Tadej Pogacar has acknowledged girlfriend Urska Zigart's Olympics snub contributed to his decision to withdraw from Paris 2024.

The three-time Tour de France champion had been scheduled to take part in the men's road race at the Games on August 3, but it was announced on Monday he would not take part.

While Slovenia's Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn attributed Pogacar's absence to "extreme fatigue" after claiming his latest Tour title last week, the UAE Team Emirates superstar was back in action the following day at a criterium race in Surhuisterveen.

Questioned about his Paris decision by Dutch broadcaster NOS, Pogacar revealed his frustration at Zigart missing out on a place in the Slovenian squad.

"It's not the main reason, but it certainly didn't help," he said. "I think she deserves her place. She's a two-time national champion in the road race and time trial."

Urska Pintar and Eugenia Bujak were preferred to Zigart for the women's road race. Zigart won the national title in that event ahead of Pintar last month.

Mark Cavendish made Tour de France history on Thursday as he won a sprint finish to take his 35th stage victory at the event.

That saw Cavendish, who won four stages in the 2021 edition of the race, surpass the great Eddy Merckx as the outright record holder for stage wins in the Tour de France.

Cavendish came out on top in a bunch sprint at the end of a 177.4km route from Saint Jean De Maurienne to Saint Vulbas.

At 39, he became the second-oldest stage winner at the Tour de France, behind Pino Cerami, who was 41 when he won in 1963.

"We just wanted to get the run-in to do it. I'm in a bit of disbelief," said Cavendish, who now rides for Astana Qazaqstan team and struggled to finish stage one last week.

"It was a big gamble for my boss and the team. You have to go all-in and we have done it. We did exactly what we wanted to do.

"Every little detail has been put towards specifically today. The Tour de France is bigger than cycling."

Geraint Thomas, Cavendish's good friend and former team-mate, said: "It’s unbelievable I am super happy for him

"To continue to do what he does at his age…at 39, everyone says you get slower when you get older but he has proved them wrong.

"It is great he has the record alone and is not sharing it with anyone. I said 'mate if you win this stage just drop your bike and walk away' but 'he was like, if I win the first one, I'll want to win more,' so he’s definitely going to hang around isn’t he."

Tadej Pogacar, who leads the general classification, quipped he cannot envisage himself taking Cavendish's slice of history.

The two-time Tour de France champion said: "Incredible. A 35th victory for Mark. He came to me and said don’t break the record but I don’t think I can."

Tom Pidcock has admitted he faces pressure from the Ineos Grenadiers to put greater focus on the Tour de France but the world and Olympic mountain bike champion is determined to keep enjoying multiple disciplines for a little while longer.

The 24-year-old is seen as a potential future Tour winner but though he took a famous stage victory on the Alpe d’Huez in 2022 and rode to 13th overall this year, the Yorkshireman is yet to concentrate solely on the road, and this year added the world mountain bike title to his Olympic crown.

Pidcock also won the cyclo-cross world title last year, and while his pursuit of multiple goals is delaying the day when he might be ready to chase Tour glory, he believes a varied approach is making him a better all-round rider.

“Maybe I need to specialise in one discipline if I want to win the Tour, but I know that you’ll get the best out of me when I’m happy and when I’m enjoying it,” Pidcock said on the Red Bull Just Ride podcast. “Which is why I love other disciplines…

“Of course I want to win the Tour de France one day but the patience and preparation is massive.

“There is the element (of pressure from the team) and I knew that when I committed long term to the team. I also want it, but in my own way. I want to achieve all the things I believe I can achieve…

“Right now, I’m not ready to win the Tour de France next year yet. There has to be more steps where I achieve things in different disciplines and achieving them makes me a better rider.”

Pidcock was speaking after the Mountain Bike World Cup event in Mont-Sainte-Anne, where he won the cross-country race to continue preparations for his Olympic title defence next summer.

Pidcock has also enjoyed success on the road this season, winning Strade Bianche in March before podium finishes at the Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

But Ineos, a team who won the Tour seven times out of eight between 2012 and 2019, have found themselves left behind at the world’s biggest race in recent years as UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma have come to the fore, and the Grenadiers need a lift.

While Pidcock could perhaps emerge as a rival if he went all-in, he is reluctant to do so – the three-week slog of the Tour at odds with his instinctive style.

Looking back to his Alpe d’Huez win, he added: “You’re the centre of attention but only for a couple of hours – then you’re back to it with massage and food. Before you know it, you’re on the next stage the next day and there’s a new winner so it’s done.

