Mathieu van der Poel won a brilliant 21st stage of the Tour de France on Sunday after escaping with yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar on the final ascent of the Montmartre climb during the Paris final.
In an extraordinarily tense final, Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took 12 seconds onto the Champs Elysées, leading a large group of chasers, including sprinters and their lead outs.
With their lead down to just five seconds inside the last kilometre, Pogačar was unable to maintain his effort, but Van der Poel forged on, winning the stage by a bike length form his team mate Jasper Philipsen. Green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was third.
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With the GC times decided before the first of three longer laps up the Montmartre climb, which remained in the route after its debut last year, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) confirmed his fifth overall win at the Tour de France.
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was second overall and Pogačar’s team mate, Isaac Del surviving a poorly timed mechanical to take third and the best young rider classification.
Pogačar was never lower than fourth on GC, taking the yellow jersey on stage three, ceding it, then never relinquishing it after reclaiming the race lead on stage six. Not only that but he won five stages en route to a record equalling fifth overall win, again unarguably confirming him among the sport’s greatest ever.
More to follow…
