year’s race, on Wednesday.

“There was nothing I could do more,” Pogacar said. “Maybe it was not my best day… we’ll see.”

Carlos Rodriguez moved up to third overall after taking a maiden Tour de France stage win as Tadej Pogacar was left to rue a “wasted bullet” in his bid to wrest the yellow jersey from Jonas Vingegaard.

At the end of a dramatic 152km stage 14 to Morzine that began with an almost half-hour delay following a huge crash in the peloton, Rodriguez descended off the Joux Plane to take a second consecutive win for the Ineos Grenadiers while Vingegaard and Pogacar battled it out behind.

There was controversy at the top of the climb, where Pogacar tried to beat Vingegaard to vital bonus seconds only to find his path blocked by a motorbike as he accelerated, leaving question marks over the crowd management on the mountain.

That allowed the Dane to gain three seconds there, although Pogacar took two of them back on the finish line. Vingegaard’s lead in the yellow jersey is now 10 seconds as these two very different riders, head and shoulders above the rest, remain evenly matched.

Pogacar had attacked a little under four kilometres from the top of the mountain, which crested 12 kilometres from the finish, initially distancing the defending champion but never by more than 20 metres.

Vingegaard kept his cool, pacing his way back still with 1,700 metres to the summit. The Slovenian attacked again with 500 metres left, but had not noticed two motorbikes struggling to part the huge crowds and was forced to knock it back, allowing Vingegaard to regain the advantage.

“It was one wasted bullet after already doing the big climb to do one sprint for nothing,” Pogacar said. “It’s a bit of a shame but I don’t think it will change the outcome. OK, I messed it up a little bit but it is what it is.”

As the pair eyed each other Rodriguez, having lost around a minute when Pogacar put in his first acceleration, paced his way back on and then rode by to go clear on the descent.

“It’s incredible,” the Tour debutant said. “I have no words. Being here was a dream and getting a victory is incredible in the best race in the world. It was always something I focused on and to achieve now a victory I’m super happy…

“It was also a goal to gain some time and we accomplished it so I’m very happy on that side. I have to be happy and enjoy this victory but also think and recover a little bit for tomorrow as that is going to be a big day also.”

Jai Hindley started the day in third but was one of dozens of riders caught in the early crash just after the start in Annemasse, and was dropped five kilometres from the top of the final climb.

The Australian came in one minute 46 seconds after Rodriguez, losing third place to the 22-year-old Spaniard by one second.

But it was not all good news for the Ineos Grenadiers, with Tom Pidcock – also caught in that crash – distanced on the penultimate climb and slipping out of the top 10 overall.

Adam Yates is up to fifth after sticking with team-mate Pogacar, but his twin brother Simon dropped to seventh after also losing contact on the penultimate climb.

Seven riders did not finish – Britain’s Tour debutant James Shaw and French darling Romain Bardet were caught in a second incident after the big crash that would force Esteban Chaves, Louis Meintjes and others from the race.

Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team bossed the peloton from the moment the race resumed, their relentless pace soon defeating the day’s breakaway as the group of favourites was mercilessly whittled down.

“We wanted to make the race hard,” Vingegaard said. “I want to thank my team today. They’ve been amazing. In the end I only get one second but it’s good.”

Carlos Rodriguez won his first career Tour de France stage to move up to third overall as Jonas Vingegaard fought to keep the yellow jersey out of the clutches of Tadej Pogacar in Morzine.

At the end of a dramatic 152km stage 14 from Annemasse that began with an almost half-hour delay following a huge crash in the peloton, Rodriguez rode away on the descent to the finish to take a second consecutive win for the Ineos Grenadiers, with Vingegaard and Pogacar locked together behind.

There was controversy at the top of the final climb, the Joux Plane, where a motorbike blocked Pogacar’s efforts to race away from Vingegaard and take vital bonus seconds at the top, but the Slovenian did grab a couple back by coming in second ahead of his rival.

Although he was beaten to the finish line, those bonus seconds on top of the mountain meant that Vingegaard picked up a second over Pogacar, his advantage in yellow now 10 seconds.

Pogacar had attacked with 3.7km of the final climb remaining, initially distancing Vingegaard but never able to get more than 20 metres clear.

The defending champion rode back up to him still with 1,700 metres to the summit and when Pogacar attacked again with 500 metres left, he had not noticed two motorbikes struggling to part the huge crowds and was forced to knock it back, allowing Vingegaard to get three more bonus seconds.

As the pair eyed each other Rodriguez, having been left around a minute behind following Pogacar’s acceleration, paced his way back on and then rode by to go clear on the descent.

“It’s incredible,” the Tour debutant said. “I have no words. Being here was a dream and getting a victory is incredible in the best race in the world. It was always something I focused on and to achieve now a victory I’m super happy…

“It was also a goal to gain some time and we accomplished it so I’m very happy on that side. I have to be happy and enjoy this victory but also think and recovery a little bit for tomorrow as that is going to be a big day also.”

Jai Hindley started the day in third place overall but was caught in that early crash and was dropped five kilometres from the top of the final climb.

The Australian came in one minute 46 seconds after Rodriguez took the win, losing third place to the 22-year-old Spaniard by one second.

However, it was not all good news for the Ineos Grenadiers, with Tom Pidcock distanced on the penultimate climb and slipping out of the top 10 overall.

Adam Yates is up to fourth as he stuck with his team-mate Pogacar, but his twin brother Simon dropped down to seventh after also losing contact on the penultimate climb.

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