The Jumbo-Visma rider powered to victory in a time of 4hrs 18mins 2secs, finishing almost one minute ahead of Colombia’s Nairo Quintana of Team Arkea-Samsic atop Col du Granon.

It was a thrilling 152-kilometre stage as two-time winner Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates cracked under pressure while Vingegaard seized his opportunity.

Vingegaard, who finished second behind Pogačar at last year's Tour de France, produced an explosive attack in the final 5.4km, pulling away from a group of riders to secure a stunning victory.

"It’s really incredible," said Vingegaard who leads the general classification standings by more than two minutes after winning his first Tour de France stage.

"This is what I dreamed of - a stage in the Tour, and now the yellow jersey.

"We made a plan from the start of the day.

"Obviously, you can see what it was: we wanted to make it a super hard race.

"We thought that was in my favour and in the favour of Primož [Roglič].

"I took a lot of time today, but I would never have done that without my teammates.

"They were all incredibly strong today."

Pogačar finished down in seventh position, slipping to third in the race for the yellow jersey behind France’s Romain Bardet of Team DSM and Vingegaard.

The Slovenian trails Vingegaard by 2:22, but he is refusing to give up on his goal of claiming a third successive Tour de France crown.

"I was suffering until the end," said Pogačar.

"We will see tomorrow if I can do better.

"I want revenge.

"I want to race until the end.

"I want to give it everything and have no regrets.

"It’s not over yet.

"I lost three minutes today, maybe tomorrow I will gain three minutes.

"I will keep fighting until the end."

Competition is due to continue with another mountain stage tomorrow as riders travel 165.5km from Briançon to Alpe d'Huez.