Tadej Pogacar inched closer to winning his third Tour de France title after outwitting his main rival, two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, to clinch the penultimate stage on Saturday.

The Slovenian claimed his fifth stage win in this year's race by outsprinting Vingegaard in the closing stretch of the 132.8-kilometer mountain trek from Nice, after the Dane ran out of steam while looking to cement his second-place status in the general classification.

There was no mercy from UAE Emirates rider Pogacar, who stayed in Vingegaard's slipstream as they neared the finishing section, and put the hammer down 250 meters from the line.

"I enjoyed it very much. I couldn't be happier with another stage win," said Pogacar, who now has 16 Tour de France stage victories to his name. "Just one more day, and tomorrow I think I'm going to enjoy it as well. If you had told me this before the Tour, I would not have believed it."

Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 before being toppled by Vingegaard at the last two editions, leads his fierce rival by five minutes and 14 seconds in the overall standings, with Belgium's Remco Evenepoel in third place, a further 2:50 off the pace.

It was a cruel end to the stage for Vingegaard, who had been looking to further distance himself from Evenepoel, whose earlier attack in the Col de la Couillole backfired.

"Vingegaard showed today he was not easy to crack and he did a good ride today," said Pogacar. "Tomorrow let's stay safe."

The Tour ends on Sunday with an individual time trial between Monaco and Nice – the first time in the 121-year history of the race that it will not end in Paris – due to the upcoming Summer Olympics, which will get underway on July 26 in the French capital.

Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, who featured in the day's breakaway and took third place in the stage with another bold ride, made sure he would take home the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification, while Biniam Girmay of Eritrea secured the green jersey for the points classification.

Evenepoel attacked eight kilometers from the finish line, but the effort did not last long enough to give the Belgian any hope of leapfrogging Denmark's two-time defending champion for second place in the general classification.

Vingegaard later countered and only Pogacar could follow, leaving Evenepoel in their wake.

Pogacar was content to stay on Vingegaard's wheel, before finishing him off with a brutal acceleration, dooming his closest competitor to cross the line with his head down.