Vingegaard arrived home in second place, 2,40 min behind Pogacar. Isaac Del Toro won the group sprint for third, ahead of Remco Evenepoel, at 2,57 min, after Pogacar.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider stomped his authority on the race and pulled away at the Col du Tourmalet, 43km from the finish, and established a solid lead over his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by the finish. It was his 23rd stage win at the race, and his second in this Tour already.
Pogacar had a 30-second lead on Vingegaard at the top of Tourmalet, but extended his lead on the descent and on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre; meanwhile, previous yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) crashed on the descent of the Tourmalet to end his time in the race lead.
Del Toro was part of a chase group that also included the other main favourites, like Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), who finished 2,57 min. behind the winner.
"It’s truly a fantastic victory. It’s one of the best. Definitely. When we got back to the bus after yesterday’s stage, we were already fired up and talking about today’s stage. Then I woke up at 7:00 a.m., and thoughts were racing through my head because I was so excited. All my teammates were really ready, so I knew it was going to be a good day."
"We rode as if we had nothing to lose. If we blew up, we blew up. But in the end, it worked out, and I’m super proud of everyone. The team was incredible today", said Pogacar in the official winner's interview.
Vingegaard was very disappointed with his own performance on Thursday and said: "It was a really tough day. Obviously, it wasn't the day I had hoped for, but that’s how it goes sometimes. They launched a major attack on the Tourmalet, and I couldn't keep up. I had to settle into my own rhythm. It wasn't too far to the summit, but the descent didn't really suit me," he said.