Tour de France 2021: Matej Mohoric wins stage 7 to complete grand tour set in compelling race

Primoz Roglic finished the 249.1-km ride from Vierzon almost four minutes behind the peloton

Primoz Roglic suffered a major meltdown as Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz potentially emerged as the only rider able to challenge defending champion Tadej Pogacar for the Tour de France title at the end of a brutal seventh stage on Friday.

Last year’s runner-up Roglic cracked in the last climb of an undulating stage in central France, which was won by his fellow Slovenian Matej Mohoric from a big breakaway group.

Roglic finished the 249.1-km ride from Vierzon almost four minutes behind the peloton, which featured the other top overall contenders with Carapaz launching a late attack before eventually being reined in.

Italian Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 champion, featured in the 28-man breakaway with yellow jersey holder Mathieu van der Poel and seized the opportunity to move up in the rankings before the race hits the mountains in the Jura and the Alps on Saturday.

Overall, Van der Poel leads Belgian Wout van Aert by 30 seconds with Slovenian Pogacar in fifth place, 3:43 off the pace and Nibali in sixth, 29 seconds behind Pogacar.

Carapaz, whose move suggested he has the legs to challenge Pogacar in the mountains, is in 12th position, 5:19 behind Van der Poel.

His Ineos-Grenadiers team mate Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion, managed to finish in the main bunch but struggled in the last ascent – a worrying omen before Saturday’s eighth stage, a mountain trek to Le Grand Bornand.

Reuters