“Compared to when I won the Olympics where you’re on the front of all the newspapers back home and people want interviews and chats that you could live off for months. With the Tour, it never stops and you have to be ready to race again.”

Pidcock plans to ride the Tour again next summer, but has to balance that with his ambitions in both the mountain bike race and the road race at the Paris Olympics, which begin only eight days after the Tour finishes in Nice.

The tight schedule is behind his decision to keep chasing mountain bike qualification points late into the year.

“By doing these races at the end of the year now, it will mean I don’t have to do the mountain bike races in the spring which will allow me better prep for the Tour,” he said.

“Then I’ll hopefully come out of the end of that in a better condition to cope with the start of the Olympics.”

:: Tom Pidcock is a Red Bull athlete. He was speaking on the latest Red Bull Just Ride podcast. Listen to the full episode here.

Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France on this day in 2012.

Wiggins finished three minutes and 21 seconds ahead of compatriot and Team Sky colleague Chris Froome to be crowned champion in the 99th edition of the race.

The then 32-year-old was left on the verge of history following his impressive time-trial win on the penultimate day.

And there were no slip-ups during the 20th and final stage, where Wiggins helped another Team Sky rider Mark Cavendish to victory on the Champs-Elysees.

“I don’t know what to say, I’ve had 24 hours for it to soak in,” he said following his win.

“I’m still buzzing from the Champs-Elysees, the laps go so quick. I’ve got to get used to that (being in the spotlight), it’s going to take a while.

“I’m just trying to soak it all in. You never imagine it will happen to you but it’s amazing.”

Wiggins, who ended his career as a five-time Olympic gold medallist, had been favourite to win the previous year’s race, only to be sidelined after breaking his collarbone in a crash.

Following three weeks and 2,173 miles raced, wearing the yellow jersey for 13 consecutive stages, he came out on top ahead of Froome and third-placed Italian Vincenzo Nibali.

He was later named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Kenya-born Froome won four of the next five Tours, while Welshman Gerraint Thomas became the third British champion in 2018.

Matej Mohoric won stage 19 of the Tour de France in a photo finish at the end of a furious day’s racing in the Jura.

Mohoric and Thursday’s winner Kasper Asgreen came to the line neck and neck, with Ben O’Connor third, after the trio broke away from a 37-strong breakaway when it broke into several pieces on the final climb some 30 kilometres from the end of the 173km stage from Moirans-en-Montagne to Poligny.

A stage characterised by non-stop attacking was raced at an average speed of 49.1kmh over rolling terrain, the fastest stage of this year’s Tour and the fifth fastest ever, but after all that effort it came down to a bike throw on the line.

O’Connor launched his sprint first 400 metres from the finish but knew it was a doomed move against two faster men. Asgreen was the first to come around but Mohoric timed it perfectly to take victory by a tyre’s width.

The front three came in just shy of 40 seconds clear of a chasing group, with Jasper Philipsen repeating his fourth place of 24 hours earlier.

There was no change at the top of the general classification, with race leader Jonas Vingegaard finishing safely within the main peloton almost 14 minutes down, needing now only to survive Saturday’s mountain stage to Le Markstein before he can begin celebrations on the road into Paris.

For a second day running the Tour passed through territory ideal for a breakaway, but such was the fight to get into it that 60km had been covered before a nine-strong group went away.

After Nils Politt broke his chain, their advantage of a minute quickly tumbled and a counter move of 29 riders came up to join them.

Victor Campenaerts and Simon Clarke tried to go off the front but after Clarke cramped up the group exploded on the final climb still with nearly 30km to the finish.

That gave Mohoric, Asgreen and O’Connor their chance to go clear as they went over the top first, and a powerful chasing group could not close the gap on the straight descent into town.

Mohoric had to wait for confirmation of his win, but as soon as it came the emotions poured out of the Slovenian, who paid tribute to some of the unsung heroes of cycling – the mechanics and carers working behind the scenes – while also remembering his late team-mate Gino Mader.

It was a third stage win of Mohoric’s career, and also a third of this Tour for the Bahrain-Victorious team – another opportunity for them to pay tribute to Mader after his tragic death at the Tour de Suisse last month.

“It means a lot because it’s hard and cruel to be a professional cyclist, you suffer a lot in your preparations, you sacrifice your life, your family and you give everything you can to get here ready,” Mohoric said.

“After a couple of days you realise everyone is so incredibly strong, it’s so hard to follow the wheels some days…sometimes you feel like you don’t belong…

“When Kasper went I knew it was the decisive attack, he was so incredibly strong to win the stage yesterday but he has the will and determination to do it again today.

