Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen won stage 11 of the Tour de France at Toulouse on Wednesday while defending champion Tadej Pogacar crashed 4 km from the line.
Pogacar fell after hitting the back wheel of another rider but his rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel sportingly waited for the Slovenian to catch up after he got back on his bike. Ireland's Ben Healy retained the leader's jersey.
The thrilling stage over 156 km from Toulouse and back was unexpectedly won by Abrahamsen as a long range breakaway foiled the ambitions of the sprinters.
Abrahamsen contested a two-way cat-and-mouse war of nerves down the home straight with Swiss Mauro Schmid as the cunning Mathieu van der Poel crept up on them and finished third at 7sec.
Healy retained the overall lead on his first day in the fabled yellow jersey, while Pogacar remains second and Evenepoel third.
Following Tuesday's rest day, Wednesday's run was billed as a likely sprint finish with 70 points at stake in the sprint points standings at Toulouse.
Stage 11 did however feature five small climbs along a 156.8 km route making sure it was constantly fast and nerve-wracking.
Pogacar fell after hitting the back wheel of another rider but his rivals two-time winner Vingegaard and Evenepoel sportingly waited for the Slovenian.
The UAE rider Pogacar struggled to put his chain on after sliding across several metres of tarmac and had looked as if he would lose 30 to 40 seconds.
Healy will lead the peloton into the Pyrenees on Thursday where the first real mountains will test his and everyone's legs on the legendary beyond category Hautacam climb. — AFP
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