Runner-up Jonas Vingegaard couldn’t compete with Pogačar, though the victor commended the Dane for aiding in his development over the years.

Pogačar entertained the enthusiastic crowds by advancing to the front of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the climb’s base before Van Aert launched a well-timed attack to outpace Pogačar and sprint to the finish line on the Champs-Elysees avenue.

Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third.

Turning the screw

He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees in week two with his rivals as good as vanquished.

Overall winner Tadej Pogacar (center), second-placed Jonas Vingegaard (left), and third-placed Florian Lipowitz (right) celebrate on the podium. Source: AFP / Anne-Christine Poujoulat

Vingegaard suffered on the stage-five time trial, and again in the second week at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him.