Tour de France stage 19 Live - Laporte surprises the sprinters in Cahors

Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 19 of the 2022 Tour de France.

Following an unforgettable day in the Pyrenees yesterday, it's the final 'proper' road stage of the Tour de France. 

If you were hoping for a quiet day after all the excitement of the past couple of weeks, you're likely to be disappointed - this stage represents the final opportunity for many riders and teams to go for a prestigious stage win.

Following an emphatic win atop Hautacam in the yellow jersey, race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) protects a lead of 3:26 over Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) back in third, exactly 8 minutes down on the Dane.

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) leads the points classification and will take home the green jersey in Paris provided he remains in the race until then.

The mountains classification is a little more complicated - following yesterday's heartbreak for Simon Geschke (Cofidis), the German rider will still wear the [polka dots in lieu of Jonas Vingegaard, who now leads the classification.

Tadej Pogačar continues in the white jersey, and once again, provided he stays upright and in the race, he has won the youth classification.

So to today's stage - 188.3km from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors. The race heads slightly downhill to start with, and the breakaway formation phase is likely to be a fierce battle between the teams without sprinters who want to contest the stage win.

The sprinters' teams will try to control as they look for a bunch sprint finish. It should be a fascinating contest.

With predicted tail crosswinds, there is the possibility of echelons, so the GC teams will also need to be careful.

The riders are on their way to kilometre zero on stage 19 of the Tour de France. 

Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco), pictured prior to today's stage start, will be one of the riders hoping that today's stage ends in a bunch sprint. (Image credit: Getty images).

Christian Prudhomme waves his flag and hostilities commence on this final road stage proper of the 2022 Tour de France.

Ineos Grenadiers are already very visible at the front of the bunch controlling the pace.

Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) are both at the front of the peloton too. Everything is holding steady for now but there's a sense of high tension among the bunch.

Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) is one of the first riders to try and make his escape. He's joined by Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Mikkel Honore (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl).

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) and Nils Politt join the group - the five have a small gap over the peloton.

One rider does not start this morning - Enric Mas (Movistar) has a positive covid-19 test and has withdrawn from the race.

The front group of five are already working well together and have opened up a 13 second gap over the peloton. 

Stalemate in the peloton as it looks as though the sprint teams are happy with the composition of the breakaway. 

180km to go

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) may have hoped to be a part of today's action but reportedly struggled with stomach issues overnight. 

So, the composition of the break looks to be confirmed, with a gap of 43 seconds:

Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe)

Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo)

Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert)

Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious)

Mikkel Honoré (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl)

The first notable milestone of the day is an intermediate sprint in the town of Auch - Wout Van Aert can add more points to his total as he looks to break Peter Sagan's record points total in the green jersey.

The breakaway group of five has pedigree - both Mohoric and Politt are previous stage winners at the Tour de France - both winning a stage last year - and Van der Hoorn has won a stage of the Giro d'Italia. 

Quinn Simmons has been very active in the race so far, featuring in a number of breakaways.

170km to go

The gap moves out to 1:04. Alpecin-Deceuninck, Team BikeExchange-Jayco, Team DSM and Lotto Soudal are pacing in the peloton, with Jumbo-Visma also riding at the front protecting the yellow jersey.

The bunch are reluctant to allow the breakaway too much freedom - the gap continues to grow but at a very slow rate. 

165km to go

Jonas Vingegaard takes to the start line in Castelnau-Magnoac earlier today. (Image credit: Getty images).

The break are still only 1.21 ahead of the chasing peloton, who seem determined to keep them on a tight leash today.

There are two category 4 climbs late on in the stage which could prove decisive, if a breakaway wants to try to avoid a bunch sprint.

160km to go

10km to go to the intermediate sprint in Auch. The town, birthplace to late Team Sky/Ineos DS Nicolas Portal, pays tribute to him today.

TotalEnergies have joined the chase at the front of the peloton. Five teams are now sharing the pacing work, restraining the gap to the break at 1.11.

The peloton is halted by another protest blocking the road. 

The commissaires bring the breakaway to a halt as the peloton waits to get back underway.

The protest has been cleared from the road and the peloton is back underway, with the moto pacing to ensure the time gap to the break remains as it was prior to the stoppage.

The breakaway group remains neutralised as the peloton makes up the lost time.

The race is stopped once again as the organisers wait to restart proceedings.

The breakaway are given the go-ahead and they ride away, and will have their gap from prior to the stoppage maintained.

The peloton are released, and the gap is re-established at 1.20.

