Primoz Roglic asserted his Tour de France credentials with a victory in the first mountain stage on Tuesday as Julian Alaphilippe kept the race leader's yellow jersey.
Roglic, a former ski jumper from Slovenia who won the Spanish Vuelta last year, posted his third career stage win at the famous race in the Alpine town of Orcieres-Merlette.
He crossed first ahead of UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogacar and Frenchman Guillaume Martin. Alaphilippe, also of France, was fifth in the same time behind Colombian climber Nairo Quintana.
Pogacar, who secured the white jersey for fastest young rider, said: "To wear the white jersey in the Tour is a really nice moment.
"I wasn't sure after I crossed the line if I had taken it or not. Wearing the white in the Vuelta was special but this is even more so.
"Today's stage was not so hard but the final part was full gas. Primoz was a bit faster than me in the final but I'm happy with my result.
"The team is good – [David] De La Cruz is still recovering from his crash but he's getting better. The motivation is really high in the group."
With his victory, Roglic erased all the doubts surrounding his form following his withdrawal from the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this month because of injuries he sustained in a crash.
“I’m coming back," Roglic said. “We can see that I can race and every day I feel a little better. It’s nice to be able to ride again. I already got proof that I was ready for the start. Now we need to continue the whole team with good job."
