Norwegian edges Schmid in photo finish as riders brace for Thursday's mountain challenge
Dubai: UAE Team Emirates ace and Tour de France leader Tadej Pogacar had a nervous moment on Wednesday, crashing with just under 4km to go on Stage 11, but the Slovenian star managed to get back on his bike, rejoin the peloton, and avoid losing any time in the general classification battle.
Pogacar, chasing his fourth Tour de France title, clipped the rear wheel of Tobias Johannessen and went down just outside the 3km mark in the loop stage around Toulouse. Fortunately, the damage was minor. His rivals slowed down, allowing the UAE Team Emirates rider to rejoin the group.
“All good, all good,” Pogacar said over team radio after remounting his bike. “Respect to the peloton, respect to everybody.”
Johannessen, who had moved across in a tight bunch, took responsibility for the incident. “We just bumped into each other… I really didn’t want him to crash,” he said. “We all stopped and waited straight away.”
While Pogacar escaped unscathed, it was a day to remember for Jonas Abrahamsen. The Norwegian rider delivered a gutsy solo breakaway from the start and held off a fierce charge in the final kilometres to win Stage 11 — his first-ever stage victory in the Tour.
Abrahamsen edged out Swiss rider Mauro Schmid in a photo finish, with Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel coming in third after a valiant chase. Neither a late climb nor a pro-Palestinian protest near the finish could distract the leading duo, who had worked together to fend off the chasers.
“I was crying in the hospital because I thought I wouldn’t make it to the Tour,” said Abrahamsen, who had broken his collarbone at the Tour of Belgium last month. “Every day I did everything I could to come back… To win a stage is amazing.”
Van der Poel, frustrated, dropped his head as he crossed the line seven seconds behind.
Pogacar finished safely in the group alongside yellow jersey-holder Ben Healy, 3 minutes and 28 seconds behind the leaders. Healy remains 29 seconds ahead of Pogacar in the overall standings.
Stage 12 on Thursday brings the first serious mountain challenge, a 180.6km trek from Auch to Hautacam that includes punishing climbs at the Col du Soulor and Col des Borderes before finishing with a brutal ascent to the Hautacam ski station. It could be a pivotal day for 2022 champion Jonas Vingegaard, currently fourth in the GC and 1:46 behind Healy.
— With inputs from AP
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