Runner-up Jonas Vingegaard was unable to contend with Pogačar, but the winner praised the Dane for having helped him improve over the years.

He played to the delighted crowds by racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb before Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogačar and charge to the finish line on the Champs-Elysees avenue.

Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third.

Turning the screw

He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees in week two with his rivals as good as vanquished.

Overall winner Tadej Pogacar (centre), second-placed Jonas Vingegaard (left), and third-placed Florian Lipowitz (right) celebrate on the podium. Source: AFP / Anne-Christine Poujoulat

Vingegaard suffered on the stage-five time trial, and again in the second week at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him.