After losing by more than two minutes to Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard in the Alps, Pogacar promised fireworks and a fight all the way to the door when the next mountain came.

The double champion kept his promise, but his Danish opponent defended himself very well. In the end, the two duelists crossed the finish line in equal standing, just six minutes behind Canadian stage winner Hugo Houle.

The 31-year-old earned his first Canadian victory at the Tour since 1988, and his second overall. Houle pointed to the sky above the finish line, and after crossing the finish line he dedicated his victory:

– I succeeded and it means a lot to me. I have one dream – to win a stage for my brother who died when I turned professional. This one is for him. I have been working for this for 10-12 years and today I got my win for it. It's amazing, I don't know what to say.

His older brother Pierrik died after being hit by a drunk driver while jogging before Christmas in 2012. Hugo went looking for his younger brother when he didn't come home and found him lying on the side of the road.

Stage winner Houle joined the break from the start of the stage and eventually fought away from his break mates and entered the final hill with a gap to the chasers.

– Towards the end I did everything I could, I struggled a lot on the steep sections, but I showed that if I went over the limit in 30-40 seconds I could do it. It was close, but I never gave up. And when they showed me that there was only a minute left to go to the end, I thought: It's unreal, I'm going to make it, said Houle.

In the fight for the yellow jersey, it's not about effort. This is how it happens:

In the first category of Port de Lers, the first of a total of two first categories in the final six miles, the Slovenian began his cannon attack.

In the first set he had a small gap, but Vingegaard raced and chased him. In the second set, Vingegaard remained alert and did not budge an inch. The third, over the top of the hill, was the same. Thus, Pogacar calmed things down on the way down and it was the group of collective favorites who advanced to the final test of the stage: Mur de Péguère.

At the bottom of the 9.3 kilometer long hill, with a section of up to 18 percent towards the top, Pogacar put his assistant Rafal Majka at the front. The 32-year-old Polish racer continued to ride hard and managed to beat a number of men with strong climbing skills, before a technical accident forced him to suddenly stop.

Then Jumbo-Visma sent American Sepp Kuss to the front and the pace was increased even further. Only Pogacar, Vingegaard and Nairo Quintana were able to follow.

– Vingegaard looked as solid as he can be in the third week of the Grand Tour, commented Theis Magelssen on the Discovery+ broadcast.

And perhaps it was the Dane's stony face that made Pogacar reconsider any plans, as the Slovenian sat on wheels all the way and failed to attack the yellow jersey.

Thus, Vingegaard still leads the overall Tour de France by two minutes 22 seconds from Pogacar.

At the same time, it became clear after that stage that Pogacar would lose one more helper. Marc Soler did not reach the time limit so he could not start the 17th stage. The Spaniard struggled with stomach problems and vomited throughout the journey. He had to leave the field more than 100 kilometers away.