Pogacar wins fifth stage on Tour de France as victory nears

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar won for a fifth time on this Tour de France on Saturday, moving to the brink of a third title, as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard came second and Remco Evenepoel dropped around a minute.

With just Sunday’s concluding time trial to come, two-time champion Pogacar has a five minute 14-second lead over Vingegaard as he effectively made sure of becoming the first man in 26 years to capture the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double in the same season.

The day’s action culminated on the tough Col de Couillole climb where Evenepoel attacked Vingegaard in an attempt to take second place overall.

Instead he himself dropped around 53sec on the Dane, making it less likely the Belgian can claim second place after Sunday’s time trial, where he is favourite for the stage win.

Evenepoel did however virtually guarantee third place overall and the white jersey as best young rider.

Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, regarded as the most combative rider on the 2024 Tour, will win the climb points jersey.

Carapaz came third Saturday, won a stage and even took the yellow jersey for a day early in the Tour.

Of the 3,498km on this 2024 Tour there remains just 34, a challenging run along the narrow, undulating corniche between the principality of Monaco, where many in the peloton live, and the French Riviera town of Nice.