Jai Hindley of Australia won the first mountain stage of the Tour de France after the cruel climb of the Col de Marie Blanque saw Adam Yates’s race leadership evaporate and then exposed the frailties of his UAE Emirates teammate, the former Tour champion, Tadej Pogacar.
As Hindley, of Bora-Hansgrohe, rode alone over the climb and sped down into Laruns, to win the stage and take the maillot jaune of overall race leadership, the defending champion, Jonas Vingegaard, left Pogacar in his wake, 1km from the summit. It may yet prove a definitive moment in this year’s race.