155km to go

The gap moves out to 1:30, the chasing teams maintaining their stranglehold on the break.

The intermediate sprint in Auch beckons - the five breakaway riders collect the top five placements, with Quinn Simmons taking the maximum 20 points for first over the line.

150km to go

Jasper Philipsen is the first rider from the peloton across the line at the intermediate sprint, with Wout Van Aert second.

There's no allowances being made by the peloton today. The gap sticks at 1:25, 145km still to cover on today's stage.

145km to go

As a reminder of those who are looking to take something from this stage - five teams are represented in the breakaway (Bahrain-Victorious, Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert, QuikcStep-AlphaVinyl, Bora-Hansgrohe and Trek-Segafredo). 

Five teams lead the chase in the peloton on behalf of their sprinters: Lotto Soudal, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Team DSM, Team BikeExchange-Jayco and TotalEnergies).

Jumbo-Visma head up the rest of the bunch, protecting the yellow jersey, Jonas Vingegaard.

The five-man breakaway have a gap of 1:15 - it's coming down rather than stretching out, so they have their work cut out for them.

140km to go

The five-man breakaway working together on stage 19 of the Tour de France. (Image credit: Getty images).

The gap has fallen below a minute - this breakaway appear to be on a hiding to nothing as the sprinters' teams turn the screw.

135km to go

This stage has so far not produced the same level of drama as the previous few. Understandable, given the inevitable fatigue that the peloton must be experiencing. However with plenty of racing still to unfold, there remains the potential for fireworks, with two short climbs late on leading into the finish in Cahors.

130km to go

With just under 130km still to race, the gap has come down to 30 seconds and on a long, straight road, the peloton have the breakaway in their sights already.

It looks as if the break will be reabsorbed shortly - will we see a new battle ensue?

The doomed breakaway group have seen their lead diminished to just 12 seconds - their time is almost up. 

As the peloton reach the break, the five riders put in an injection of pace to try and pull the gap out again.

Mikkel Honoré leads the charge, with Politt the only rider from the original break not bothering to push on.

So, after almost being totally reabsorbed into the peloton, four of the five members of the original breakaway have now opened up a gap once again - it's back up to 22 seconds.

We have another breakaway attempt - a rider from B&B Hotels makes a break for it. The peloton seems happy to let him go.

The rider trying to bridge is Cyril Barthe (B&B Hotels).

Meanwhile, teams pick up musettes from soigneurs and Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) deals with a mechanical issue.

The breakaway group are back up to 32 seconds away from the break, with Cyril Barthe fighting to bridge across - he has just 7 seconds on the bunch.

The breakaway's positioning suggests the crosswinds may be picking up. Keep an eye out for echelons among the bunch.

115km to go

Cyril Barthe's attempt to bridge across has been unsuccessful, and he is collected by the peloton.

The riders have now entered an undulating section of the course, which continues until around 88km to go, when it flattens out again for a period.

The peloton are definitely feeling the effects of the crosswinds.

The bunch stretches as they head into a short descent. The gap to the break is now up to 48 seconds.

The sprint teams drive the pace at the front of the bunch on stage 19. (Image credit: Getty images).

110km to go

The four breakaway riders take on a short uncategorised climb, and they have stretched their lead out to 1:00.

The peloton are still all together, although the undulations are putting a bit of strain on some. Mads Pedersen is near the back of the bunch and looks to be struggling with the climbs following the stomach issues he suffered overnight.

We've had 88.3km of racing, and there are 100km remaining on this final road stage of the 2022 Tour de France.

100km to go

The gap holds steady at around 1:00.

Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) is hanging out of the back of the peloton, looking laboured.

To reiterate, this stage represents the last opportunity for many teams to fight for a stage win. Two stages remain after this one - tomorrow, a 40.7km individual time trial will decide the final placements on the general classification, before the traditional processional stage in Paris on Sunday, concluding with a sprint on the Champs-Élysées.

With 90km remaining, there is still just a slender gap of 1:04 to the breakaway.

90km to go

The riders now enter a long flat section of around 35km, before they take on the two categorised climbs of the day.

The two category 4 climbs come within 15km of one another, and once complete, around 35km remain to the finish line, giving the sprinters' teams enough time to close any gaps that may open on the ascents.

The sprinters' teams continue to drive the pace at the front of the peloton, with the gap hovering around a minute.

85km to go

The crosswinds, while present, are not strong enough to create any real difficulties today - no echelons to report.

Once again the gap drops below a minute - it's down to 49 seconds for the time being.

