Pogacar dominates to win his fifth stage of Tour

Tadej Pogacar is the first rider to win five stages at a single Tour de France since German sprinter Marcel Kittel in 2017

Tadej Pogacar continued his fairytale Tour de France with a fifth stage win to further extend his dominant lead with just one day remaining.

The Slovenian, riding for UAE Team Emirates, sprinted away from defending champion Jonas Vingegaard inside the final 500 metres on the Col de la Couillole.

The two-time winner extended his advantage over the Visma–Lease a Bike rider by seven seconds and now leads the general classification by five minutes and 14 seconds.

Pogacar has become the first rider to win five stages at a single Tour de France since German sprinter Marcel Kittel in 2017.

Sunday's time trial in Nice is the final stage of this year's tour, and Pogacar is likely to put even more time into his rivals.

Richard Carapaz crossed the line in third, having already collected enough points to secure the King of the Mountains jersey earlier in the stage.

Green jersey holder Biniam Girmay safely finished inside the time cut and is set to become the first black African to win the tour's points classification, boasting an unassailable lead over his rival sprinters.

Britain's Mark Cavendish, who is racing in his last Tour de France and also beat the cut, crossed the line in tears supported by three team-mates.

Unlike on Friday, where Pogacar attacked early on the way to victory, on Saturday he was able to keep his nose out of the wind as Soudal Quick-Step set the pace hoping to leapfrog their rider Remco Evenepoel into third, above Vingegaard in the overall standings.

But with five kilometres to go, Vingegaard countered an Evenepoel attack and only Pogacar could follow the two-time champion as the pair quickly cut the breakaway group's lead.

Leaders Carapaz and Enric Mas - the last two from the day's initial break - were caught just outside the final three kilometres and though Carapaz initially followed, the pace in the sweltering heat was too high.

Pogacar, who is hoping to become the first man since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same year, easily outsprinted Vingegaard at the finish, avenging his second-place finish on stage 11.

The 25-year-old is at the peak of his powers - and is dominating men's road cycling this summer. He adds his five stage victories at this year's Tour to the six stages he won in May's Giro.

Mark Cavendish, wearing a special jersey to mark his record 35 Tour de France stage wins, crossed the finish line in tears on Col de la Couillole

Stage 20 results

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 4hrs 4mins 22secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +07secs

3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-Easy Post) +23secs

4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal- Quick Step) +53secs

5. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +1min 07secs

6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 28secs

7. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 33secs

8. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +1min 41secs

9. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 43secs

10. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) +1min 52secs

General classification after stage 20:

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 82hrs 53mins 32secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +5mins 14secs

3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal- Quick Step) +8mins 04sec

4. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +16mins 45secs

5. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +17mins 25secs

6. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +21mins 11secs

7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +21mins 12secs

8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA/Visma-Lease a Bike) 24mins 26secs

9. Derek Gee (Can/Israel- Premier Tech) +24mins 50secs

10. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +25mins 48secs