That’s the end of the story for Tour de France stage 20: hearty congratulations to Wout van Aert on a monster ride, and his second stage win of the race. And of course, huge congratulations too to Tadej Pogacar, who at the age of just 22 now stands on the verge of his second Tour de France triumph.
Can the Manxman Mark Cavendish round off the 2021 Tour de France by becoming the leading stage winner in history in Paris tomorrow - in what will possibly be his last Tour stage? I wouldn’t bet against it. Bye for now.
Geraint Thomas speaks to Eurosport and is asked how he got through a tough race: “It’s just what I’m like ... go all in, whether that’s on the bike or in the pub. I can’t just quit, I can’t give up ... I had some dark moments, believe me, but I had a good team around me.”
Here’s our report of stage 20:
Kelderman, who finishes fifth on GC, speaks to ITV: “I’m pretty happy with that ... for sure I have things in my mind about what I could do better, for the future ... that’s always what you’re looking at, but for now, I am satisfied with the position I have.”
Updated
Ben O’Connor speaks to ITV: “Masterplan [for the TT] was ‘threshold’ [power] ... I was definitely not pushing ‘threshold’ about halfway through ... but I’m still fourth, I should just be all smiles. Happiness is why we live ... happiness is only real when shared. So it’s special to share it with the whole team, friends and my family.”
Updated
Impressively, Vingegaard turned a six-second lead over Carapaz into a lead of 1’43” in GC. Pogacar will ride into Paris, barring any mishaps or maverick attacks by his GC rivals, with a handsome lead of 5’20”.
O’Connor secures his fourth place from Kelderman with a 12sec cushion.
#TDF2021 - GC after Stage 20 pic.twitter.com/0I5iHDDrfS
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 17, 2021
Updated
Top 10: stage 20
Van Aert - 35’53”
Asgreen +21”
Vingegaard +32”
Küng +38
Bissegger +44”
Cattaneo +49
Bjerg +52”
Pogacar +57”
Nielsen +1’00”
Van Baarle +1’21”
Tadej Pogacar races to a second straight Tour de France success.
Updated
Van Aert speaks: “It is quite something ... winning a Tour de France time trial has been one of the biggest objectives in my career. I’ve been really focused on this day in the last couple of days, and I’m so happy that I can finish it off ... the course was perfect for me, it was more rolling and faster than the first TT ... with my weight, it was more to my advantage ... it was a perfect day.
“It was definitely the ‘hot seat’ for the first couple of minutes, I was completely overheated after that effort ... when I saw the intermediates of the GC guys, yeah, my hopes were raising. It’s been a real hard Tour de France for our team, but in the end, we have three stage wins and we have Jonas in second on GC, which is an amazing result for only four guys left, so I’m really proud of how we fight.”
Updated
Wout van Aert wins stage 20!
Jumbo-Visma and the Belgian take the stage! Van Aert gives the thumbs up and then gets out of the hot seat and gives a big hug to one of his sports directors.
Tadej Pogacar, meanwhile, has all but secured the GC victory, speeding across the line in 36’50”, 57secs down on the day’s winner, in eighth place on the stage.
Updated
Vingegaard finishes in 36’25”! Third on the stage, 32secs down on Van Aert, and 11secs behind Asgreen. That is second place secured for Vingegaard and in some style.
Updated
Carapaz storms in for Ineos Grenadiers, in 38’02”, and seals his third place on the podium.
Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroen), battling to keep his fourth place in GC from Kelderman, is racing home now ... and he does it! He’s kept his fourth place by a mere 12sec, if my calculations are correct.
Updated
Kelderman finishes 2’20” down on Van Aert, in 38’13” - 23rd place.
Enric Mas rolls home for Movistar in 23rd place on the day, securing his sixth place on GC from his nearest challenger, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana)
Pogacar goes through the second time check at Montagne: He is 38secs down on the leader, Van Aert. It’s a solid ride, he is taking it relatively easy, and rolling to his second straight Tour de France title. The final rider on the road is nearly in Saint Émilion and for the GC men, all that will be left is tomorrow’s largely ceremonial race into Paris.
Updated
Jonas Vingegaard speeds through the second time check, at Montage, and he’s in second place on the stage to Van Aert, 21secs down. This is a really strong ride to finish a hugely impressive Tour de France from the young Danish rider.
