The 26-year-old is well on his way to a fourth Tour de France title, pedaling himself into the rarefied air occupied by the sport’s all-time greats.

XRG stormed up the “Bald Mountain,” initiated by rival Jonas Vingegaard’s attack, and still managed to sprint two seconds clear of the Dane at the summit. With this blistering climb, Pogacar smashed the long-standing record of Iban Mayo.

The 24-year-old claimed his maiden Tour de France stage victory to become the first French winner of this year’s race

By Julien Pretot MALAUCENE, France (Reuters) -Valentin Paret-Peintre kept his cool in a furnace of pressure and heat, delivering a thunderous victory atop the legendary Mont Ventoux to give France its first win in this year's Tour de France during a breathtaking Stage 16 on Tuesday.

Job done,” Tadej Pogacar said with satisfaction after the first stage of the third week in the Tour de France. The Slovenian of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was able to respond to all attacks by the eager Jonas Vingegaard and even grabbed two bonus seconds on him in the sprint at the summit.

Interview: Cavendish’s tally of 35 Tour de France stage wins sounded insurmountable at the time, but Pogacar is ripping up the race in a way even peak Ineos could only dream, admits their former road

Valentin Paret-Peintre became the first French winner on this year's Tour de France as he edged an enthralling stage 16 on Tuesday, pipping Ireland's Ben Healy atop the mythical 1910m altitude Mont Ventoux summit finish.

Tadej Pogacar set a new record time on Mont Ventoux, resisting a wave of attacks from Visma | Lease a Bike and Jonas Vingegaard and even sprinting away from the Dane by two seconds at the top. “Job done,

Yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar could add a fifth stage win to an already-superb Tour de France with victory atop Mont Ventoux today