Rivals wait for Pogacar after late crash as Abrahamsen wins stage

Tadej Pogacar was allowed to recover from a late crash on stage 11 of the Tour de France as Jonas Abrahamsen held on for his first Tour win.

As Mathieu van der Poel chased down Abrahamsen and Mauro Schmid during the final 5km in Toulouse, Pogacar went down in the peloton, which was three minutes behind.

But the reigning champion swiftly got back on his bike and his main rivals for the overall victory eased up to let Pogacar re-join the group.

Meanwhile, Abrahamsen edged out Schmid in a two-up sprint to the line, with Van der Poel crossing seven seconds later having left his charge too late.

Ireland's Ben Healy still leads Pogacar by 29 seconds in the overall standings having taken the yellow jersey from the three-time winner after stage 10.

It was a maiden stage win on the Tour for Abrahamsen and his Uno-X Mobility team, and came just four weeks after the Norwegian rider, 29, broke his collarbone in the Tour of Belgium.

"I was crying because I thought I wouldn't ride in the Tour de France," he said.

"I did everything I could to come back and now I'm here with a Tour de France stage win. It's amazing. It's a dream come true."