Tadej Pogacar reaffirmed his status as the man to beat at the Tour de France, powering to victory on stage seven and reclaiming the coveted yellow jersey. The Slovenian rider from UAE Team Emirates edged out Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) in a tightly contested sprint atop the Mûr-de-Bretagne.
It marked Pogacar’s second stage win in under a week and a clear signal of intent from the reigning world champion, who timed his final surge perfectly to hold off Vingegaard and gain valuable seconds in the general classification.
The stage had begun with intensity, as the peloton worked hard to control the early breakaway. A five-man group including Alex Baudin (EF Education–EasyPost), Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers), Marco Haller (Tudor Pro Cycling), Ewen Costiou (Arkea B&B Hotels), and Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar Team) briefly escaped, but never built a lead greater than 90 seconds. Haller eventually dropped off, but the remaining four continued to press on, with Costiou cresting the Mûr-de-Bretagne first before being reeled back in.
Drama struck with six kilometres to go when a crash on the descent disrupted the reduced leading group, involving several contenders including Ben Healy, Enric Mas, and João Almeida.
As the race approached the final climb, Pogacar seized control, driving the pace alongside Remco Evenepoel and Vingegaard. Yellow jersey holder Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) struggled to respond and faded, unable to repeat his triumph from two years ago.
With a perfectly executed lead-out from Jhonatan Narváez, Pogacar surged ahead in the final metres, edging Vingegaard and finishing two seconds ahead of Onley.
The result reshuffles the general classification, with Pogacar now leading the Tour by 54 seconds over Evenepoel and 1 minute 11 seconds ahead of Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea B&B Hotels), as the race continues its ascent towards the decisive mountain stages.