“I knew I had to do everything perfect, I tried my best for Gino and for the team and in the end you almost feel like you betray (your rivals) because you beat them to the line but it’s just the way professional sport is and everyone wants to win.

“If I want to win I have to follow the wheel of Kasper and then try to beat him in the last 50 metres. I just feel so many things right now.”

Kasper Asgreen outsprinted the chasing peloton to take victory from a breakaway on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bourg-en-Bresse.

The sprint teams got their sums wrong on the 185km stage from Moutiers as a four-strong break held on by less than 50 metres to take the stage, with Asgreen beating fellow escapees Pascal Eenkhoorn and Jonas Abrahamsen to take his first career Tour stage win.

Jasper Philipsen, hoping to add to his four sprint stage wins in this first opportunity for the quick men in over a week, came home in fourth having failed to make the catch.

There was perhaps some karma in that given the aggressive tactics Philipsen had used earlier in the stage when trying to block Eenkhoorn’s bid to join the breakaway.

The sprint finish to the 185km stage from Moutiers meant no changes at the top of the general classification, in which defending champion Jonas Vingegaard took an all-but-unassailable seven-and-a-half minute lead over Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday.

This slightly lumpy stage offered up the prospect of a breakaway denying the quick men if enough riders could get up the road, although the sprinters who survived the mountains were desperate for their chance, with perhaps only the Champs-Elysees left after this.

But with exhausted legs throughout the peloton after some punishing days in the Alps only three – Asgreen, Abrahamsen and Victor Campernaerts – chanced their arm and were rarely given more than a minute’s advantage.

That short gap allowed Campernaerts’ team-mate Pascal Eenkhoorn to bridge over with 60km to go, despite being forced on to the verge by Philipsen as he tried to get away from the main bunch.

Even as a quartet, the front group appeared to have little chance, but the sprint teams struggled to reel them in on the way into town, and as the road narrowed into a couple of tight technical corners, it became apparent that the scales were tipping in favour of those out in front.

Asgreen then came around Abrahamsen inside the final 100 metres with the chasing Eenkhoorn unable to get on terms.

It was a first stage victory of this Tour for Soudal-QuickStep, a perennial winning machine who had not reached stage 18 without taking a stage for more than a decade, but also a team who lost star sprinter Fabio Jakobsen to injury earlier in the race.

“The situation was not ideal,” Asgreen said. “We’d have preferred to have gone with maybe six or seven (in the break) but also the last week of the Tour coming off some really, really hard days, we’ve seen it before that even a small group can manage to beat the sprint teams so I didn’t rule it out.

“It was a team time trial to the finish. I really couldn’t have done it without Pascal, Victor and Jonas. They all did amazing out there and to be honest we all deserved the win with the work we put in but I’m really happy to come away with it.

“It means so much. With the period I had in the last year since my crash at the Tour de Suisse and having to leave the Tour de France I’ve come a long way. To cap it off with victory like this I really want to dedicate it to all the people who helped me throughout the last year.”

Tadej Pogacar conceded defeat to Jonas Vingegaard in the fight for yellow as Felix Gall beat Simon Yates to victory on stage 17 of the Tour de France in Courchevel.

While Gall and Yates fought out stage honours from the breakaway, the overall battle in this Tour was effectively decided on the mighty Col de la Loze, the highest mountain of this year’s race, at the end of this 166km stage from Saint-Gervais.

Having shown cracks in Tuesday’s time trial, Pogacar crumbled on this punishing 28km climb, losing the wheels still with eight kilometres remaining to the summit as he watched his rivals ride away without even needing to attack, the time gaps ballooning before the finish.

“I’m gone,” Pogacar told his team on the radio as he watched his rival ride away. “I’m dead.”

The Slovenian, involved in a minor crash at the start of the stage, had trailed Vingegaard by just 10 seconds on Monday’s rest day.

When Vingegaard took 98 seconds out of the two-time Tour winner in Tuesday’s time trial it looked massive, but a day later the gap on the road was almost six minutes, the difference overall now seven-and-a-half minutes.

While Pogacar crossed the line taking a consoling arm around the shoulder from team-mate Marc Soler, the usually reserved Vingegaard allowed himself a more vigorous celebration with his team. As long as the Dane makes it to Paris on Sunday, he will surely win his second consecutive Tour.

Pogacar’s form coming into the Tour had been an open question given his lack of racing since breaking his wrist in April. For two weeks he had kept the gap at the top tantalisingly close, but the third week has proven too much.