“It’s not pretty. He’s rocking and rolling, he’s throwing everything into this ... he’s leaving it all out on the road, what an amazing ride this kid’s doing,” says Bradley Wiggins of Vingegaard from the Eurosport motorbike.
Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) finishes in a provisional 33rd place on the day, his 10th place looking secure.
David Gaudu, Groupama-FDJ’s French climber, finishes in a time of 39’29”, over three minutes down, and with his hopes of making it into the top 10 gone.
Franck Bonnamour is awarded the Tour de France’s overall combativity prize for 2021. Well played, monsieur.
💪 🇫🇷 @FranckBonnamour has been elected the #PrixAntargaz "Super-Combatif" of the #TDF2021! https://t.co/m0dEFZ8twM
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 17, 2021
In the latest virtual GC, Pogacar will win the race by 5’40” from Vingegaard. Vingegaard has stretched his advantage over Carapaz by 38”.
Updated
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) was pictured with his team radio hanging out of his skin suit a few moments ago. Odd, very odd.
Another great shot of Wout van Aert, who is looking every inch the stage winner today:
Vingegaard took five seconds back on Pogacar at the first time check. Which is not going to worry Pogacar, as he has almost six minutes to play with, but it bodes well for Vingegaard’s defence of second on the podium against Carapaz.
Updated
Pogacar passes the Pomerol check in 9’14”, which is 17” down on Van Aert. Pogacar doesn’t need to take any risks here, which is going to play into the hands of Van Aert as he hunts the stage win. The Belgian sits in the ‘hot seat’, gulping down water, waiting nervously to see if he his time is enough for the stage win. It’s looking good right now.
Updated
Vingegaard is just 12secs down on Van Aert, and he’s made 17secs on Carapaz in the first 10km. Promising signs for the Danish rider in trying to protect his second place on the podium.
Updated
Carapaz, at the Pomerol time check, is 29” down on Van Aert.
O’Connor is five seconds faster than Kelderman at the first time check.
A photo of the Colombian Rigoberto Uran. Why not?
Updated
So the podium, at the moment, is:
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 35’53”
Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) +21”
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) +38
Updated
Tadej Pogacar, the maillot jaune, is now on the road. He is defending a lead of nearly six minutes in the general classification.
Wout van Aert sets the fastest time: 35'53"!
Incredible ride from the Belgian - 21 seconds faster than Asgreen. He grimaces with effort as he grinds out the last bit of power from his legs, heading up the slight incline to the finish line.
Updated
Van Aert into the final kilometre ...
Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), second on GC, starts his time trial!
Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) starts. Only two more to go ...
Now O’Connor starts. Meanwhile, about 25km along the road, Van Aert is pictured getting out of his saddle to sprint into a straight as the fans cheer him on at the roadside. The Belgian is going flat-out for this stage win, which would be his second of the race, following that stunning ride on Mont Ventoux on stage 11.
Updated
The Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroen Team) talks to Eurosport - he is fourth on GC, 32” ahead of Wilco Kelderman. “I don’t really mind, there is not much difference between fourth and fifth, it’s still special ... I’m looking forward to having a couple [of drinks] in Paris.”
Kelderman, who is hunting down O’Connor’s fourth place, now starts his time trial.
Updated
Van Aert is 24 seconds quicker than Asgreen at Montagne, the second time check! Wow! He clocks 24’04” and is crushing the course with a 50.1km/h average speed.
Updated
Guillaume Martin, the Frenchman, begins his race to a predictably large cheer from the fans by the start ramp. The Cofidis rider is defending his eighth place on GC - Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) is 1’02” behind in ninth.
Pogacar is pictured in his yellow skin suit and a pair of white headphones, warming up on a static bike by the UAE-Team Emirates bus. He looks suitably relaxed.
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) speaks to ITV after his time trial: “I obviously didn’t go full - I just wanted to take the opportunity to recover a bit, it’s the Olympic road race a week today, which is crazy to think, then the TT after that ... just enjoy it, you know? Especially the road stages, you can’t enjoy them, they’re just crazy, especially this year, people crashing in front of you, people crashing into the back of you ... you know, it was nice to just ride on my own, enjoy the crowds, lovely weather, nice roads ... it was just a shame I couldn’t stop for a cheeky glass of wine. It’s certainly been an up-and-down race and it was nice to throttle back a bit today and just enjoy.
