Nibali had vowed to make his mark in the Pyrenees as he sought not just to defend his yellow jersey but to leave the final mountain range of this year’s race with nobody in any doubt as to his superiority.

And he remained true to his word, with a ruthless showcase of the climbing ability that has now brought him three Grand Tour wins.

As with the previous two days, while the breakaway battled the heat and the punishing gradients in their bid to contest the stage win, the yellow jersey group was tackling a ‘race within a race’.

There was a sense of deja-vu as 2013 Vuelta a Espana champion Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida) went clear on the 13.6km ascent of the Hautacam – whose gradients average 7.8 per cent.

Nibali was the only man able to match Horner’s acceleration, as the two men who enjoyed such an enthralling battle for the red jersey in Spain last year went wheel-to-wheel again.

This time, however, it was not to be the American veteran who triumphed – Nibali distancing him less than two kilometres later as their acquaintance in the break was short-lived.

Mikel Nieve (Team Sky), who was 45 seconds up the road when the Astana man accelerated, was given even shorter shrift, Nibali not even affording him a sideways glance as he caught and passed him with ease.

And from there on, Nibali was left peerless up the road, effectively performing an uphill time trial as he put more than a minute into the first chasing group and all-but-sealed his first career Tour de France win.