As soon as the 24-year-old radioed in his concession, his team-mate Adam Yates was told to ride on in order to protect his third place overall, and the Lancastrian put time into Carlos Rodriguez to solidify his podium spot, now 76 seconds up on the young Spaniard and three minutes behind Pogacar.

Up ahead, Gall had attacked from the remains of a 33-strong breakaway that had, for much of the day, been as big as what counted as the peloton. Simon Yates did his best to chase down the Austrian but could not quite bridge the gap and came in 30 seconds down.

It was a second runner-up finish of the Tour for Simon Yates, who was narrowly beaten by his twin brother Adam on the opening stage in Bilbao. His consolation prize this time was moving up from eighth to fifth overall.

Gall, making his Tour debut, delivered a first win of this year’s race for the AG2R Citroen team, having unexpectedly taken over the leadership role within the squad after Ben O’Connor’s overall ambitions faded in the first week.

“I don’t know what to say,” the 25-year-old said. “This whole year has been incredible and now to do so well in the Tour and to win the queen stage it’s incredible. I just want to say thank you to the team, they have given me so much.

“It’s not easy to do a three-week stage race and then to also have the role of leader after a few days, I slowly focused on that and I was stressing myself about that, it’s not easy but the last few days I’ve been more comfortable. I was afraid I would be caught in the last kilometre but it’s incredible.”

Ion Izagirre took a superb solo victory at the end of an explosive stage 12 of the Tour de France to Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Eleven days after Victor Lafay ended a 15-year wait for a stage win for the Cofidis team, Izagirre doubled up with a perfectly-timed attack from the breakaway, also giving him his second career Tour stage victory seven years after his first in Morzine.

The Basque rider, 34, went solo during the final climb, still with 31 kilometres remaining of the 169km stage through wine country from Roanne that was again raced at a ferocious pace.

The much-reduced peloton came in more than four minutes after Izagirre. Jonas Vingegaard retained his 17-second lead over Tadej Pogacar as the Alps loom this weekend, but only after putting a big effort in over the first part of the stage which he admitted could come with a price to pay in the days ahead.

The stage was always seen as one for the breakaway, but it was a war of attrition from the off as the peloton was quickly whittled down to a few dozen riders by a series of attacks.

With his Jumbo-Visma team-mates Wout van Aert and and Tiesj Benoot seemingly determined to be in any move, Vingegaard was repeatedly left isolated in the yellow jersey, forced to chase down moves as Jai Hindley, third overall, followed the wheels to protect his own position.

It was not until 85 kilometres to go that a 15-strong group got away, but their lead over a peloton reduced to just 39 riders never grew rapidly – fatigue seemingly having set in for everybody.

And having taken half the stage to form, the break lasted less than 40km as a fighting force. Mathieu van der Poel attacked from that front group along with Andrey Amador on the penultimate climb of the Col de la Croix Montmain, soon leaving Amador behind to set out alone with 47km left.

But it was too much for the Dutchman, who was caught midway up the final climb of the Col de la Croix Rosier as the front group swelled to eight.

Izagirre had led the chase, but still had the power left to launch the stage-winning move as others did not react, instead eyeing his team-mate Guillaume Martin.

By the time they did consider a counter, Izagirre had gone, winning the stage by 58 seconds from Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Jorgenson.

When Pello Bilbao won Tuesday’s stage 10, it was a first Spanish stage winner in five years. Two days later there was another, both from Basque riders thriving in a race which began in their home region.

“I felt strong in the last kilometres,” Izagirre said. “Many things went through my mind. It’s all very emotional. It’s a very Basque Tour de France. It started at home for us and we took two stage wins. I’m happy to follow the line drawn by Pello Bilbao.”

The Ineos Grenadiers had done much to pace the main contenders in the latter part of the stage, ensuring that Thibaut Pinot’s presence in the breakaway did not threaten Tom Pidcock’s eighth place overall as the Frenchman moved up as far as 10th.

The Tour now heads into the Alps with Friday’s stage a 138km test that ends with the climb of the Grand Colombier, where Vingegaard may find out if there is anything to pay for Thursday’s efforts.

“Every race day is full on, and today’s was no exception,” the Dane said. “From your perspective, I’m sure this is being a great Tour de France. Today’s stage has been very hard.

“The consequences of this difficulty will be seen in the third week. Everything is building up for a very hard Tour de France. I’m ready for a big battle tomorrow and hope for having my best legs.”

