Van der Poel loses yellow to winning Pogacar on Mur de Bretagne, Almeida and Mas crash heavily in the finale

A day after the brutal sixth stage, where Mathieu van der Poel with great effort reclaimed the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar, another tough stage awaited. And not just any stage: in a short time, the Mur de Bretagne has become a fan favorite in the Tour de France. Every time the race has finished here, it’s been a spectacular finale. Who doesn’t remember Van der Poel’s brilliant victory here in 2021?

Repeating that feat would be difficult, with the stage in Normandy still in his legs and the looming threat of Pogacar just seconds behind him. Whether they would actually battle for the stage win was questionable: the breakaway riders sensed an opportunity today, and so there was a fierce fight to get into the break. It wasn’t as intense as Thursday’s battle, but it still took 50 kilometers before anyone managed to get away.

Eventually, five riders managed to break clear. Geraint Thomas was the biggest name in the group. The former Tour winner from INEOS Grenadiers was joined by Alex Baudin (EF Education - EasyPost), Marco Haller (Tudor), Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Iván García Cortina (Movistar). Several teams missed their chance to join the break: Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale tried to bridge, but in the end it was simply the teams of Pogacar and Van der Poel controlling at the front.

Especially UAE Team Emirates-XRG kept the pace high: Nils Politt did a huge amount of work and never gave the five escapees more than a 1.5-minute lead. Pogacar’s plan was clear: he wanted to win on the Mur de Bretagne and take back yellow from Van der Poel. It was a calm run-in towards the tough finale, but that calm certainly wouldn’t last...

The intermediate sprint in Vitré was the only notable moment along the way. Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay battled for points behind the breakaway. The Italian proved stronger and took one more point than the Eritrean rider from Intermarché-Wanty. There was also plenty of attention for Bernard Hinault, as the Tour passed through Yffiniac, hometown of 'The Badger'.

But it goes without saying that everyone was awaiting the action on the Mur de Bretagne. The peloton stayed just behind the break, where Haller was the first to drop back due to cramps. The remaining four pushed on towards the hilly finale, where Thomas was next to be dropped. Costiou proved to be the strongest uphill and wanted to crest the brutally steep climb first. Meanwhile, Visma | Lease a Bike had lifted the pace behind, which caused yellow jersey Van der Poel to lose contact.

But the Dutchman doesn’t crack easily. He fought back and rejoined a group of about 30 riders who crossed the summit behind Costiou. On the descent, Wout van Aert tried to attack, but the Belgian was countered by Kévin Vauquelin. Tim Wellens, wearing the polka-dot jersey for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, closed the gap to his compatriot. When Costiou was caught, the race calmed down slightly. UAE kept the pace high heading into the final climb.

But before they reached it, a nasty crash occurred in the last six kilometers. Ben Healy, João Almeida, Jack Haig, Santiago Buitrago and Enric Mas all hit the ground at high speed. It looked bad, and the Bahrain Victorious men were on the road for a long time. It was clear that Mas and Almeida would lose significant time in the general classification battle.

At last, an even more reduced group reached the base of the Mur de Bretagne. Wellens drove up the pace with Pogacar on his wheel. Only Remco Evenepoel and Vingegaard could follow, and Pogacar was forced to go it alone with 1.5 km to go. He remained seated, so Evenepoel took over at the front. The pace wasn’t blistering, which allowed five riders to come back, including Vauquelin, Onley, Jorgenson, Gall and others. Van der Poel had been dropped: the yellow jersey was out of view.

Axel Laurance of INEOS was there too, as was Jhonatan Narváez, who took over at the front to lead out the sprint. Pogacar looked liked the man to beat, by far, and the world champion launched first. He outpaced Vingegaard, who finished second, with Oscar Onley coming in third. The stage win and yellow jersey both went to Pogacar.