Jonas Vingegaard's sudden exit from the Tour de France changed Tadej Pogačar's race in an instant, and while the tactical intricacies will now be pored over ahead of the final week, the race leader had some on-the-fly decisions to make on Sunday's final climb.
Pogačar's closest rival crashed out of the race on the approach to the final climb on stage 15, which led to the remarkable scenario of Pogačar turning domestique for his teammate, Issac del Toro.
With Del Toro still in the hunt for the podium and white jersey of best young rider, and Pogačar even safer in yellow, the four-time champion pulled on the front for most of the climb up to the Plateau de Solaison, as the likes of Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz were dropped.
"I committed for Isaac today, for the white jersey for the GC standings because he does everything for me normally," Pogačar said.
The plan worked well, as Del Toro found nearly a minute on those rivals and moved into white and up into third overall. The pair, however, could not shake Remco Evenepoel, who kicked clear of them both in the final sprint to the line.
"There was a bit of a misunderstanding. I wanted him to do the sprint, he attacked, but I think he lost a little bit of confidence because of the crash," Pogačar said, Del Toro having hit the deck in the same crash as Vingegaard.
"I tried to push him for the victory, but it's really hard to communicate when there are so many people on the climb."
There have been suggestions that Pogačar, who marked Evenepoel as the Belgian kicked clear of Del Toro, held something back as he crossed the line in the slipstream, but he simply admitted defeat.
"I don't regret anything. In the end, Remco was better. He went super early in the sprint, and I didn't have the right response to it," Pogačar said.
"In general, it was a good day. Even without the win, we can be satisfied and proud of today."
Vingegaard's enforced exit leaves Pogačar fighting against Evenepoel as his main rival, the Belgian now second overall, albeit five minutes down.
Pogačar pointed out that stage 15 had not been as hard as stage 14 through the Vosges, where Evenepoel was in difficulties at times.
”Remco really excels in this kind of day, but we'll see how it comes with more climbs on the stage," he said.
"But he'll have his day on the time trial [Tuesday's stage 16] and he'll be a big contender."
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