Ion Izagirre soloed to victory at the end of an explosive stage 12 of the Tour de France to Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Eleven days after Victor Lafay ended a 15-year wait for a stage win for the Cofidis team, Izagirre doubled up with a perfectly-timed attack from the breakaway.

The Basque rider, 34, went solo during the final climb, still with 31 kilometres remaining of the 169km stage through wine country from Roanne that was again raced at a ferocious pace.

The much-reduced peloton came in more than four minutes after Izagirre, with Jonas Vingegaard retaining his 17-second lead over Tadej Pogacar as the Alps loom this weekend, but only after putting a big effort in over the first part of the stage which could come with a price to pay in the days ahead.

The stage was always seen as one for the breakaway, but it was a war of attrition from the off as the peloton was quickly whittled down to a few dozen riders by a series of attacks.

With his Jumbo-Visma team-mates Wout Van Aert and and Tiesj Benoot seemingly determined to be in any move, Vingegaard was repeatedly left isolated in the yellow jersey, repeatedly forced to chase down moves as Jai Hindley, third overall, followed the wheels to protect his own position.

It was not until 85 kilometres to go that a 15-strong group got away, but even as a peloton by then reduced to just 39 sat up, their lead never ballooned, the efforts of the first half of the stage perhaps leaving them with little energy left to apply themselves.

Having taken half the stage to form, the break lasted less than 40km as a fighting force. Mathieu Van Der Poel attacked from that front group along with Andrey Amador on the penultimate climb of the Col de la Croix Montmain, soon leaving Amador behind to set out alone with 47km left.

But it was too much for the Dutchman, who was caught midway up the final climb of the Col de la Croix Rosier as the front group swelled to eight.

Izagirre had led the chase, but still had the power left to launch the stage-winning move as he arrived at the line 58 seconds clear Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Jorgenson in second and third.

The Ineos Grenadiers had done much to pace the main contenders in the latter part of the stage, ensuring that Thibaut Pinot’s presence in the breakaway did not threaten Pidcock’s eighth place overall as the Frenchman moved up as far as 10th.

The Tour now heads into the Alps with Friday’s stage a 138km test that ends with the climb of the Grand Colombier.

Jasper Philipsen’s outstanding Tour de France continued on Wednesday as he sprinted to his fourth stage victory on stage 11 in Moulins.

For once Philipsen did not have the best lead-out at the end of a flat stage, but he coolly slotted in behind Dylan Groenewegen and came past the Dutchman in the final 100 metres to extend his sizeable advantage in the points classification.

The sprint finish to the 180km stage from from Clermont-Ferrand meant no change in the fight for the yellow jersey, in which Jonas Vingegaard leads by 17 seconds from Tadej Pogacar.

Philipsen had profited from the huge talents of Alpecin-Deceuninck team-mate Mathieu van der Poel in the previous three flat bunch sprints, but, with his fellow Belgian not a factor in the finale of this one, Philipsen instead surfed the wheels to continue his dominance.

Groenewegen opened up his effort early but had to settle for second as Philipsen came by, with Phil Bauhaus in third a day after his Bahrain-Victorious team-mate Pello Bilbao won stage 10 from a breakaway.

Philipsen has now won all four of the flat bunch sprints in this Tour, having been second to Mads Pedersen on the more challenging uphill sprint into Limoges on stage eight.

“It’s an incredible Tour so far,” said Philipsen. “I can’t realise how good it’s all going, I’m just super proud, really happy with my shape. To get through the final without problems is also a big challenge and we managed to do it already four times in a row so I’m super happy.

“So I can also win without (Mathieu)! But of course he makes it more easy. I had to find my wheel a little but, also finding the space it’s technical and a bit dangerous for crashing. I’m happy I can find a good wheel of Groenewegen and he opened up early so I could go over.

“There are maybe more sprint opportunities, but also there will be guys going for the break, but I’m already so happy to take four and hopefully looking towards Paris I can keep this jersey. I think I made a good gap now (in the points classification) which gives me comfort going into the Alps.”

There was a seven-second gap between the first 17 riders over the line and a second group that included Vingegaard, but with Pogacar in close attendance the gaps at the top of the general classification remained the same.

Jai Hindley remains third, two minutes and 40 seconds down, with Carlos Rodriguez more than four minutes down in fourth. Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock remain sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively.

Pello Bilbao pointed to the sky in memory of his late team-mate Gino Mader as he celebrated his first career Tour de France stage win in Issoire on Tuesday.