80km to go

It's the calmest day on the Tour de France since the Grand Depart in Denmark. A stark contrast with the high drama of yesterday's Pyrenean stage to Hautacam, where Jonas Vingegaard secured the yellow jersey, and should take it all the way to Paris bar incident or accident.

The peloton rolls through the French countryside on stage 19 of the Tour de France. (Image credit: Getty images)

75km to go

Just under 15km to go until the first categorised climb of the day. All quiet in the peloton, with the four-man break maintaining a gap of around 54 seconds.

Crosswinds are around 22kph, not troubling the riders at present.

70km to go

The bunch stretches along the long road that passes through the agricultural land of the Occitanie region of France.

Simmons, Honoré, Mohoric and Van der Hoorn all look comfortable within the breakaway. Their lead is at 51 seconds over the peloton.

Just over 10km remain until the first categorised climb.

65km to go

The Danish crowds gathered on the slopes of the first category 4 climb of the day are a fantastic reminder of where the race started, three weeks ago in Copenhagen.

Will the race blow open on the climb? The Côte de la Cité médiévale de Lauzerte is 2km in length, with an average gradient of 6.2%. 

60km to go

The breakaway sees their lead diminish to 38 seconds, with just a few kilometres remaining to the first climb.

The gap is falling steadily now, with just 35 seconds separating the four men out front from the chasing pack.

55km to go

50km to go

The climb of Côte de la cité médiévale de Lauzerte is via the stunning village and Simmons attacks to take the points but also split the attack.   

Only he and Matej Mohorič are left up front now. 

It'll be interesting to see if the peloton will react.

Simmons is now alone. Mohoric seems to have had enough. 

Behind the peloton split on the descent and the gap is opening. Has anyone important missed the split? 

Ganna is caught behind with a puncture, while the split has left Fabio Jakobsen in the 2nd peloton. 

Will anyone try to up the pace in the 1st peloton to keep Jakobsen out of the sprint? 

There is a cross wind and so that is making it hard for the 2nd peloton to catch back.  

Tadej Pogacar suffers a puncture, takes a bike change and starts to chase.  

All three of his UAE teammates left in the race drop back to pace him.

40km to go

Pogacar is at the back of the peloton but now needs to move up to near the front for the hilly finale of the stage.  

Quinn Simmons still leads alone out front but only by 30 seconds.

The Côte de Saint-Daunès starts soon. 

It is 1.6Km long at 6.3%. Is that enough to launch an attack? 

Why not? Watch for EF and Trek. 

The flags show that the riders are riding into as criss wind from their left. 

Simmons dances up the climb but seems to be enjoying his sufferance out front. 

Others not so much behind in the peloton. 

Simmons is first to the top of the Côte de Saint-Daunès. 

The peloton is just 8 seconds behind him. 

Simmons waves a finger and smiles. 

He's decided that's enough time out front.

35km to go

The peloton is back together but not for long. 

Alexis Gougeard attacks and so does Pogacar! 

Who else but Wout van Aert drags the peloton up to Pogacar. Vingegaard is there too, as Pogacar seems to laugh about his attack.  

Now other riders attack, as riders to try to take the race to the sprint teams.

30km to go

More attacks come. 

Fred Wright (Bahrain), Alexis Gougeard (B&B) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek) lead by 20 seconds.

All three are committed to the attack. 

They've also got a nice tailwind as they they roll at 55km/h. 

The gap is up to 30 seconds! 

The wind is definitely a factor as the sprint teams look at each other. 

The descent from the plateau is fast as the sprint teams start to chase. 

They will know if their sprinter's made it over the climb okay and if they want a sprint finish.

Alpecin are committed for Philipsen, as are TotalEnergies for Sagan.  

This is the moment Pogacar made an attack.

19km to go

Fred Wright (Bahrain), Alexis Gougeard (B&B) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek) still leads by 20 seconds.

Lotto Soudal are also chasing for Caleb Ewan. 

Pedersen is dropped. He was sick this morning, hence Trek's decision to race aggressively with Simmons and Stuyven.  

Sagan, van Aert and Philipsen are all up front in the peloton. 

15km to go

The gap to the trio of attackers is 30 seconds.

They're working well together and so the peloton will have to be even stronger and faster. 

Alpecin have 2 riders chasing, Lotto just 1, that's not enough.

Jack Bauer comes up to help for BikeExchange but that's not enough.

Jumbo and Ineos are up front protecting their GC leaders but they're also blocking new riders from coming up to help the chase.

