𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

But he rode superbly on stage 18 to get into the day’s breakaway, sticking with the GC group as they absorbed the escapees on the Col de la Madeleine, before attacking again on the valley road, and finally dropping his sole remaining companion, Einer Rubio, with 16km left of the final climb.

He continued to time-trial his way to the finish and his second Tour de France stage win, a first since 2021, which he also achieved from a 17km solo win in similarly grim conditions.

And in doing so this time he jumped back into 10th place overall, rescuing his GC too.

Pogacar rode a conservative race to simply consolidate his lead, allowing Visma to shred the race down on the day’s second hors-categorie climb, the Col de la Madeleine, before a regrouping on the valley road to Col de la Loze.

That wasn’t quite what Visma had in mind and after all their efforts there was nothing they could do to distance Pogacar, who took control on the final climb and launched a sprint for second place on the top of the fearsome Col de la Loze.

Vingegaard was distanced as the yellow jersey stormed off to banish his past demons from the Col de la Loze, where he cracked in the 2023 Tour, and it was the Dane this time picking up the pieces, losing another 11 seconds. He insisted “the Tour isn’t over, still” at the finish, and while that’s true, he is rapidly running out of time to haul back his four-and-a-half minute deficit.

Tadej Pogacar conquered his demons on the Col de la Loze to stretch his advantage in yellow as Ben O’Connor secured his second career Tour de France stage victory, this time on the queen stage.

On the mountain where Pogacar famously cracked in 2023 as Jonas Vingegaard rode away to his second Tour crown, the Slovenian was the one gaining time two years later as a late dig at the summit saw him add 11 seconds to an overall lead that now stands at four minutes 26 seconds over his Danish rival.

The amended, shortened Stage 19 begins with the neutralised start at 2.30pm local time (1.30pm BST) and is set to conclude around 5.20pm local time (4.20pm BST).

Tour de France organisers have edited what was set to be an enthralling day in the Alps to avoid cow culling taking place near the stage 19 route.

The discovery of a contagious disease amongst cattle has meant the route will be shortened from 129.9 kilometres to just 95km with two climbs – the 11.3km Cote d’Hery-sur-Ugine and the 13.7km Col des Saisies – removed.

An outbreak of nodular dermatitis meant the affected herd has needed to be culled and race organisers have taken the decision to divert the route in light of “distress” amongst those farmers concerned.

The planned 4,550m of elevation gain has been reduced to 3,250m. Both HC climbs are still on the route plan, with the final one to La Plagne topping out at over 2,000m above sea level.

Bonjour and welcome to stage 19 of the Tour de France, the final major mountainous test of this year’s race.

It’s the last day in the Alps, and that means it’s Jonas Vingegaard’s last chance to go all-in for yellow. Buckle in…