Jonas Vingegaard is on the brink of retaining his Tour de France title after opening up a lead of more than seven minutes on a gruelling stage 17.

Two-time winner Pogacar struggled after an early crash on the queen stage and was dropped with 15km left.

Felix Gall broke clear to win the stage, 34 seconds ahead of Britain’s Simon Yates with Vingegaard fourth.

Vingegaard extended his lead from 10 seconds to almost two minutes on Wednesday but now leads Pogacar by seven minutes and 35 seconds with three stages to go before Sunday’s processional stage to Paris.

Adam Yates remains third in the general classification standings but twin brother Simon’s display on Thursday saw him climb from eighth overall to fifth.

More to follow.