Meanwhile, Anna van der Breggen moved closer to a second overall victory in the Women’s Tour of California as she finished fractions behind the second stage winner, Boels-Dolman team-mate Katie Hall.

The 20-year-old Pogačar, riding for UAE-Team Emirates, caught up with the 21-year-old Higuita inside the final kilometre of the 127.5km stage that had begun in Ontario.

The young Slovenian replaced Tejay van Garderen – controversially reinstated to the lead after crashes had hindered his progress on stage four – at the top of the general classification.

He goes into tomorrow’s final leg with a 16-seconds advantage over Higuita.

American van Garderen found the climbing tough on the day and dropped back to ninth overall after finishing 17th, 1min 28sec off the lead.

Higuita, representing EF-Education First, had looked ready to claim his first International Cycling Union World Tour stage win after breaking clear with three kilometres remaining.

George Bennett of Jumbo-Visma finished five seconds behind the leading pair and Kasper Asgreen, riding for Deceuninck-Quick Step, did enough to remain in third place overall.

Home rider Hall, the defending champion, crossed the line in 2hr 36min 39sec, with van der Breggen given the same time.

The pair had 33 seconds on the next finisher – Ashleigh Moolman of South Africa.

Dutch star van der Breggen leads with an overall time of 5hr 12min 37sec, with Hall 29 seconds behind her and Moolman at 1.06.

The men’s and women’s Tours conclude tomorrow with respective stages of 141 and 115.5km from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.