“I am proud to get this far, it’s probably the toughest Tour I’ve done mentally ... I came here to fight for the win, or at least a podium ... for that to disappear on stage 8, to get through all that ... to see my son in Paris tomorrow will be a nice moment.
“Pogacar’s a talented guy but no one’s unbeatable. I want to stay where I am but we need to come to an agreement [on a new contract]. You’ve always got to look at your options, haven’t you?”
Updated
Van Aert is fastest through the first time check in Pomerol! He clocks 8’57”!
On ITV yesterday, Pete Kennaugh observed that Van Aert has been flying under the radar for the past few days, and he thought that meant the Belgian would be going all-out for the stage win today.
Updated
Alaphilippe is 55secs down at the second time check at Montagne.
There’s a slow-motion replay of Alaphilippe, riding into a sea of bellowing and flag-waving fans on the Montagne climb, who kindly move aside at the last minute to allow the world champion through. Not exactly ideal for the riders, this.
Updated
A thousand-yard stare from Stefan Küng, the Swiss rider who was comfortably ahead at the first time check, but faded in the final 10km to finish second as it stands. No stage-win glory to round off his Tour de France, for Küng or his team.
Updated
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is out on the road.
Current top five on stage 20:
Asgreen (36’14”)
Küng (+17”)
Bissegger (+23”)
Bjerg (+31”)
Nielsen (+39”)
Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) begins his time trial and there is a big roar of appreciation from the home fans as he speeds away. The Breton rider has certainly ridden aggressively in the past three weeks and been in plenty of breakaways. No stage win, but he’s given everything, and the fans like that.
Updated
Geraint Thomas rolls in, in a time of 39’21”, over three minutes down. It looked like he was riding well within himself.
Updated
Küng still possesses the fastest time at Pomerol, exactly 9’00”. He was neck-and-neck with Asgreen at Montagne, the second time check. But he subsequently leaked 16secs in the final 10.8km to finish second of the riders who have finished.
Alaphilippe passes Pomerol 22” behind Kung, which is highly respectable, but he isn’t looking likely to repeat his ITT win from 2019:
Updated
Alaphilippe is on his way for Deceuninck–Quick-Step: and he brings an immense cheer from the crowd as he accelerates away from the start ramp.
Updated
Geraint Thomas was 48” down at the first time check in Pomerol.
Julian Alaphilippe will be starting in about five minutes. He won the first stage, up in Brittany, which feels about a million years ago.
.@alafpolak1 is about to start his effort at the #TDF2021 after a proper warm-up on his @tacx.
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) July 17, 2021
Photo: @BeelWout pic.twitter.com/AfQ5Ol0hX4
Bissegger, recently knocked off top spot by Asgreen, tells ITV that it was really hot out on the road, the wind was ‘annoying’, nobody is fresh at this point in the race, and that the lesson from his first Tour de France is that it’s ‘hard ... harder than I expected’.
He was in the hot seat, but had his team beaten by current fastest Kasper Asgreen.
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 17, 2021
Stefan Bissegger spoke to Daniel ⤵️
Christophe Petit-Tesson gets artistic with his camera as Michal Kwiatkowski speeds through the vineyards of Bordeaux.
Asgreen stays in the lead in a time of 36’14”. Küng is second overall, 17secs down, so Bissegger is now third in the standings. Plenty more changes to come, though, with the strongest riders in the race yet to start. There are still 34 riders to begin, with Pogacat due off in a little over an hour.
Küng now trails Asgreen by 16secs! He has leaked a lot of time in the second part of the course, not being able to sustain the fearsome pace that he set in the early part of the stage.
Updated
The moment that Stefan Küng, a Swiss powerhouse time-triallist in the finest tradition of Fabian Cancellara, sped through the second check point.
💨 It's tight! At the 2nd intermediate point, 🇨🇭 @stefankueng counts a 0''25 lead over 🇩🇰 @k_asgreen.
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 17, 2021
💨 C'est serré ! Au deuxième point intermédiaire, 🇨🇭 Stefan Küng n'a plus que 0''25 d'avance sur 🇩🇰 Kasper Asgreen !#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/AWlzuhxCfO
In terms of the GC battle, all eyes will be on Jonas Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz, in second and third place respectively, who are separated by just six seconds.
