France's Paret-Peintre wins atop Ventoux as Pogacar controls Vingegaard
MALAUCENE, France - Valentin Paret-Peintre stayed ice-cool in the heat to give France its first win in this year's Tour de France as he prevailed atop the intimidating Mont Ventoux in the 16th stage on Tuesday.
The Soudal-Quick Step rider beat Ireland's Ben Healy in a lung-busting sprint finish on the Giant of Provence as Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after keeping chief rival Jonas Vingegaard in his sights on the 21.5-km ascent at 7.5%.
Overall, defending champion Pogacar extended his lead by two seconds to 4:15 after outsprinting the Dane in the final uphill straight.
The German Florian Lipowitz, who could not follow when Vingegaard attacked Pogacar some 9 km from the finish, stayed third, 9:03 off the pace, stretching his advantage over fourth-placed Briton Oscar Onley to 2:01. REUTERS
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