The yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar easily held his own on Tuesday after multiple attacks by Jonas Vingegaard in the Tour de France stage to Mont Ventoux. French breakaway rider Valentin Paret-Peintre took the stage victory.
Early in the stage to the top of Mont Ventoux, it was clear that Vingegaard had something planned. He put his team at the head of the peloton and launched his attack on the steep flanks of the mythical climb in Provence.
Pogacar didn’t flinch and followed his Danish rival without getting out of the saddle. The Slovenian did the same when Vingegaard attacked a second and third time. In the final kilometers, Pogacar tried it himself, but he couldn’t shake off his competitor either.
While the two top favorites battled each other, the fight for the stage victory raged at the front. For a long time, it looked like Thymen Arensman had a chance for his second stage win, but the Dutchman had to let his fellow escapees go on Mont Ventoux.
Paret-Peintre proved to be the strongest of the adventurers. The Frenchman from Soudal Quick-Step beat Ben Healy in the sprint. Santiago Buitrago finished just behind him in third place. Arensman eventually finished twelfth.
Pogacar extends his lead slightly further
The 24-year-old Paret-Peintre took the first French stage victory of this Tour. It is his second stage win in a grand tour after he won a stage in the Giro d’Italia last year. Soudal Quick-Step’s tally for this Tour is four, after two victories by Tim Merlier and one by Remco Evenepoel.
Pogacar won the sprint from Vingegaard and took two seconds of time bonus. The Slovenian world champion has a 4 minute and 15 second lead in the general classification over the leader of Visma-Lease a Bike. Number three Florian Lipowitz is more than nine minutes behind ‘Pogi’.
After the finish on Mont Ventoux, something remarkable happened. Vingegaard collided with a photographer and fell. The two-time Tour winner seemed to escape without injury.
Wednesday’s stage is largely flat and seems suitable for the sprinters. On Thursday, the riders enter the Alps. The Tour de France lasts until Sunday.