Puy de Dome, France: On the same mountain where five-time Tour de France champions Jacques Anthell and Raymond Poulidor wrote themselves into the race’s history 59 years ago, all eyes were on Sunday on Jonas Vingaard and Tadezh Pogacar’s continuing rivalry in cycling’s biggest ever race.

Neither Vingegaard nor Pogacar finished top of the Puy de Dome after Canadian Michael Woods produced an impressive solo effort to claim the biggest success of his career.

But the fierce rivals, who were so far behind the day’s breakaway that they let them form, were once again in the spotlight.

The two have been in a fierce duel since the start in Bilbao, Spain for this year’s pulsating Tour and will certainly enjoy their first day of rest on Monday.

Vingaard, the defending champion from Denmark who knocked out Pogacar last year, had the upper hand in the first round of their battle at altitude. His Slovenian rival responded in style to win back time on the next two mountain stages.

With two weeks of racing left, just 17 seconds separated the two in the general classification, with Vingegaard taking the yellow jersey.

Guy Hindley was third, 2 minutes and 40 seconds off the lead.

Sunday’s showdown of Vingegaard and Pogacar on the steepest part of the climb to Puy de Dome was not nearly as exciting as the duel between Anquetil and Poulidor in 1964, when the two French rivals engaged in “mano a mano” for the ages.

But amidst the silence in thin air — the path to the top of the mountain is so narrow that fans weren’t allowed access — the two teamed up for another epic moment, once again in a chapter of their own, with Pogacar in the attacking role.

After another great team effort from Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma teammates on the final downhill that devastated the field, Pogacar launched his attack with 1.5km left and accelerated again up the steep slopes. Vingaard lost ground but did not panic and managed to reduce the gap to eight seconds to retain the yellow jersey.

“It’s not a victory, but a small victory, so I’m very happy today,” said Pogacar, the two-time Tour champion.

Pogacar was the strongest rider on the 13.3 kilometer climb, at 23.7 kilometers per hour (14.7 mph), much faster than Woods’ winning average of 19.8 kilometers per hour (12.3 mph).

Vingegaard acknowledged Pogacar’s superiority on the day, but insisted that the contours of the Alpine stages still fit better with his style.

“It would have been nicer to gain than to lose time at Tadej Pogacar, but as I said before, I came to the Tour knowing that the first week suited me less than what’s coming, so being in the yellow jersey at the end of the first week satisfies me.

Woods, who rides for Israel-Premier Tech, has no ambition for the general classification and was part of an early breakaway that formed early on. He caught American Matthew Jorgenson just 500m from the summit after his rival jumped away from the leading group with less than 50km to go.

Woods then took down Jorgenson with ease and reached the top of the Puy de Dome, a crater in south-central France’s Massif region that has hosted a stage for 35 years.

“I’m 36, I’m 37, and I’m not getting any younger,” said Woods, who also owns two stage wins in the Spanish Vuelta. “My ultimate goal was to win a stage in the Tour de France, and I could see the window closing.”

France’s Pierre Latour finished the 182.5-kilometre (113-mile) stage in second place, while Matej Mohoric of Slovenia completed the podium. Jorgenson finished fourth.

The ninth stage began in Saint-Leonard-de-Nobel, where Pouldur, grandfather of one-day race specialist Mathieu van der Poel, lived most of his life.

Visibly emotional, Van der Poel attended a small ceremony honoring his grandfather before the start. Poulidor was also paid tribute by Dutch rider team Alpecin-Deceuninck, with Van der Poel competing on a custom bike adorned with Poulidor and Anquetil’s portraits.

A group of 14 experienced riders managed to pull away shortly after the start of the race. On the mountain roads in the Limousin region, the peloton initially kept them on leash. Finally given permission to drive away, they built a lead of over 16 minutes.

There was a lot of attack going into the break, and Jorgenson was able to cruise through with 47 kilometers left. The young American continued to push hard on the roads at the foot of the final climb and opened up a one-minute gap, but it didn’t last.

“I was just starting to feel a kilometer empty and then before I knew it Mike was there passing me and it was a surprise but there was absolutely nothing I could do,” said Jorgenson.