Jonas Vingegaard responded to a series of attacks from defending champion Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France on stage 18 and ultimately dropped his rival in the last big mountain stage of this year’s race.
With only one big test left before the race reaches Paris — a 41-kilometre time trial scheduled for Saturday — the Jumbo-Visma leader seems all but guaranteed to win a maiden Tour title after reaching the Hautacam resort on his own. Barring a crash, the yellow jersey should be his.
Pogacar, the two-time defending champion, cracked about 4km from the finish after spending the day on the attack. Vingegaard then went solo to claim a second stage win following his success at the Col du Granon last week in the Alps on the day he took control of the race. Pogacar crossed the finish line more than one minute behind Vingegaard as Geraint Thomas cemented his spot on the podium.
Follow all the latest action from stage 18 below.
