Jonas Vingegaard of Team Jumbo-Visma seemed to be on his way to victory on Friday in the first mountain stage with a summit finish in this year’s Tour de France. Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, however, passed him just a few meters before the end to win his second consecutive stage and extend his lead in the general classification.
Sepp Kuss cracked the top 10, placing 10th on Stage 7, just 41 seconds back. Primoz Roglic rode to third place (+0:12).
Quinn Simmons finished 125th on the stage (+13:44) for Trek Segafredo. Tony Gallopin finished 29th to lead Trek (+2:09).
A 10-rider front group rode away from the peloton. Because of obstacles along the way, the leading group thinned out, and six riders began the final seven-kilometer climb with a one-minute lead. The last kilometer was unpaved with a 20% pitch.
The last remaining escapee, Lennard Kamna, seemed to be on his way to the stage win, but the classification riders decided otherwise. Vingegaard rushed past the German in the last hundred meters and then he appeared to be on his way to his first Tour stage win, but with an ultimate effort, Pogacar pushed his wheel over the line just a bit earlier than the Dane. In the background, Roglic grabbed third place.
Vingegaard, who moved up one spot into second in the general classification after Stage 7, had mixed feelings. “I felt super strong on the climb, and I am thrilled with that. However, it is a shame that I was caught in the last meters,” Vingegaard said. “As a team, we have two riders on the podium today. That is a signal that the form is good. We need that level to compete in the coming mountain stages. I'm not downhearted after this second place. The feeling of the good form of Primoz and me prevails.”
“I can be satisfied with my classification today,” Roglic said. “The pain after my crash the day before yesterday is no excuse for me, and I refuse to give up. I will keep fighting no matter what. The recovery will improve day by day. Today's last few hundred meters were very tough, but I fought my way to the top. We did well as a team.”
Pogacar now leads the general classification in 24 hours, 43 minutes and 14 seconds. Vingegaard is second, 35 seconds back and Thomas Gerraint of INEOS Grenadiers is third (+1:10). Roglic moved up 15 spots to 13th after Stage 7 and is now 2:45 back.
Kuss moved up 37th spots in the GC after Stage 7 and is now in 40th place (+12:50).
Simmons dropped one spot to 153rd (+40:29).
Tom Skujins finished 33rd Friday, 2:10 back, and leads Trek Segafredo in the GC in 21st (+4:17). Gallopin is 23rd (+5:13).
Wout Can Aert, meanwhile, extended his lead in the points race for Jumbo Visma. Van Aert, with 203 points, is followed by Fabio Jakobsen of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl (140) and Pogacar (108).
Kuss has seven points, placing him 57th. Simmons has -25 after getting penalized for riding off road earlier in the Tour. Simmons also has one mountain’s point, which ranks 11th. Magnus Cort of EF Education EasyPost is in the polka dot jersey with 11 KOM points, followed by Pogacar (10), Vingegaard (8) and Roglic (6).
INEOS Grenadiers, meanwhile, leads the team race in 74:13:25, 26 seconds ahead of Jumbo Visma. Trek Segafredo is eighth (+12:35).
Stage 8 of the Tour on Saturday will be another mountainous stage and will finish in Switzerland. It will be 186 kilometers long, about 10K longer than Stage 7.