Bilbao triumphed from a breakaway, a first Spanish stage win in five years, sparking emotional scenes less than a month after Mader died following a high-speed crash at the Tour de Suisse.

The pair were close friends, with Mader even having adopted a stray dog from the city of Bilbao and naming him Pello. In his podium interview, the Basque rider said the memory of Mader was “the only reason” for his win.

“It was hard to prepare the last two weeks with him in mind, but staying with my family at home helped me a lot, just to keep calm, be positive and put all my positive energy to try to do something nice in the Tour,” he said.

“I wanted to do it in the first Basque stages, that was so special for me but it was not possible so I just waited for my moment.

“I was maybe thinking my position in the overall was going to be a problem but I decided to a make an all-in move and in the end it was the right movement.

“My first victory in the Tour in 13 years as a pro is such a special moment for me.”

It was also an expensive one. Following Mader’s death, Bilbao had pledged to replicate the Swiss rider’s charitable gesture – donating one euro to environmental causes for every rider he finishes ahead of on each stage, also promising to double the donation if he won a stage.

Bilbao had already run up a bill of more than 1,200 euros in the opening week and will not mind having cost himself much more with a victory which also propelled him up the general classification to fifth, four and a half minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard who still leads by 17 seconds from Tadej Pogacar.

The 167km stage from Vulcania through the Massif Central looked custom-designed for a breakaway as racing resumed in sweltering temperatures after Monday’s rest day, but things were never so simple on a day when the attacks raged from the start to the finish.

Vingegaard and Pogacar were both involved in some of the early moves, splitting the main peloton, before 14 riders eventually got away.

But it was only occasionally a cohesive group. Krists Neilands launched an attack at the foot of the final climb and crested it with an advantage of 30 seconds, but that tumbled on the descent towards town and he was caught by a chasing group of five with three kilometres left.

Bilbao felt confident he was the fastest and let Zimmerman move to the front before launching his sprint with a couple of hundred metres left.

“With cold blood I let Zimmerman make his sprint and I went on the wheel, then it was just full gas for the last 200 metres thinking of nothing,” he said. “I crossed the line and I just put out all the energy inside of me and remembered the reason for this victory, a special one – for Gino.”

The main peloton came to the line a little under three minutes later with no change in the top four in the standings, while Bilbao jumped up six places with Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock now sixth, seventh and eighth overall respectively.

Mark Cavendish is due to have surgery on his broken right collarbone on Wednesday after being forced out of the Tour by a crash on Saturday.

The 38-year-old has previously announced his intention to retire at the end of the season but has been offered a one-year contract extension by Astana-Qazaqstan.

Jai Hindley ripped up the script for the Tour de France as he took the yellow jersey from Adam Yates with a breakaway victory in the Pyrenees while Jonas Vingegaard left chief rival Tadej Pogacar in his wake when he set off in pursuit.

All the talk in the build-up to this Tour has been on the battle between defending champion Vingegaard and two-time winner Pogacar, but Hindley slipped into a strong breakaway on the road out of Pau and so ensured the general classification had been ripped up 163 kilometres later in Laruns.

The Australian Tour debutant, winner of the 2022 Giro d’Italia, made his own case as a contender ending the day with a 47-second lead over Vingegaard, while Pogacar’s inability to follow the Dane up the final climb might be the answer needed regarding his fitness after a long injury lay-off.

Hindley was scarcely able to believe his luck in having been allowed to join the break and then having the legs to capitalise as he went clear on the Col de Marie Blanque to solo into town, winning by 32 seconds from a group including Vingegaard.

“I’m a bit lost for words to be honest,” the 27-year-old said. “I can’t believe it. I was pretty surprised to find myself in that group.

“I just sort of slipped into it. I was sort of having fun, then looked back and there was no group behind so I thought, ‘I guess we’re in for a bike race’.”

Pogacar won an almost identical stage back in 2020 on his way to his first Tour crown, but this unusually early visit to the mountains just five days into a Tour had a very different ending as he dropped to sixth overall, one minute and 40 seconds down.

Bora-Hansgrohe sports director Rolf Aldag called it an “accident” for Hindley to get into the day’s breakaway, but the mistake belonged to the UAE Team Emirates squad of Pogacar and Yates.

With several teams, including Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma, represented up the road, none of their rivals were willing to help them shut the move down, and the break’s advantage quickly ballooned to four minutes as they scaled the Col de Soudet.

Hindley would have been dreaming of taking a significant lead in yellow at that point but inevitably the peloton did begin to close in when the breakaway splintered on the Marie Blanque.

