2022 Tour de France: Vingegaard drops Pogacar in final Tour mountain test
France finally got a stage winner in the 2022 Tour de France as Christophe Laporte sprinted past Fred Wright in the final kilometre to claim his first ever stage win on the Tour and become Team Jumbo-Visma’s third stage winner of this tour after Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard.
On a stage that could have been set up for a winner in the breakaway the peloton rode hard and never let any riders stay up the hill for long. The general classification contenders were more focused on safely completing the stage and were ably helped by their teammates in the peloton. Three or four breakaway efforts were made but only the trio of Fred Wright, Jasper Stuyven, and Alexis Gougeard threatened an upset.
The went out front with 30km and held the lead until 1500 metres to go. With Jonas Vingegaard safely secure at the top of the GC standings and Wout van Aert choosing not to take part in the sprint, Laporte made his move and crossed the gap to the breakaway. Sensing danger Wright gave it one last push to the line but Laporte had the fresher legs, he caught the Brit, overhaulled him and crossed the finish with a clear gap over anyone else.
Follow all the latest action from stage 19 below.
