Abrahamsen holds on for ‘dream' Tour de France stage 11 win
London
Jonas Abrahamsen held on at the end of stage 11 for his first Tour de France win after edging out Mauro Schmid in a two-up sprint to the line in Toulouse.
A late bid to catch the front two by Mathieu van der Poel in the final 5km fell just short by seven seconds, whilst a fall towards the end by Tadej Pogacar in the peloton proved not to be costly as the group allowed the 2024 winner to catch up.
Ben Healy, who on Monday rode himself into the yellow jersey with an outstanding display of grit on the Massif Central, held on to pole position by 29 seconds from Pogacar.
Third in the overall standings Remco Evenepoel is now a minute and 29 seconds behind, with fourth-placed Jonas Vingegaard another 17 seconds back.
But the day belonged to Abrahamsen, who had been unsure whether he would even make the Tour - having broken his collarbone last month - after the Norwegian clung on for an epic finish.
'I broke my collarbone four weeks ago at the Baloise Belgium Tour and I cried in the hospital thinking I wouldn't make the Tour,' said Abrahamsen.
'I was thinking 'I have to win this stage, I have to win this stage'.
It was my dream to win a stage of the Tour de France.
'I know I have a pretty good sprint and we had been out for a long time, so I had to be smart and not go over the limit.
'We were working so hard to get the gap all day so it's great to get the victory. I'm so, so happy.'
The final finish was almost disrupted by a spectator who ran on to the road before being tackled into the barriers by one of the race organisers.
It did not contribute to Pogacar's fall which came when he was cut off from his left as the peloton descended from the climb, and afterwards the Slovenian expressed his gratitude towards the riders who sat up and allowed him back in.
'I'm OK, a bit beaten up but we've been through worse days,' he said.
'It's been a hectic day from start to finish - then I had a crash.
'Thanks to the peloton in front, they actually waited. Big respect to everybody in front, thanks for your support guys.
'We came down from the climb. There was attacks from Mateo and Jonas, they really put everyone on the limit. People want to take any seconds on a final like this and they start to attack and people start to follow.
'Unfortunately one rider decided to follow from left to right side of the road and he didn't see me. He just completely cut me off from my front wheel. Luckily I just have a little bit of skin off.'
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