Hindley chose that moment to ride away from Felix Gall and then, as they closed in behind, Vingegaard did the same to Pogacar, putting more than a minute into the Slovenian who is still hampered after breaking his wrist at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in April.

“I just felt good,” Vingegaard said. “I just look at myself and if I feel good then I try to attack. You have to ask Tadej (what happened) but I know he never gives up and it will be a fight all the way to Paris…

“We were also thinking if we should put a guy on the front (to chase the break) but we decided not to. Being in the break takes a lot of energy, but of course we have to look at Jai as well. I think I had a super good day.”

Pogacar tried in vain to chase down Vingegaard on the descent, but waited for a group including Adam and Simon Yates so they could work together to limit their losses.

“It was not so difficult a day but Jonas went so fast on the climb and I lost my legs early,” the 24-year-old said.

“It was a bit hectic over the small climbs. Everybody wanted to go in the break and there was a moment where we could not close the gap immediately and the big group went away…

“I think I know my limits now so the motivation is pretty high and I think we can go day-by-day pretty strong.”

Jai Hindley won stage five of the Tour de France in Laruns to take the yellow jersey from Adam Yates and Jonas Vingegaard rode clear of rival Tadej Pogacar as an early trip to the Pyrenees ripped up the general classification.

Hindley, winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia, marked himself out as a major contender with a breakaway victory but surely more important was the sight of defending champion Vingegaard leaving behind two-time winner Pogacar on the final climb to make his case as the favourite to be in yellow come Paris.

Having gone clear from the last of his fellow escapees on the final climb of the Col de Marie Blanque, Hindley soloed into Laruns to take the win by 32 seconds, with Vingegaard coming home at the back of a four-strong group that was second on the road.

With bonus seconds applied, Hindley now leads overall by 47 seconds from Vingegaard with Giulio Ciccone in third, 63 seconds back.

The Australian may be making his Tour de France debut, but given Hindley has twice stood on the podium of the Giro it was a huge surprise to see how easily he got into the break.

“I’m a bit lost for words to be honest,” the Bora-Hansgrohe rider said. “I can’t believe it. I was pretty surprised to find myself in that group. I just sort of slipped into it. I was sort of having fun, then looked back and there was no group behind so I thought, ‘I guess we’re in for a bike race’.

“The gap grew out initially and I was just trying to maybe get a bit of a buffer on the GC guys and then I started to think about the stage win.”

Pogacar, utterly unable to respond when Vingegaard launched his own move on the Marie Blanque, lost more than a minute to Vingegaard and slipped to sixth, one minute and 40 seconds off yellow. Adam Yates is now fifth and his twin brother Simon seventh.

The first real mountain battle of the Tour turned into a fascinating tactical battle as Hindley slipped into a strong breakaway that got clear during a frantic start to the 163km stage out of Pau.

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates were unable to shut it down and got no help from any of their rivals, watching the advantage balloon to four minutes as they climbed the hors categorie Col de Soudet midway through the stage.

Hindley would have been hoping to gain a bigger lead given the time gaps that had been seen, but when Vingegaard made a late dig of his own he quickly distanced Pogacar and kept himself within reach of the yellow jersey.

Jasper Philipsen underlined his status as the in-form sprinter Mark Cavendish must beat at the Tour de France as he made it two wins in as many days with victory on stage four.

Cavendish, seeking a record-breaking 35th career Tour stage win, could not test himself against the Belgian, a moment’s hesitation leaving him boxed in to finish fifth.

But Philipsen was again dominant, holding off a fast-finishing Caleb Ewan as both riders threw their bikes to the line.

The sprint meant no change at the top of the general classification as Adam Yates continues to lead by six seconds from UAE Emirates team-mate Tadej Pogacar and twin brother Simon Yates of Jayco-Alula.

For a second straight day, Mathieu van der Poel provided the perfect lead-out, guiding Philipsen out of a crash-strewn finish on the Circuit de Nogaro.

Cavendish, having seen team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez caught up in one of several late incidents, put his money on former world champion Mads Pedersen as he surfed the wheels but when he tried to join Pedersen’s charge, he was blocked by Dylan Groenewegen and his chance was gone.

“I think everybody who had a plan, every team, it didn’t come to fruition in the final for them,” the Manxman said. “There was no team in control… my boys got me exactly where I wanted to be, we were good there, but for every team it became chaos in the final. The corners got tighter and tighter.

