Four-time winner Pogacar was led out by stage two winner and teammate Isaac del Toro in the final kilometre, and earned his 22nd Tour de France stage win with a lunge for the finish line after a gruelling 195.9km mountainous ride in stage three.
On a day which featured nearly no less than 4,000 metres of climbing as the race returned to France, the Slovenian's 22nd stage win of his career was accomplished thanks to impressive, relentless hard work throughout the day by UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Vingegaard finished second after another tense battle with Pogacar, while Richard Carapaz came in third for EF Education-EasyPost. Local French favourite Paul Seixas claimed the fourth spot, which confirmed that the 19-year-old gradually found his level during a stage where the favourites patiently waited until the final kilometre before making their decisive move.
"It’s because of Isaac that I got some extra power in the finale. He committed, actually, all the team, we decided in the middle of the stage it was possible to go for the stage win", said Pogacar in his winner's interview.
"I’m really happy we started the Tour like this, incredible finish today … if we can win like we did today and the team feels super good, we have to take the opportunity. We tried, we gave it all, and we won. To take the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist of any age. For me, I don’t know how many times it’s been, but every time it’s on my shoulders, it’s really special. I don’t know how long this will last, but we try to enjoy every moment", said Pogacar.
The riders will action again on Tuesday, covering a rolling 181.9-kilometre route from Carcassonne to Foix on the fourth stage of the race. The final climb up the Col de Montségur will probably be too steep for the pure sprinters and could be the perfect launching pad for a late, decisive solo or small-group attack