Greig Leach

The end of the climb of the Col du Portet had come down to a three way race between the top three riders on GC. Well it had been the top four, but Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) - in second place at the start of the day - had been dropped by these three. Richard Carapaz (Ineos-Grenadiers) had been refusing to take a turn on the front, and pulling faces imply that he couldn't pull through. According to the post race interview by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) he and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) knew that he was bluffing. So when the Ecuadorian attacked they were ready for it. While Carapaz opened a gap, it was soon closed by the Maillot Jaune, not that he needed to. It took about 600 meters for Vingegaard to catch back on but he did. So the three were destined to sprint it out at the top for the stage victory. And for Carapaz and Vingegaard they started the day only a second apart, so they would be sprinting to decide their place in the general classification.