MÛR-DE-BRETAGNE, France: Tadej Pogacar won stage seven of the Tour de France on Friday to regain the overall lead with a trademark burst up the short, steep slope of the Mur de Bretagne.

Visma's Jonas Vingegaard was second, doggedly staying right on Pogacar's wheel to the line with Briton Oscar Onley third after a late nine-rider pile-up marred the finale.

On his 19th career Tour de France stage win the 26-year-old Pogacar gained four seconds on Vingegaard with 10 bonus seconds to the Dane's six.

"It was super hot today, and super fast but we had a plan and we stuck to it," said the Team UAE rider who was champion in 2020, 2021 and 2024.

In the overall standings, Remco Evenepoel is second overall at 54 seconds after coming in sixth on the day, two seconds adrift.

"The Tour de France isn't over yet," said Evenepoel, who lost time in a crosswind on the opening day before winning the stage five individual time-trial.

French starlet Kevin Vauquelin continues his bright run in third at 1min 11sec while two-time champion Vingegaard is fourth at 1min 17.

Fans cheered for Vauquelin along much of the route. On Thursday a hot-air balloon flew over the peloton with his face on it.

"All you could hear was 'Kevin, Kevin' all along the road, it's so good to have a new face competing with us," said Pogacar.