Paris, July 27 -- Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) emerged from a potential banana skin of a penultimate stage in the sodden Jura Mountains unscathed - just - to all but secure his fourth Tour de France triumph.

A needless crash in the peloton on the home straight played out just metres from the world champion in yellow, who crossed the line with a wry smile after counting his lucky stars.

Pogacar will start Sunday's final stage of the Tour in Paris with his unassailable lead of 4'24" over Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) intact.

The incident came seven minutes after Australia's Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) became the 114th rider in history to complete a clean sweep of Grand Tour stage wins - soloing...