Pogacar hits the deck in Toulouse tumble

Norwegian hardman wins Tour stage 11

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Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen won stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse on Wednesday while defending champion Tadej Pogacar emerged largely unscathed despite crashing 4km from the line.

Pogacar fell after hitting the back wheel of another rider but his rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel sportingly waited for the Slovenian to catch up after he got back on his bike. Ireland’s Ben Healy retained the leader's jersey.

Pogacar sheepishly laughed off the tumble.

“I'm a bit beaten up, I’ve been through worse days, but yeah that was unexpected,” he said.

He was also swift to thank his rivals.

“Big respect,” he said of the gesture.

“The race was nearly over but I doubt I would have been able to catch up.”

Pogacar said he had feared the worst when Norwegian Tobias Johannessen rode across the front of him.

“He completely cut me off. I saw my head going towards the sidewalk and I was worried I'd get hurt. Luckily I’ve just lost some skin,” said the three-time champion.

Johannessen, a Uno-X teammate of stage winner Abrahamsen, apologised for causing the crash.

“I am terribly sorry for what happened, he wrote on X.