Tadej Pogacar stays clear of crash to seal fourth Tour de France title as Kaden Groves wins penultimate stage

Tadej Pogacar avoided a late crash on a rain-soaked stage in the Jura Mountains to virtually clinch his fourth Tour de France title. Australia’s Kaden Groves claimed his 10th Grand Tour stage win with a powerful solo finish in the penultimate stage.

Hyderabad: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) emerged from a potential banana skin of a penultimate stage in the sodden Jura Mountains unscathed – just – to all but secure his fourth Tour de France triumph.

A needless crash in the peloton on the home straight played out just metres from the world champion in yellow, who crossed the line with a wry smile after counting his lucky stars.

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Pogacar will start Sunday’s final stage of the Tour in Paris with his unassailable lead of 4’24″ over Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) intact.

The incident came seven minutes after Australia’s Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) became the 114th rider in history to complete a clean sweep of Grand Tour stage wins – soloing clear of the day’s breakaway to end his debut Tour in style.

Groves had tears streaming down his face as he crossed the line to win a 10th Grand Tour stage not in a sprint – as you might expect – but after proving himself to be the strongest rider in the pack over a relentless succession of climbs during a chaotic and rain-swept 184km stage through the foothills of the Jura Mountains of eastern France.

As heavy showers lashed down and made many of the roads slippery and treacherous, Groves managed to stay on two wheels and keep out of trouble.

The fastest finisher of a stellar 13-man breakaway that also included the likes of Tim Wellens (UAE) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma), 25-year-old Groves did not rely on his sprint but instead kicked clear with 16km remaining – leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.

Dutchman Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL) took second place at 54″, ahead of compatriot Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step), with a chase group led home moments later by Italy’s Simone Velasco (XDS Astana).

A key cog of the breakaway was Frenchman Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies), whose position on the fringe of the top 10 initially served to jeopardise the chances of the move. But Jegat was rewarded for his persistence by riding up to 10th place on GC on the eve of the Paris finale at the expense of Australia’s Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), who ultimately gave up the chase and succumbed to his fate.

It took over an hour of fast and furious racing for the breakaway to establish itself, with Groves among a 10-rider move that bridged over to a leading trio that had formed around Stage 15 winner Wellens and the American all-rounder Jorgenson.

Also in the break were Ewen Costiou (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost), local rider Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling), Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) and the Spanish champion Ivan Romeo (Movistar).

When the yellow jersey group eventually sat up, the gap quickly grew above two minutes – prompting O’Connor’s Jayco-AlUla team-mate Mauro Schmid to come to the front to protect the Australian’s place in the top 10 from that man Jegat.

But when the Swiss champion skidded out in the rain, the wind was taken from the sails of the main pack, and the gap steadily grew.

On the toughest of three climbs, the Cat.2 Cote de They, a countermove involving Wout van Aert (Visma) emerged from the peloton – but it was too little, too late. Jegat rode clear of the break, coaxing a response from Sweeny – and the two quickly built up a solid lead.