Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has again distanced Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) at the Tour de France, this time chipping away at the Dane's overall lead on the summit finish of Puy de Dôme. While the best of the day-long breakaway men were over eight minutes up on the line, the fireworks exploded once more in the general classification group.
After an attack by Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) with about 2km to go, Pogačar responded, closely followed by yellow jersey Vingegaard. However, when the big two dropped the other contenders, Pogačar attacked Vingegaard with 1.4km to go.
The gap opened immediately as Vingegaard could not cope with Pogačar's kick on the brutally steep gradients. And while the yellow jersey then dug in to control the damage - limiting his losses to just eight seconds - it was the second time Pogačar had distanced him.
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Pogačar finished the stage in 13th place, some 8:19 behind Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech). Woods proved victorious after catching lone leader Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) just 500m from the line. They were both in a large breakaway today which split into several groups on the approach to the final climb.
Jorgenson attacked the breakaway with 48km remaining and he started the concluding climb with over one minute in hand on a small chasing group. Eventual winner, Woods, was another 30-40 seconds further back, in the second chasing group, as the climb started.
However, the Canadian put in a brilliant final climb - especially over the final 5km, which was the steepest section. He picked off all of the riders ahead of him, including Jorgeson after he ran out of gas in the final 1km. To make matters worse, once Woods had caught and passed Jorgenson, his legs fell off and he was passed by two more riders and had to be content with 4th place today.
Woods won the stage by 28 seconds from Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) with Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) 3rd at 35 seconds and then Jorgenson 4th, also at 35 seconds. The breakaway men mopped up the first 12 places on the stage, with the general classification group then involved in a battle for time.
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The fact Pogačar was able to drop Vingegaard means the momentum stays with him going into tomorrow's rest day. He is now just 17 seconds behind race leader Vingegaard, after trailing him by as much as 53 seconds after stage 5 - when Vingegaard dropped him on the final climb on the road to Laruns.
The very next day, Pogačar distanced Vingegaard on the finish climb of Cauterets-Cambasque, winning the stage from the Dane and pulling back 28 seconds, with another eight seconds gained today. While Pogačar fractured his wrist and hand in a crash during Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, and did not race for two months, he now looks like he is getting stronger as the Tour continues.
However, whether his form has the depth required to win the Tour, with two weeks still to come, remains to be seen, though it looks good so far. On the other hand, Vingegaard had the perfect run into the Tour and showed fantastic form last month at Critérium du Dauphiné, winning the overall and two stages.
Whether he can hold that form all the way through the Tour is a question that will only be answered as the race continues to unfold. However, the general classification now promises an intriguing two-man battle.
Behind them, the scrap for the final spot on the podium also looks interesting, with Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlULa) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) proving best of the GC men - behind the big two - today; in 15th and 16th some 51 seconds down on Pogačar.
Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) still maintains 3rd place overall - some 2:40 down on yellow jersey Vingegaard. Then comes the Yates brothers Simon and Adam (UAE Team Emirates) in 5th and 6th at 4:39 and 4:44. Pidcock is now 7th - at 5:52 - and is possibly emerging as a contender in that fight for 3rd place overall, though clearly he has some time to make up.
