The defending champion proved he was a class above the rest with a dominant 12km solo win on the Hautacam climb

There was no stopping Tadej Pogacar during the twelfth stage of the Tour de France. The Slovenian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG immediately attacked at the foot of the Hautacam and saw that no one could follow.

S lovenia's Tadej Pogacar was left standing on the cusp of a fourth Tour de France title as Alpecin rider Kaden Groves won Saturday's stage 20 after a long-range escape that saw the Australian finish well ahead of the big guns.

Interview: Cavendish’s tally of 35 Tour de France stage wins sounded insurmountable at the time, but Pogacar is ripping up the race in a way even peak Ineos could only dream, admits their former road

Dutch rider Thymen Arensman picked up a second stage win at the Tour de France on Friday winning stage 19 at La Plagne ski resort as defending champion Tadej Pogacar

XRG stormed up the “Bald Mountain,” initiated by rival Jonas Vingegaard’s attack, and still managed to sprint two seconds clear of the Dane at the summit. With this blistering climb, Pogacar smashed the long-standing record of Iban Mayo.

Tadej Pogacar caught out in late crash as Jonas Abrahamsen wins stage 11 - Pogacar crashed outside the 3km safety zone but was spared the loss of any time by a truce within the GC favourites’ group