The duel between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar lasted till the very end of the very last mountain stage of the 110th Tour de France as the Slovenian outsprinted the Dane at Le Markstein to claim his 11th stage win, the second one this year. Felix Gall placed himself between them and Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey on the eve of the grand finale in Paris, but the second last stage was truly the expected fireworks for Thibaut Pinot who rode alone in the lead in front of his fans before crossing the line in seventh position.
The start proper of stage 20 was given to 151 riders at 13.44. As usual, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) was the first attacker, accompanied this time by his team-mate Jasper De Buyst. Up to Ballon d’Alsace, Campenaerts soloed until he was reeled in 4.4km before the summit. The peloton was compact at the top and the sprint for the KOM was won by Giulio Ciccone who appeared as the only rider interested to contest the polka dot jersey among the four who were still mathematically in the situation of winning it. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), 4th overall, crashed at km 33. Once he made it back to the pack, a group of 16 riders including Jonas Vingegaard but not Tadej Pogacar. The yellow jersey eventually sat up to give a chance to the breakaway to succeed.
Some of these attackers managed to stay away and formed a 6-man leading group with 80km to go: Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Maxime Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny). A counter-attack involved Thibaut Pinot, Valentin Madouas, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich). Pinot made it across by himself on the way up to col de Grosse Pierre eventually crested in first position by Ciccone. It became a group of 10 with 63km to go with Madouas, Uran and Vermaerke reaching the lead after Harper. Ciccone mathematically won the KOM competition at col de la Schlucht 54km before the end.
Winning Sprint for Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates chased hard at the helm of the main peloton. Up to Petit Ballon, Madouas, Pinot, Ciccone, Pidcock and Barguil got a maximum advantage of 1’30’’ over the yellow jersey group. 5.5km before the summit, Pinot went solo. He crested Petit Ballon alone after being hugely celebrated by his fans for his last mountain stage in the Tour de France. In the yellow jersey group reduced to ten riders, Pogacar attacked for the first time 14km before the end. The trio Pogacar-Vingegaard-Gall passed Pinot, who had been rejoined by Barguil and Pidcock, 3km before the summit of Platzerwasel and went on to contest the stage victory. Simon and Adam Yates caught up with the leading trio with 5km to go. It helped Pogacar win the stage as he received the help of Adam Yates as a lead out man while Simon Yates overtook Rodriguez to reach the fourth place overall.
“Today I finally felt like myself again. It was in really good from start to finish,” Pogacar said after the stage. “It was great to feel good again after many days suffering and to pull off a stage win. I could continue for one more week [giggles], but nah, let’s go home. I was waiting for Adam [Yates] to come back because I know him and he could lead me out super well. Thanks to him, I was less nervous coming into the final and winning was a bit easier. I was super happy that the team did such a great job once again. I think the atmosphere in the bus every day will be my best memory of this Tour de France. The worst, every time that Marc Soler looked at me as I was suffering on his wheel while climbing the Col de la Loze. His gaze was the most terrifying moment! [laughs]”
Felix Gall: “Simply amazing”
“I am surprised at what I have been able to do at this Tour de France. This morning at the start, I did not feel very well. I didn’t think I could follow the best and then my feelings improved as the race went on. The crowd carried me. The atmosphere was fantastic. I was galvanized on each climb with the encouragement. It is simply amazing.
When Pogacar accelerated on the Platzerwasel pass with Vingegaard on his wheel, I smoothed out my effort so as not to explode. Finally, I got up to them and decided to ride at the head of the group to avoid having additional rivals in the general classification join us. I gave everything in the final sprint. Against Pogacar, it was difficult to do better. I’m really proud of my second place. Now, I can start to savor the Tour de France and what I achieved with my stage victory in Courchevel, my three podiums on the stages, and an eighth place in the general classification. These three weeks have helped me to gain confidence in my potential.”
Stage 20 Brief Results
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) @ 3h 27′ 18″
- Felix Gall (Ag2R Citroen) s.t.
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) s.t
- Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUIa) s.t.
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) @ 7″
General Classification After Stage 20
- Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo Visma) @ 79h16’38”
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) @ 7’29”
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) @. 10’56”
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
Websites:
Bike World News
Ron’s Bike Garage
Current Bike Quiver:
Bird Bikes Zero 29 29″ hardtail mountain bike
Commencal Absolut 26″ Dirt Jump/Pump Track bike
Commencal Tempo 29″ full suspension mountain bike
Felt ZA 700c race bike
Kona Kilauea vintage 26″ mountain bike
Niner RLT9 700c road/gravel bike
Specialized Stumpjumper vintage 26″ mountain bike
Day Job: Digital Marketing
Night Job: Digital Marketing, eCommerce Consultant, Web Consultant, Bike Shop Operator, Husband, Dad, Tenor