10km to go

Fred Wright (Bahrain), Alexis Gougeard (B&B) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek) lead by 25 seconds.

9km to go

EF help out as QuickStep also come up to the front but does Jakobsen have anything left in his legs for the sprint?

The finish is technical with a rising final km.  

DSM for Dainese and QuickStep for Jakobsen are doing the work now.

Cattaneo moves off the front and so who will chase now? 

Ineos and Jumbo are on the front but the pace has dropped.

6km to go

Do the sprint teams think they can close the ten-second gap in the final kilometres? 

That's a risky strategy.

Ineos and Jumbo combine to lead the peloton. 

5km to go

Matthews hits the front to ride for Groenewegen.

Van Aert takes over for the roundabouts. 

The gap is 10 seconds but not falling.

4km to go

The three can probably go through the roundabouts faster the peloton. 

3km to go

Indeed the gap is up to 12 seconds. 

Matthews and van Aert sit up. 

No sprint for van Aert. He is human after all.

2km to go

The gap is still 12 seconds. 

They could make it!

Last km

Fred Wright (Bahrain), Alexis Gougeard (B&B) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek) still lead as the road starts to climb.

But the peloton can see them! 

Attack Laporte! 

Laporte goes solo! 

Jakobsen is dropped!

Fred Wright makes one last surge! 

But Laporte surges past him! 

Laporte wins it! 

The Frenchman passed Wright on the rising finish and opened a gap to win alone.

We finally have our French winner! 

Laporte is able to pint to the sky and wave his arm in disbelief. 

The twisting riding finish made it hard for the pure sprinters.

Laporte gets a hug from Vingegaard but he's struggling to believe he has won.

This is the first shot of Laporte's win.

Laporte was happy. 

There's never a quiet day on the Tour and never a logical finish.

It's a great win for Laporte but the Jumbo DS Merijn Zeeman reveals this was not the race plan, suggesting he raced on instinct.   

There might be an interesting debrief tonight at Jumbo-Visma. Of course, Laporte won but did he put Vingegaard at risk? 

Indeed the initial results show that Vingegaard was gapped by Pogacar, who gained five seconds. 

Pogacar was fifth on the stage, while Vingegaard was behind the split in 13th place, with Thomas and other GC riders.

Laporte explains that he was given some kind of freedom to go for the sprint after bringing Vingegaard safely into the final three kilometres.

Laporte was hugged by his teammates, especially by Sepp Kuss, beyond the finish.

This is how Laporte finished it off. 

To read our full stage report and to see the full results and our growing photo gallery, click below.

Laporte completes Jumbo-Visma domination with Tour de France stage win in Cahors

Jonas Vingegaard spoke about the stress of the stage and of his happiness for Laporte's win. 

"Today was a very stressful day and I’m just happy to make it and I’m even more happy that we won the stage," he said. 

"I’m so happy for Christophe, he’s such a nice guy and I’m incredibly happy for him. He really deserves this victory.  He’s been a helper for three weeks and now he can win a stage himself. That’s incredible. It shows what a team this is." 

Vingegaard also spoke about Saturday's time trial.

"I went to see it in April, so I know it’s quite technical in the first ten kilometres. It’s quite a technical time trial, I’d say. I’m just going to do everything I can and we’ll see if it’s enough.

Does a fear a surprise, like in 2020 when Pogacar took time from Roglic to win?

"I think you have to ask Tadej. I’ll just do my best and hopefully it can be enough," Vingegaard responded.

Quinn Simmons enjoyed going on the attack in the first part of the stage and kept going alone. It was enough to earn him the Combatif prize.

Jonas Vingegaard appeared to have lost a few seconds but on review the judges ruled he finished in the same time as Pogacar.

He was just happy for Laporte.

Today was a day of sunflowers

And rolling hills and fast racing.

There were huge crowds in Cahors to celebrate a French stage win. 

Bravooo Christophe!

Laporte celebrated with his teammates but was in shock.

To see the full stage results, click below.

To read the full stage report on how Laporte gave Jumbo-Visma another stage win, click below. 

Laporte completes Jumbo-Visma domination with Tour de France stage win in Cahors

Thanks for joining our live coverage of stage 19. 

We'll be back on Saturday when Alasdair Fotheringham will be in the Cyclingnews blimp to bring you full live coverage of the 40.7km time trial from Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour. 

The time trail will decide the final time gaps before Sunday's parade stage into central Paris.

These are the shots of the day.