Australia's Caleb Ewan won stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins after a frantic bunch sprint was decided on a photo-finish, as Primoz Roglic retained the overall lead.
The diminutive Lotto Soudal rider who visualises various sprint scenarios on the morning of the race edged Tuesday's stage winner Sam Bennett, who retains the green jersey and peloton superstar Peter Sagan.
Ewan won three stages in 2019 and now says he will go for a third on this Tour too by crossing the Alps to try his luck on the iconic Tour de France climax on the cobbles of the Champs Elysees.
"Once you get one you want two, and now I have two I want a third on the Champs Elysees in Paris," said the diminutive sprinter who also won stage three at Sisteron.
Ewan is a wily sprinter, known for cool-headed analysis in the heat of the action, and he now has five Tour wins in total.
"I was really close to the front, I was more forward than I wanted to be, but I dropped back into the bunch to watch," the 26-year-old said.
"I just kept calm and waited for the right gap to open. I didn't know if I'd won because I threw the bike and was looking down.
"But sometimes you can just feel it," he added.
His win is doubly impressive as his team have already lost three riders.
"We no longer have the men to protect me, but I don't mind, they got me there," said the affable and popular rider.
The finish line at the Tour de France is equipped by cameras in either corner that can take thousands of images per second, as with motor cycling's Grand Prix while each bike is equipped with a microchip, delivering instant results.
Overall standings after stage 11 of the Tour de France from Chatelaillon-Plage to Poitiers on Wednesday:
1. Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo) 46hrs 15mins 24sec, 2. Egan Bernal (COL/INE) at 21sec, 3. Guillaume Martin (FRA/COF) 28, 4. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 30, 5. Nairo Quintana (COL/ARK) 32, 6. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EF1) 32, 7. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) 44, 8. Adam Yates (GBR/MIT) 1min 02sec, 9. Miguel ngel Lopez (COL/AST) 1:15, 10. Mikel Landa (ESP/BAH) 1:42, 11. Richie Porte (AUS/TRE) 1:53, 12. Enric Mas (ESP/MOV) 2:02, 13. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 2:31, 14. Tom Dumoulin (NED/JUM) 3:22, 15. Richard Carapaz (ECU/INE) 3:42, 16. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BAH) same time, 17. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 3:43, 18. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) 6:08, 19. Esteban Chaves (COL/MIT) 12:13, 20. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOR) 15:35.
Selected
25. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 33:57, 34. Wout van Aert (BEL/JUM) 47:46, 45. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) 56:34, 91. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 1hr 53min 29sec.
Green points jersey:
1. Sam Bennett (IRL/DEC) 243 pts, 2. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 175, 3. Bryan Coquard (FRA/VCC) 157, 4. Caleb Ewan (AUS/LOT) 155, 5. Matteo Trentin (ITA/CCC) 140, 6. Wout van Aert (BEL/JUM) 131, 7. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/UAE) 100, 8. Michael Morkov (DEN/DEC) 92, 9. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) 82, 10. Cees Bol (NED/SUN) 72
Polka-dot king of the mountains jersey:
1. Benoit Cosnefroy (FRA/ALM) 36 pts, 2. Nans Peters (FRA/ALM) 31, 3. Marc Hirschi (SUI/SUN) 26, 4. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS/CCC) 25, 5. Toms Skujins (LAT/TRE) 24, 6. Quentin Pacher (FRA/VCC) 20, 7. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) 18, 8. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) 14, 9. Carlos Verona (ESP/MOV) 14, 10. Neilson Powless (USA/EF1) 14
Under-25 white jersey:
1. Egan Bernal (COL/INE) 46hrs 15mins 45sec., 2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) at 23, 3. Enric Mas (ESP/MOV) 1min 41secs, 4. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) 5:47, 5. Daniel Martinez (COL/EF1) 52:12, 6. Harold Tejada (COL/AST) 52:48, 7. Valentin Madouas (FRA/FDJ) 1 h 03:30, 8. Marc Hirschi (SUI/SUN) 1 h 06:42, 9. Neilson Powless (USA/EF1) 1 h 07:48, 10. David Gaudu (FRA/FDJ) 1 h 15:16.