A protester, a crash and a near-miss for Jayco at Tour
Pogacar took a heavy tumble with four kilometres left of the dramatic 11th stage on Wednesday, and was grateful that Tour honour was upheld when, up ahead, the peloton eased up, allowing the under-pressure champion, who'd already lost about 20 seconds, to rejoin.
Meanwhile, a thrilling duel between Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen and Jayco's Swiss champion Mauro Schmid was nearly compromised by the protester, in a T-shirt reading "Israel out of the Tour" and waving a Palestinian scarf, who burst on the course 50m from the line.
Eventually, as a security officer did a nifty job in tackling the invader, Schmid, who'd been on course to win the Australian team's first stage of the 2025 Tour, got pipped by half a wheel by Uno-X Mobility's Abrahamsen, who completed a fabulous comeback after a recent accident.
In the day's central drama, Irishman Ben Healy, while retaining the leader's yellow jersey, agreed with two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard, Pogacar's main rival for the title, that the peloton should all knock off the pace after his crash.
Pogacar had gone down heavily into a kerb when Tobias Johannessen cut across him at speed, clipping wheels. The Norwegian rider later apologised, revealing that he had later received hate messages on social media.
Pogacar quickly remounted, after some help at roadside, and was left hugely thankful for the gesture.
"I'm quite okay, a bit beaten up, but we've been through worse days," the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader said.
"Thanks to the peloton in front, they actually waited. They could have taken time. Really big respect to everybody in front. Thanks for your support, guys."
In the GC, Healy remains 29 seconds clear of Pogacar, with Olympic champ Remco Evenepoel third 1:29 down on the Irishman and Vingegaard fourth at 1:46.
All, though, is expected to change on Thursday's stage 12 with the race's first Pyrenean high-mountain showdown with a summit finish on the famed Hautacam. Only then will it be seen if Pogacar, who's so far looked untouchable, has endured any lasting effects from his spill.
Abrahamsen's victory was his reward for attacking from the very start of the stage, a 156.8km loop around Toulouse. It ended with him and Schmid, who'd surged from the breakaway, nearly getting caught by a charging Mathieu van der Poel, who fell just short in third place.
"I broke my collarbone four weeks ago. I cried at the hospital because I thought I wouldn't make it to the Tour de France," the emotional Abrahamsen explained after his maiden Grand Tour win.
"I hoped, and every day I did everything I could to come back. To stand here in the Tour de France and to have won a stage is amazing."
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