In Libourne, Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers) trundles down the start ramp and into his time trial.
At the second time check in Montagne, Küng has given up fractionally under 10 seconds on Asgreen: he is still fastest, but only by 0.25secs. He clocks 24’28” at the second check.
Updated
Asgreen talks to Eurosport: “Wout van Aert, Tadej, Vingegaard are still going to start, and they can do really good times.”
Which is the hardest part of the course, asks Bernie Eisel: “There is a long six-kilometre straight after the little climb ... the asphalt is quite rough there, it’s hard to get a good rhythm and it’s tough mentally, and there’s also a headwind so that doesn’t help.”
Updated
Geraint Thomas, waiting to start, smiles for the camera, which then zooms in on the road rash on his knees - evidence of the crashes he’s suffered across a difficult three weeks.
Küng, who is looking likely to set the fastest time, is halfway along the course and is on his way to the second time check at Montagne.
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) is fastest at the first check at Pomerol! By a cool 10 seconds. Wow, he is flying.
Updated
A glorious sunny day in France, pro bike racing, and maybe a glass of wine or two (for the spectators, anyway).
What’s not to like?
Kasper Asgreen sets the fastest time! 36'14"
A storming ride from the Dane: 51km/h average and 23 seconds faster than Bissegger.
Updated
Asgreen is inside the final four kilometres on the road to Saint-Émilion, and should be racing into the hot seat.
Stefan Küng, one of the favourites for the stage, starts his race. How will his legs hold up after nearly three weeks?
The race leader, Tadej Pogacar, still has to wait nearly two hours until he rolls down the ramp today: 4.19pm UK time.
Selected start times:
Geraint Thomas: 2.57
Wout Van Aert: 3.43pm
Tadej Pogacar: 4.19pm
Updated
Asgreen is fastest at Montagne! He’s 5.62secs faster than Bissegger, and is averaging fractionally under 50km/h, but that will rise to over 50km/h over the course with a descent to come.
Asgreen is motoring for Deceuninck–Quick-Step (not literally). He glides around a long left-hander as he approaches the second time check at Montagne. He was fastest by six seconds at the first check at Pomerol, and is going to set a seriously competitive time. But will he be fastest overall?
Updated
The good thing about time trials for photographers is that they have plenty of attempts at getting the perfect shot.
Here’s an excellent one by Tim de Waele, of Georg Zimmermann (Team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux).
The Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski, who is a very useful time-triallist, is out on the rode now for Ineos Grenadiers. He’s not yet reached the first check at Pomerol.
Asgreen, meanwhile, sets the fastest time at the first check! 9’10”, six seconds quicker than the current leader, Bissegger. Let’s see if Asgreen can keep it going to the finish ...
Updated
Mark Cavendish, after finishing his time trial, looks ahead to tomorrow’s final stage in Paris and his chance to break Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour de France stage wins:
“We’ll try and sprint ... we’ve got the strongest sprint team here. We’ll see what happens. It would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" - Yes, yes it would 💚
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 17, 2021
Mark Cavendish spoke to Daniel about his TT and Paris tomorrow ⤵️
Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates) is third-fastest at the Pomerol time check.
The Belgian strongman Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) is asked on Eurosport if this is his last Tour de France: “I think it probably is. It gets harder and harder as you get older. I haven’t made a decision yet, but grand tours are getting quite complicated for me.”
Updated
Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) starts. He’ll be going for the stage win.
Updated
As it stands: 73 riders have started, 69 are yet to start, and 53 have finished.
Updated
There are some beautiful, evocative photos of fans along this year’s Tour de France route in this gallery:
Bissegger, the clubhouse leader, speaks to Eurosport: “We will see what the time is actually worth in the end, but I think I did my best. I felt really bad, but I think nobody feels really well after three weeks of the Tour ... everybody’s tired, you’re not going to feel really good, but I think I did my best so I have to be happy anyway. I hope it will be enough ... Küng, Pogacar and Wout van Aert are the most challenging riders, I would say.”
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange) and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën Team) are among the riders out on the course right now. Bissegger remains in the hot seat, with a time eight seconds faster than Bjerg’s.
