It was the rarest of sights: Tadej Pogačar was struggling, the two-time Tour champion weakened in the face of sustained attacks from Jumbo-Visma and a brutal summit finale in the form of the Col du Granon.
With 7km to go of Stage 11 of the 2022 Tour de France, a leading group of Romain Bardet, Jonas Vingegaard, Pogačar, Rafał Majka, Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates formed on the slopes of the Granon with its average of 9.2%. Bardet made the first move, punching away on the narrow road to disappear up ahead. Then came one of the most memorable attacks in the Tour’s history: Vingegaard saw his chance and launched himself up the road with just over 4km
