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.

The event gave us showpiece finishes at Mur-de-Bretagne, Hautacam and Mont Ventoux, and plenty of action throughout a thoughtful, clever route — albeit one that turned out to be so challenging everyone was exhausted by the finish,

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

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 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.