“I’ll be bitterly disappointed if these reports of mechanical doping turn out to have any substance,” emails Paul Griffin. “A device hidden in the hub, or an energy recuperator in the braking system would be a grave breach of trust; an insult to the sport, and its fans: and little short of a dishonourable disgrace. A rusting, blunted dagger to the heart of fairness and integrity. By the way, does anyone know where I can get one either of these devices, and how easy they are to fit? Willing to pay top dollar as I’m very, very keen to investigate.”
Updated
The first time I visited the Tour de France was in 2009, for an individual time trial at Lake Annecy. Bradley Wiggins was riding high in the general classification with Garmin-Slipstream, but he eventually produced a disappointing ride: He said he went out too hard after being whipped up by cheering fans by the start ramp. I was one of those cheering fans, so clearly have to take some responsibility.
Incidentally, Fabian Cancellara was furious after the stage, having been beaten to the win by Alberto Contador, because he claimed Contador’s police motorbike escort given him a big aerodynamic benefit, and also did an effective job of clearing the fans away from the road that other riders didn’t enjoy. I reckon he had a point.
Updated
A head-to-head here for Bjerg and Bissegger:
🇨🇭@aka_muni and 🇩🇰@mikkelbbjerg started off with the same premises but the young Swiss was able to open a difference of 8'' by the time he reached Saint-Émilion ⏱️#TDF2021 #TDFdata pic.twitter.com/wCqcGsuvgg
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 17, 2021
Mikkel Bjerg, who set the second-fastest time, speaks to Eurosport: “I just did my best today - it was enough for me to make the hot seat ... but I’m really proud of my effort today. Actually the spectators on the course were crazy today, it was 30km of people, it was a really special feeling to do a TT with that many people.”
Updated
Stefan Bissegger sets the fastest time: 24'34"!
Stefan Bissegger, the 22-year-old in his first full year as a professional with EF-Education-Nippo, goes fastest in 36’37” - an average speed of 50km/h! He rode the course eight seconds faster than Bjerg, of UAE-Team Emirates.
Updated
Bissegger will be roaring home into Saint-Émilion shortly: can he better Bjerg’s impressive mark?
Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) sets the fastest time! He’s flown around the course in 36’45”, with an average speed of 50.3km/h. He becomes the first rider to break the magic 50km/h mark.
Updated
Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) is out on the road. He had a draining day yesterday in the break, trying to grab a stage win, and will be feeling that in his legs.
Bjerg sets the fastest time at Montagne - 24’38” - a minute faster than Walscheid.
Max Walscheid (Qhubeka NextHash) sets the new fastest time: 37’54”.
Updated
Tim Declercq, the first man to race the time trial course today:
In addition to the controversy that currently surrounds Bahrain Victorious following that police raid in Pau, we’ve also now got allegations of mechanical doping at this Tour de France.
An anonymous rider was quoted on cyclingnews.com, from a report in a Swiss newspaper, regarding suspicions over bikes being used by four teams: “There is a strange noise. I can hear it while riding. It comes from the rear wheels. A strange metallic noise, like a badly adjusted chain. I’ve never heard that anywhere.”
Another anonymous rider said: “There is no longer talk of a motor in the crankset or an electromagnet system in the wheel rims, but of a device hidden in the hub. We are also talking about an energy recuperator via the brakes. The inertia is stored like in Formula 1.”
Updated
Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) goes sixth hundredths of a second faster than Bjerg at the check in Pomerol.
Mark Cavendish speaks to Eurosport on his time trial effort: “You just absorb it, you’re just getting through to Paris ... We used to do 50/60km ones so 30km isn’t too bad ... here in the vineyards around Bordeaux, it’s pretty spectacular, so I was just enjoying the atmosphere one more time before Paris.”
Updated
Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) goes fastest at Pomerol, in 9’16”.
Dries Devenyns now fastest in 37’59”.
The reason all the Deceuninck-Quick-Step riders are bunched together in the GC, and therefore the time trial start order, is that they have been riding with Cavendish to lead him through the mountains and all lost large amounts of time as a result.
Updated
And indeed, Cavendish’s teammate Mørkøv swiftly takes over in the hot seat. He finishes the course in 39’35”.
Updated
Cavendish goes fastest, in 40’05”. As it stands, he’s clubhouse leader and is on course for a 35th Tour stage win. But it won’t be that way for very long, of course ...
