The Japan Times - Wellens wins stage as Pogacar keeps Tour de France lead

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead with a 4min 13sec advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall.

Wellens had been part of an early break that was whittled down to five before the Belgian champion' sudden acceleration caught the others napping.

This was a fifth win for Team UAE with Pogacar previously having won four on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team.

Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line he had time to high five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of the Belgian national holiday.

Wellens has also won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

The remaining 167 riders embarked towards Carcassonne Sunday on yet another nervy stage.

After a mass fall early on with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a clique of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up.

Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday tucked in at second to surprise yellow jersey Ben Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four minutes advantage atop the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title.

Monday is a the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 percent gradient to its 1901m high summit.

K.Abe--JT