Mathieu van der Poel's late attack and the so-near-yet-so-far chase of Jonas Abrahamsen's winning breakaway move into Toulouse was the last thrilling act of a non-stop stage 11 of the Tour de France.
However, the finale of the Classics-style stage might have been even more exciting had the Dutchman known that the Norwegian and fellow breakaway survivor, Mauro Schmid, were up the road.
Van der Poel mounted a furious chase on the steep slopes of the day's final climb, the Côte de Pech David, eventually falling just seven seconds short of shutting down the 27-second gap to the two leaders.
But it was only on the 800m, 12.4% hill that he realised there were two more riders to catch, with his chase group having brought back those dropped from the leading group.
"I only heard late that there were two riders ahead of me. That was a shame," Van der Poel told NOS after the stage.
"I didn't realise it. I actually thought those others were the breakaway group. It was a confusing situation. For a moment, I thought we were in the lead with our group, but when the bikes stayed ahead, I quickly realised that there were still riders ahead of us."
Stage 2 winner Van der Poel might have added another victory to his Tour palmarès – which also includes four days in yellow and the first week combativity award – said that radio communication has been disrupted during the Tour so far.
"We've been struggling with radio communication all week," he said. "It's been really choppy. I think it's because there are so many transmission lines during the Tour de France, and that causes some interference."
In the end, he had to settle for third place and may now have to wait until the final stage in Paris for another chance at a stage victory.
Few stages between now and the Tour's grand finale up Montmartre suit his racing style as well as the closing day or stage 11, which was run at a frantic 48kph and featured seven hills in the final 50km.
Van der Poel said he's suffering a cold at the Tour, but noted that he felt better as the stage progressed. Having been quiet during the first part of the stage, he made the chase group behind Abrahamsen's winning move with 70km to go.
"I have a bit of a cold, and my head was a bit heavy at the beginning of the race. As the race progressed, it got better," he said.
"I knew it was going to be tough in the final. I obviously had to pace myself a bit in case I got caught, but I also knew those two would keep riding and ultimately sprint for victory together."
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