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Like his compatriot, Bjarne Riis, in 1996, Jonas Vingegaard wins the Hautacam, winning a champion that previously seemed impregnable. And that moment of the descent of the Spandelles pass, when Pogacar came down, and Vingegaard was waiting for him, was a historic moment. No less important because Vingegaard seemed to have lost the chain before and Pogacar had attacked. As a result, Vingegaard was the best and strongest man, and Pogacar refused to attack further on the descent, telling his team car.
Updated at 16.51 BST
… Gaudu arrives just behind Thomas, whose third place seems assured, if nothing goes too wrong in Saturday’s time trial. A little trip from Thomas to finish fourth at this stage.
Updated at 16.43 BST
Pogacar enters, his shirt open, blowing in the mountain air, fighting bravely, his head bowed as he crosses the line. He was overtaken, and rose again, but could not turn over such a strong and inspired rival. Behind him enters Van Aert, who has dominated the stage from start to finish and has prepared his teammate to win the stage, and probably Le Tour.
Tadej Pogacar crosses the finish line after a brutal stage for the solvent. Photography: Christian Hartmann / Reuters
Updated at 16.44 BST
Jonas Vingegaard wins the 18th stage at the Hautacam!
The Dane is surely destined to win the Tour now. He does so having cracked Pogacar, which until this year’s Tour was considered impossible. And today, perhaps most importantly, he has done so after having shown so much sportsmanship when Pogacar crashed on that descent. What a moment, what a victory. A great trip from Vingegaard.
Jonas Vingegaard crosses the line to win stage 18 and this will surely be his first title in the Tour de France. Photography: Christian Hartmann / Reuters
Updated at 16.42 BST
1km left: Gaudu tries to drop Martinez and Thomas but ends up dragging them into Sepp Kuss’s group, while Vingegaard looks back to see how far Pogacar has left the road. The flame rouge arrives and the agony will soon turn into exaltation.
1.5 km away: Gaudu is close to Thomas and needs three minutes to reach third place in the overall standings. Next year, Gaudu may be France’s great hope. This time, it’s dazzling, it’s dynamic, it’s Denmark, as the gap between Pogacar and Vingegaard opens up to 40 seconds.
2.5 km missing: Geraint Thomas needs a change of bike, although Martinez, his Inos teammate, has at least company, as Gaudu closes in a few seconds from him. This is for the smaller places, as Vingegaard has shattered the rest, with 35 seconds over Pogacar, the rest almost upside down as they climb the Hautacam.
There are 3.5 km left: Pogacar and Van Aert join, without words between them, the gap to Vingegaard in 20 seconds, although it can also be an hour. Pogacar has no way back. There will be no third consecutive Tour, except accident (or Covid).
Pogacar has broken!
Van Aert’s green jersey leads Vingegaard’s yellow, ahead of Pogacar’s white jersey. Thomas is still a minute below, and Gaudu is behind. But here is the moment when the yellow jersey is decided, and Van Aert’s pace makes Pogacar unable to live with the Jumbo-Visma pair. He drops his back, and immediately walks away. Vingegaard and Van Aert have the stage and the Tour in their hands.
5km to the end: Geraint Thomas starts to lose almost a minute on the two leaders, while David Gaudu will be fourth from Nairo Quintana if he stays that way. Looking back at the road from the green shirt, the yellow shirt is visible, and Van Aert leaves Kuss’s relief behind as a pacemaker. Vingegaard will grab polka if he finishes first or second at the top. Poor Simon Geschke, back in the group, is about to lose his prized possession.
Geraint Thomas is struggling. Photography: Thomas Samson / AFP / Getty Images
Updated at 16.27 BST
6 kilometers to go: Van Aert seems to slow down, Martinez clings behind him, the distance 36 seconds away, and Kuss finally runs out of gas. The longer this group is together, the less chance Pogacar will have of attacking. But the plan seems to be for Vingegaard to attack. He has the manpower around him to design it, but Jumbo-Visma may also be preparing Van Aert for the stage victory. They have a lot of cards to play.
There are 7 km left: Thomas leaves Kuss, Vingegaard and Pogacar, while this trio advances at speed through the Hautacam, passing by an affected Thibaut Pinot. The French will not end here with their drought of stage victories.
Missing 8 km: Van Aert turns his elbow and asks Martinez to take his turn. The Colombian accepts. Van Aert wants polka dots as well as the green t-shirt he can already say his own.
Van Aert is attacking!
9 miles to go: The pace Kuss is following may soon bring the GC group up to date with the trio ahead. He is running Pogacar into the red zone, exhausting his ability to chase Vingegaard, to mount another of these savage attacks. Van Aert, however, decides to get out of the front, and with that, Pinot’s chance seems to be gone, and only Martinez can stay with him.
