Jonas Vingegaard, who snatched the Tour de France yellow jersey from Tadej Pogachar on Wednesday's Granon pass stage, came under repeated pressure from his main rival for the overall win on Thursday in the Alpe d'Huez.

Unlike Pogachar, who collapsed in the last 5km of Granon the day before, Vingegaard was able to resist as the Slovenian launched two late stinging attacks on the climb to the Alpe d'Huez on stage 12.

Jumbo Visma followed the stints of Christophe Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonk, and the super team of Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, Steven Kruijswijk, Primoš Roglic, and Sepp Kuss for the 13.8 km to the finish. controlled the race.

Kuss took the lead with 5km to go and pulled away from the leaders, including Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers). Pogachar then pulled away from Vingegaard with his first attack, and Vingegaard also succeeded with his first and second attacks, and the two crossed the finish line with Geraint Thomas of Ineos in third place overall.

"I was going to make it a bit of a hard race," Vingegaard explained after the finish. 'I think the harder the race the better for me and the less explosive it is.'

"The goal was not to try to win the stage, but to make everyone suffer. I expected him to attack and I think he will do it again. But my biggest challenge is to stick with him and not lose him.

"I expected him to attack today, so that's what happened.

Vingegaard also praised his team's work during the 165-km stage. Green jersey holder Van Aert took two stage wins, and the entire team stayed in yellow for four days until they chased down Pogachar in Granon.

"Of course, my team is probably the best team in the Tour. "It was the same today, yesterday, and in the first week. I have to thank all of my teammates today, because they have been great.

"So of course, I get a lot of confidence from this team, but on the other hand, it's often man to man. I hope we can be strong enough."

The duel between Vingegaard and Pogachar will be the second in two years at the Tour. In last year's race, which was something of a victory for the Slovenian, Vingegaard stepped up after Roglic retired mid-race and put Pogachar in the only trouble of the race in the Mont Ventoux double stage.

Vingegaard dropped Pogachar on the second of the two climbs that gave teammate Van Aert his famous breakaway victory, so the two finished together in a small group of Marocaine GC winners.

"I've grown a lot mentally," Vingegaard said. 'Obviously, last year I was already at a level. I've grown mentally."

"Now I have this beautiful jersey and I'm doing everything I can to hang on to it. The first day in yellow was a special day for me."

Vingegaard was also asked about the risks of racing so close to the fans on the final climb. His rival, Pogachar's UAE Team Emirates team, was hit hard by COVID-19, losing teammates Vegard Stake Rengen and George Bennett, as well as team manager Maxine Fernandez.

On the climb to Alpe d'Huez, fans filled the road and, as ever, swarmed around the riders as they passed. Teams and organizers are taking a variety of precautions against the virus, which has left five riders, but the sight of unmasked fans in close proximity to the riders is cause for concern.

"Of course, the risk of contracting COVID-19 is greater if you have a lot of spectators screaming in your face," Vingegaard said. 'But that's just the way it is. I just hope no one gets COVID-19 from that. I just hope no one gets infected with COVID-19 because of that."