Magnus Cort pipped Nicholas Schultz in a photo finish to win a disrupted 10th stage of the Tour de France after climate activists forced a 10-minute delay in Megeve.
The race was paused 36km from the finish as the protesters sat on the road, with one of them wearing a T-shirt saying, “We have 989 days left”.
The activists were eventually removed by police.
In a thrilling finale, Denmark’s Cort surged past Schultz to narrowly win.
Alberto Bettiol, who was leading at the time of the protest and had to ride through a cloud of pink from a flare before stepping down from his bike.
Following a 10-minute delay, race director Christian Prudhomme cleared the race to resume.
“Since the government doesn’t care about the climate crisis, we need to come and take over the Tour de France to refocus attention on what matters for our survival,” said climate activists movement Derniere Renovation in a statement.
“We need to make our government react as they lead us to the slaughterhouse.”
Tadej Pogacar held on to the yellow jersey with a lead of 11 seconds over Lennard Kamna, who was among a group of 25-riders to break clear with over 80km remaining.
At one point the German held the virtual race lead as the advantage over the peloton increased to more than nine minutes.
However, the Bora-Hansgrohe rider had to be content with climbing 19 places in the general classification to sit second behind Slovenia’s Pogacar, with British riders Geraint Thomas, Adam Yates and Tom Pidcock all remaining in the top 10.
Pogacar’s day had begun without team-mate George Bennett, who alongside Australian Luke Durbridge, was one of two riders to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19.
Another of Pogacar’s team, Rafal Majka, also tested positive but was allowed to continue as he was deemed to not be contagious.
With Vegard Stake Laengen already out due to Covid, the loss of Bennett, a key mountain domestique, is likely to be felt sharply by Pogacar and his team with the two most gruelling days in the Alps still to come.
On Wednesday two hors categorie climbs will feature as the peloton tackle the 151.7km route from Albertville to Col du Granon Serre Chevalier.
The lengthy Col du Galibier is the high point of the race at an altitude of 2,642m, while the Granon is the highest stage finish this century.
Stage 10 results
1. Magnus Cort (Den/EF Education-EasyPost) 3hrs 18mins 50secs
2. Nicholas Schulz (Aus/BikeExchange – Jayco) Same time
3. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +07secs
4. Matteo Jorgensen (US/Movistar) +08secs
5. Dylan van Baarle (Ned/Ineos Grenadiers) +10secs
6. Georg Zimmermann (Ger/Intermarche – Wanty – Gobert Materiaux) +15secs
7. Benjamin Thomas (Fra/Cofidis) +18secs
8. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/DSM) +20secs
9. Fred Wright (GB/Bahrain Victorious) +22secs
10. Lennard Kamna (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time
General classification after stage 10
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 37hrs 11mins 28secs
2. Lennard Kamna (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe)
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +39secs
4. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 17secs
5. Adam Yates (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 25secs
6. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +1min 38secs
7. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) +1min 39secs
8. Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 46secs
9. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +1min 50secs
10. Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) Same time