Van Aert attacks. Photography: Michael Steele / Getty Images
Updated at 16.21 BST
There are 10 kilometers left: Pinot asks his traveling companions at the top to run next to him, to make a turn. He pours water, but Van Aert and Martinez sit with their sad faces behind him as he tries to pull them away. Are you making lanterns? Do you have legs? Behind him, downhill, Sepp Kuss accompanies Vingegaard and it’s Pogacar’s turn to take the wheel. The gap is narrowing, Pinot’s pace is much slower than Kuss’s. Louis Meintjes will not bother Geraint Thomas for the podium; go down the hill again.
Missing 12 km: Meintjes comes out from behind, but only to pick up a bottle before the climb. Thomas will watch over him like a hawk. Benoot and Kuss sit at the head of this group, Jumbo-Visma sets the pace. Above, Pinot has a front deflection, testing the legs of Martinez and Van Aert. Two races at a time here, even though Benoot’s day is over.
Here comes the Hautacam
Dani Martinez, Thibaut Pinot and Wout van Aert reach the bottom of the hill, and there’s a stage victory, a polka shirt and maybe, in Van Aert’s case, a chance to win a Vingegaard victory in the GC. Louis Meintjes, pursuing the third position of Geraint Thomas, has joined the group of candidates for the GC.
15km to the finish: Van Aert, with two minutes on top of rivals chasing the GC, has a chance to wear the polka dot jersey if he wins the stage. So does Thibaut Pinot, to rescue something from a disappointing Tour. Vingegaard and Pogacar are soon joined by Kuss, Benoot and Thomas, who are still pending their place on the podium like a slacker.
17 kilometers are left: all the credit goes to Vingegaard and Pogacar seems to recognize it, even if his team is not so empathetic. They reach the bottom of the hill, and soon the Hautacam will call them. His slow pace of descent has pushed back people like Kuss and Tiesj Benoot, wearing Jumbo T-shirts, to push Vingegaard.
Photography: Gonzalo Fuentes / Reuters
Updated at 16.06 BST
Missing 22 km: Pogacar is on his radio, possibly asking for a new bike, it looks like his steed has failed him. And the care of the team goes to his side, offering a bottle after a brief discussion. He seems to be angry with his team, as if they were asking him to attack someone with whom he has just enjoyed a moment of brotherhood. Ironically, Eurosport has turned to Alberto Contador for an expert summary. He describes it as a “historic moment,” but then says falling is part of the race and the risk.
Pogacar crashes downhill!
There are 28 km left: it was almost very unpleasant, as Vingegaard almost reaches a cut, but then Pogacar comes off and there will be eruptions on the road. Pogacar climbs back up, cautiously, though he mounts like a demon to get back into it, and Vingegaard sits down for his rival, and when they meet, there is a touch of hands.
This was not the setting for Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. There is a clear respect between the riders and they walk away in their pursuit down the hill, both recognizing the danger it entails. What a sporty moment.
33 km missing: Pogacar’s pace makes Tiesj Benoot, who had climbed the road to help his leader, can’t keep up and breaks. Meintjes, who had designs on a podium, with Thomas behind him on the road, doesn’t live with speed either. Sepp Kuss can also offer a little more assistance.
Van Aert, Dani Martinez and Thibaut Pinot are the three runners who overcome the climb, Van Aert taking the mountain points and descending at high speed through the Spandelles pass. Through a tree-covered bend, Pogacar, with Vingegaard in its tail, passes over the forehead and can begin its descent. The Hautacam is where it will be decided.
Thomas and Pogacar attack
35 km left: Pogacar, once Kuss joins them, is held by a rider he passes by, and then, once Thomas joins the group, he accelerates and does everything possible to eliminate Kuss, who then catch up again. The goal seems to be accelerating and slowing down to eliminate Vingegaard and Kuss, in a cat and mouse game. He then slows down, allowing Kuss and Thomas to reunite with him. Then Thomas leaves, climbs the hill and stretches the field. Vingegaard seems very stressed by all that is going on around him. But can it be broken? Pogacar shuts down and quickly passes in front of Thomas, with Vingegaard on the edge as he chases. Ciccone, the king of the mountains he never was, is eaten. The pace is relentless, deadly to those around them.
Pogacar comes out ahead!
38km to the end: Van Aert has clearly been on the radio and is doing his best to outdo himself so he can be there to help Vingegaard later. The result of this is that Ciccone has broken up, and that means Geschke, now behind the field and suffering, can still be in the polka at the end of the day. Ciccone is looking for Mollema, but it didn’t work, the …