ISOLA 2000, France: Two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard said a third straight Tour de France title was beyond him after Tadej Pogacar extended his lead on Friday's gruelling mountain stage.
Vingegaard, the 2022 and 2023 champion, went into the Tour with only six weeks training as he recovered from a serious crash in March.
The Dane, who lost time on 2020 and 2021 champion Pogacar as early as stage four, accepted on Friday that a five-minute three-second gap was too much to pull back over the remaining two stages.
"I said from the beginning I would fight for this title, even with my limited preparation, but now the fight for first place is over," said the 27-year-old Vingegaard.
"The fight for second place is still on," he said.
Tour de France debutant Remco Evenepoel is in third, 1min 58sec behind the Visma rider.
Evenepoel, who won the stage seven time trial, is favourite to win Sunday's final-day race against the clock over a winding 35km route between Monaco and Nice.
Vingegaard's sports director Grischa Niermann also effectively accepted defeat.
"Jonas did an amazing job again today," he said. "It's just that someone was stronger than him, and that's been the story of this Tour."
The Dane has never totally cracked, but has visibly struggled every time Pogacar has attacked, which has been a frequent occurrence.
"I came on this Tour knowing it would be difficult. But we knew it was possible and I was mentally ready," Vingegaard said.
He has a history of handling altitude well and might normally have been confident for Friday's stage which climbed to just over 2,800m.
Vingegaard's American teammate Matteo Jorgenson was second on the day, but said he was waiting up ahead in case the Danish rider was able to execute a planned break.
"He wanted to attack from a good way out if he felt right," said Jorgenson.
Instead, Pogacar launched his own assault from 10km out on his way to a convincing victory.
"Halfway through the stage I changed my mind," Vingegaard said. "I wasn't in the right frame of mind."
Due to his punctured lungs and broken bones in March Vingegaard never really had anything to lose, and his team praised him for trying.
"I've never seen an athlete recover like he has," said Niermann.
"We dreamed of winning this Tour with Jonas. But realistically you have to accept Pogacar is stronger. Jonas is second best, and we are proud of that.
After 19 days of following Pogacar's wheel, Vingegaard stuck to Evenepoel's slipstream at the finish, with the Belgian, who also broke bones in the same mass crash in March, looking crossly over his shoulder as the Dane refused to attack.
"Tomorrow I'll be following Remco again," said Vingegaard.
Pogacar is two stages away from a Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double, which would be a first in 26 years.