Van Aert attacked almost immediately during the stage involving more than four thousand altimetres. A crash involving Sepp Kuss, Dylan van Baarle and Nathan Van Hooydonck paralysed the peloton before a large group of riders, including Van Aert, broke away. This group eventually fought for the stage win.

In the closing stages, Van Aert, along with Poels and Marc Soler, broke away from his escape companions. In the blink of an eye, the trio rode away from the rest of the peloton. The final two climbs saw a man-to-man battle, with Poels proving the strongest.

Trailing by a few minutes, Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar fought again for every metre. The Danish yellow jersey wearer fended off an attack and stayed on the wheel of the Slovenian. The pair eventually crossed the line side by side. As a result, Vingegaard takes a 10-second lead into the final week of the Tour de France.

"I had high hopes of winning the stage today”, Van Aert said. "But the last climb showed who was the strongest. I preferred to go into the last climb with a lead, but Poels was much better today. I couldn't answer his attack. Then I rode at my own pace, hoping to catch Poels, but the power left my legs. I didn't want to give up, so I fought until the end. It was nice to be part of the day's breakaway again. I like aggressive and attractive racing. The morale is still high, so we will keep chasing our goals.

Vingegaard had another strong day and rode with a lot of confidence. "This was, for the umpteenth time, a fight on the edge. It should be beautiful for the spectators to watch. In the end, we can be happy with the result. I felt good today. I felt that I could answer Tadej's pinpricks relatively easily. I can see that I am getting better every day.”

"I look forward to the final week with confidence", Vingegaard continued. "Starting with the time trial on Tuesday. We have explored the course, and there are possibilities. I'm looking forward to it. We feel strong and believe we can win another Tour. Now we are ready for the rest day. After that, we will continue in good spirits, hoping to achieve our goals.”