“It was just a mixing pot of riders, there were crashes, I think Luis has gone down so I’m nervous about that. I looked around and the only man who had a lead-out left I could have jumped on was Mads, he had (Jasper) Stuyven so I thought, ‘Bam, get on him’.

“I was just waiting for him to go. It was a headwind so you want to leave it as late as possible and he just didn’t go.

“At one point I thought I should have gone at 350 (metres). I wouldn’t have won, someone would have passed me but I would have given myself a better shot.

“In a headwind there’s not much you can do. I just waited. I gambled on them going and then the gap filled, I’ve seen them all jump.

“I went audibly with a swear word before I even sprinted, I just was making the most of it then, I knew I couldn’t win once they got the jump on me.”

The motor racing circuit provided wide roads but its tight hairpins left only one racing line and several riders later questioned the safety of the route.

Fabio Jakobsen, a contender for the stage win, went down with 1,600 metres to go, the first of three crashes on the circuit.

Cavendish’s team-mate Sanchez, caught in the second, was taken to hospital for checks, Astana-Qazaqstan said.

The late drama was in contrast to the sedate pace for much of the day. The 182km flat stage from Dax failed to draw out a breakaway at the start as the peloton settled in for a slow day, saving their legs for two mountainous days to come before the sprinters get another chance in Bordeaux on Friday.

At least Philipsen, made to wait 20 minutes for confirmation of his win on Monday, could start celebrations immediately this time.

“It was really an easy stage,” he said. “I think everybody wanted to save their legs for the Pyrenees tomorrow and the day after but the final kilometres entering the circuit there were some crashes so I hope everybody is OK and safe.

“It was a hectic final with the turns in the end I lost my team but in the final straight I found Mathieu van der Poel and he did an amazing pull to get me to victory. My legs were cramping and Caleb was coming close.”

Victor Lafay used a late attack to end a 15-year wait for the Cofidis team to celebrate a Tour de France stage victory as Adam Yates retained the yellow jersey in San Sebastian.

Having watched pre-stage favourite Wout Van Aert use up energy shutting down late attacks from Tom Pidcock and Mattias Skjelmose on the run into town, Lafay waited for the flamme rouge to launch his own move, and then held off the chasing pack at the line as Van Aert slammed his handlebars in frustration.

Adam Yates was in a lead group reduced to just 24 riders at the end of the longest stage of this year’s Tour, retaining yellow as his team-mate Tadej Pogacar used bonus seconds to move up to second, level on time with Simon Yates six seconds back.

Pogacar had come across the line third on the stage, just ahead of Pidcock and Pello Bilbao.

For Cofidis, it is a first stage win since Sylvain Chavanel triumphed in Montlucon in 2008.

“In the last metres, I looked down at my computer, I saw 500 metres (to go), 400 metres,” said 27-year-old Frenchman Lafay, who added to his Giro d’Italia stage win from 2021. “I said to myself I will inevitably be caught at 50 metres. It’s sick.”

The UAE Team Emirates squad of Adam Yates and Pogacar did a huge amount of work almost all day to control a three-man breakaway, with the peloton needing to negotiate some changeable weather that made stretches of this 209-kilometre route through the rolling terrain of the Basque Country treacherous.

Other teams, not least the Jumbo-Visma squad of Vingegaard and Van Aert, tried to come to the fore at the foot of the Jaizkibel but it was UAE’s Rafal Majka who put in a huge turn to split the peloton to pieces as they navigated the narrow path left by fans towards the summit.

Pogacar burst forward to take the bonus seconds ahead of Vingegaard and Simon Yates at the top of the climb and briefly looked like he might try to attack on the descent with defending champion and chief rival Jonas Vingegaard on his wheel, but soon sat up with Vingegaard unwilling to help.

Adam Yates will now look to hold on to yellow until at least the Pyrenees, with two flat days coming up next and attention turning to the sprinters – not least Mark Cavendish as he seeks a record 35th career Tour stage win.

“It was a really hectic day, a lot of stress in the bunch,” 30-year-old Yates said. “Wet roads, roundabouts, road furniture, but we made it through with a little bit of bad luck as Matteo (Trentin) crashed on a corner.

“But for us it was a good race, we controlled it all day. Nobody wanted to help us. Then in the final we tried to set it up for Tadej to get the bonus seconds so we did a good job…

“If Tadej had won the bonuses and the stage he could have (taken yellow) but we kept it as a team so it’s job done.

“For sure we will have to control some more days. It looks easier on the paper but the Tour de France every day is super hard, super technical, so it’s not easy to just roll to the finish and keep yellow. We’ll keep on our toes and see what happens.”