Having broken away from the peloton 50 kilometres from the finish, the DSM climber won ahead of his team-mate Frank van den Broeck, with just a five-second lead over the group of favourites who were unable to catch the two escapees.
In a thrilling finale, the two DSM riders resisted the return of the pack and the young Dutchman offered victory to his leader at the end of a scorching day which turned into an ordeal for many riders, except for the main favourites.
It is the fourth victory in the Tour for the 33-year-old from Auvergne who finished second in the general classification in 2016 and third the following year but had never before worn the yellow jersey.
Madouas escaped
This year he is competing in his last Grand Boucle after announcing a few days ago that he would be hanging up his boots in June 2025.
In this very tough stage, run in oppressive heat, Bardet and Van den Broek performed a fantastic two-man performance.
Present since the start of the day in the breakaway which also included the Frenchman Valentin Madouas, the young Dutchman, 23, first waited for his leader when he extricated himself from the peloton to come and swallow up the breakaways one by one. A.
He then pulled huge relays to take him to the long flat part in the finale towards Rimini, on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. And resist the return of the peloton in the traditional game of cat and mouse which often ends badly for the escapees.