Updated
Declercq is the first man to finish the 30.8km course, in a time of 40’20”, an average of 45.8km/h.
Tim Declercq (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) is inside the final 3km of his time trial today and he will give us an early marker when he crosses the finish line. Not that the eventual winner’s time will bear much resemblance to the Belgian’s.
Bradley Wiggins, on a motorbike out on the road for Eurosport, directly contradicts Froome’s assessment of the course by saying it’s tricky and technical.
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) rides past hundreds of cheering fans. There are caravans parked at the roadside, and a few gazebos to shelter from the sun. The great thing about a time trial, for fans at roadside, is that it’s a whole day of sport to watch as opposed to about 20 seconds, in the case of many road stages.
Updated
The journalist and ITV reporter Daniel Friebe’s view wasn’t bad this morning:
Haut-Sarpe, Saint-Émilion 🍇 pic.twitter.com/ST0Aya0xnc
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) July 17, 2021
Declercq now gives us a marker at the second time check in Montagne: 27’16”.
Dries Devenyns is now fastest into the time check at Pomerol, in 9’22”.
Updated
Cavendish is halfway through the 30.8km course now. Greipel, his old adversary in many Tour de France sprints, rolls down the ramp, 15km behind the Manxman in Libourne.
André Greipel, one of the nicest and most respected riders in the professional peloton, has announced his imminent retirement. He has won 22 grand tour stages including 11 at the Tour de France:
Today, @AndreGreipel has an announcement to make.
— Israel Start-Up Nation / Israel Cycling Academy (@TeamIsraelSUN) July 17, 2021
"I look to the future with a lot of happiness."
___
🇫🇷 #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/Tr8Iq7PbCT
This is what the official Tour site has to say about today’s time trial:
“The second time check is located at Montagne, km 20, but it’s a flattish conclusive individual time trial in the prestigious vineyard of Saint-Émilion. This is a reminder of the Bordeaux to Pauillac won by Fabian Cancellara in 2010 and it might well be another Swiss specialist who will make the best of a specific preparation as he also has in mind another time trial coming soon at the Tokyo Olympics. Wout van Aert is another serious candidate but they believe that Tadej Pogacar has the key. The Slovenian already outclassed them all in the first ITT in Laval. His advantage overall is big enough for him to take it easy but he just loves racing …”
Michael Mørkøv is currently fastest at the Pomerol check, in 09’53”. Cavendish was, very briefly, the fastest out on the road at the first time check, two seconds slower than his teammate and lead-out man.
Updated
Froome starts his time trial. There are some cheers and a few boos as he rolls down the ramp and gets going. “A residue of angst from French cycling fans,” says Carlton Kirby on commentary.
Chris Froome has done a course recon, and now talks to Eurosport: “It’s very much a power time trial. It’s not too technical, a few sort of rolling bumps ... I think it’s got Pogacar written all over it, maybe someone like Wout van Aert, someone who can really open up and get the power out on the road. This is definitely going to suit the time-triallists.
“It’s incredible to see the crowds that have come out today ... it’s going to be a great day for a lot of people.”
Declercq, the first rider on the road, is approaching Pomerol now under clear blue skies.
I just Googled ‘Pomerol wine’, and the first bottle that came up costs a mere £3,130.74.
Updated
Mark Cavendish rolls down the start ramp. He takes a second to smile and wave at the crowds, which indicates how seriously he is racing in this stage, before tucking into this time trial position.
Updated
And they’re off: Tim Declercq, the last-placed rider in GC, is out on course in Libourne, heading for Saint-Émilion.
Updated
The time check points today come at Pomerol (7.6km) and at Montagne 20.1km. The highest point on the course, appropriately, is at Montagne, 93m above sea level.
Updated
Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has been reminiscing about a significant stage 20 time trial in his career, back in 2018:
A stage 20 time trial at the Tour... 🤔 Very happy memories @SaraEls90 #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/MQUD28v3cL
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 17, 2021
Plenty of fans are already situated along today’s 30.8km time trial route. The Tour de France, of course, was initially conceived to boost the sales of a newspaper, and there are always commercial interests at work when each year’s route is designed. Today is all about promoting the local plonk around the world.
