The Slovenian made a late dash to beat Australia’s Michael Matthews and France’s David Gaudu and claim his seventh Tour de France stage win in 4 hours 27 mins 13 secs.

The riders needed to travel 220 kilometres from Binche to Longwy in the third consecutive hilly route.

It originally seemed Belgium’s Wout van Aert could be among the final challengers as the Team Jumbo-Visma rider created a two-minute gap.

However, the peloton caught him with 11km remaining and the Team Jumbo–Visma rider, who was the overall leader at the start of the day, lost his grip.

France’s Alexis Vuillermoz made a push as the finish neared but his five second lead proved futile when he hit the floor of the climb.

UAE Team Emirates gathered steam and the United States’ Brandon McNulty set up teammate Pogačar.

Nevertheless, Team Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič first sprinted with 350 metres to go but Pogačar shot past his compatriot and his other competitors.

Pogačar now has a four second lead over second-place Neilson Powless of the US in the general classification and he is 31 secs in front of Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard.

"Every time I win it is even better, the first two ours were so crazy, a lot of teams pulling in the peloton," Pogačar said after the race.

"I was thinking he would come to the finish.

"The team did an incredible job bringing me to the perfect position.

"It was not a pure sprint, it was hectic.

"I guess I had good legs.

"I am super happy to take the win, anything else is just a bonus."

TotalEnergies also confirmed before the race that Daniel Oss of Italy has withdrawn from the Tour de France after suffering a cervical fracture.

Oss, like several of other cyclists, fell during stage five with 11 sectors of cobblestone causing problems for the competitors.

The Italian managed to finish the race 13 mins seven secs after stage five winner Simon Clarke of Australia.

Tomorrow’s mountain stage is set to see riders race across 176.5km from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles.