AG2R Citroen Team’s Felix Gall celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win stage 17 of Tour de France on Wednesday. COURCHEVEL: Jonas Vingegaard made a giant stride towards a second consecutive Tour de France title when crash-hit rival Tadej Pogacar cracked in the toughest stage of the race on Wednesday. A day after crushing Pogacar in the individual time trial, Vingegaard went solo some five kilometres from the top of the Col de la Loze (28.1km at 6%) and did not look back despite being slowed down by an organisers’ car and a race motorbike. He could not catch stage winner Felix Gall of Austria, who attacked from the breakaway 6.4km from the top to move up to eighth overall, but his fourth place at the end of the 165.7-km trek from Saint Gervais was more than enough for Vingegaard to prepare to celebrate in Paris on Sunday. What was a 10-second gap two days ago is now an unbridgeable 7:35 gap after Pogacar huffed and puffed over the line more than five minutes behind Jumbo-Visma leader Vingegaard. Just at the top of the brutal hill where the finish line was drawn, Pogacar might have seen Vingegaard’s domestique Tiesj Benoot clinching his fist in celebration, before leaning on his bike surrounded by a team helper and two team mates. His white jersey zipped wide open, 2020 and 2021 Tour winner Pogacar suffered a spectacular failure 8.5km from the summit of the Col de la Loze, struggling to hold the wheel of UAE Emirates team mate Marc Soler. Bad luck could have struck in the Col de la Loze, when a race motorbike stalled amid massive crowds, forcing an organisers’ car to come to a halt and another race motorbike to go on the side of the road. Vingegaard slowed down and zig-zagged through to continue his demolition work until the line, which he crossed with a big smile on his face.