🇫🇷 - @LeTour #20
— AG2R CITROËN TEAM (@AG2RCITROENTEAM) July 17, 2021
👋 Libourne 🤩
C’est parti pour la reco. 👀
The recon is on. 👀#AG2RCITROËNTEAM #RoulonsAutrement #RideDifferently pic.twitter.com/MhvRZc279r
We’re just 15 minutes away from the start of Stage 20.
Before the start of yesterday’s stage, Mark Cavendish had an issue with his bike, and lost his temper with one of the Deceuninck–Quick-Step mechanics. The video of the incident was doing the rounds on social media -
Mark Cavendish, ladies and gentlemen. pic.twitter.com/lls0NyJofM
— Max Vanhove (@MaxBets001) July 16, 2021
In a post on Instagram last night, Cavendish wrote the following:
“Many of you will have seen the video from the start of today’s stage. During a day of the Tour de France, as riders we are put in a perilous situation and I wanted my bike to be perfect, in order to help me stay safe.
“My bike had some problems when I got on it this morning. Despite this, I should not have reacted in the way that I did and not so publicly. I’ve been extremely close friends with my mechanics for over a decade and they’ve worked tirelessly to ensure I’ve always been safe and successful. Although they know how short I can be when I’m stressed, no-one, especially those you care about, deserve to have a voice raised to them.
“Truly, one of the biggest factors of the success Deceuninck–Quick-Step team is that we are a family, and we love and care for each other, and conversations should be kept within that family. We have now spoken about what happened and as a group the Wolfpack will do our best to have a successful finish to #tdf2021”
Updated
Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) powered away from a large breakaway group 25km from the finish to win stage 19 on Friday, and provoked plenty of post-stage debate with his ‘zip it’ gesture as he crossed the line. After the stage, he talked about the police raid on the team’s hotel in Pau and insisted once again that the team have nothing to hide. Here is Jeremy Whittle’s report:
Updated
The start times today are in reverse order in the general classification. So Tim Declercq (Deceuninck–Quick-Step), who is in last place in GC nearly five hours down, is first off at 12.05pm UK time. The overall race leader, Pogacar, will roll down the ramp at 4.19pm UK time. You can see a full list of start times here on the official Tour website (142 riders remain in the race with two stages to go).
Updated
Here’s Pierre Rolland celebrating as he overtakes Stefan Küng in a time trial ... never mind the fact that he’s en voiture -
C’est bon, j’ai enfin doublé @stefankueng sur un chrono ! 😆#TDF2021 l @BBHOTELSpbKTM https://t.co/rriVkBq2Fz pic.twitter.com/2uZnASqYUr
— Rolland Pierre (@PierroooRolland) July 17, 2021
Stage 20, Saturday 17 July, individual time trial, Libourne – Saint-Émilion 30.8km
This stage visits the village of Montagne, which will seem like a bad joke to the big-boned types who have grovelled through the Alps and Pyrenees. Since last year’s reversal at La Planche des Belles Filles the Tour has fallen back in love with time trials and this one is long enough to create a surprise or two. In theory the Tour will have gone through more than enough mountains since leaving Brittany to ensure that the strongest climber has ample margin to relax on this stage. But that’s far from certain – and therein lies the great fascination of this race.
Preamble
The final time trial of last year’s Tour de France provided the race’s most dramatic denouement since Greg LeMond denied Laurent Fignon by eight seconds on the Champs-Élysées in 1989. Tadej Pogacar struck a crushing final blow to Primoz Roglic at La Planche des Belles Filles, beating his Slovenian compatriot by nearly two minutes on the day and taking the yellow jersey for the first time in the race – just in time for Paris.
What are the chances of seeing similar drama today and Pogacar, UAE-Team Emirates’ champion-elect, overhauled? “Slim and none,” as Don King once said. “And slim’s outta town.” Pogacar leads Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) by 5mins 45secs in the general classification, with Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) six seconds further behind. If Pogacar stays upright, he will secure a second Tour de France triumph, with only tomorrow’s ceremonial stage left to negotiate.
There’s plenty to look forward today, though: a largely flat and extremely scenic 30.8km individual time trial that winds it way through the vineyards of some of world’s most famous wines. Pomerol, Lussac and Saint Émilion all feature along the route and riders such as Stefan Küng and Wout van Aert will be giving everything to deny Pogacar a second ITT victory of the race. The first rider rolls down the start ramp at 12.05 UK time. Allez!
Updated
