Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard edged closer to winning the event after taking stage 18. However, he did so while displaying some excellent sportsmanship as he waited for rival Tadej Pogacar after a crash.
As the 23-year-old looked to close the gap on the Dane, he hit the deck after misjudging a tight corner and his back tyre slid on roadside gravel, just moments after Vingegaard had suffered an almost identical fate. But when the formidable leader of Jumbo-Visma's powerful train slowed to allow the Slovenian to catch up, the two-time champion stretched out a hand to thank his rival before reinstating their race.
Vingegaard, brilliantly led out by team-mate Wout Van Aert on the final climb to Hautacam, promptly disappeared up the final climb to stretch his overall lead to 3min 26sec. And it would take a major upset on the flat stage 19 route from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors, or Saturday's 25-mile time trial, to deny Vingegaard a triumphal roll into Paris.
