The GC battle is just about wrapped up. Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard have traded blows all Tour, but with neither cracking the other in the Alps or Pyrénées—and no summit finishes left—the final weekend is shaping up to be a coronation march for the Slovenian.
But Stage 20, from Nantua to Pontarlier, isn’t just filler. The 184-km route through 2,850 m of climbing across four categorized climbs. So it’s tailor-made for a breakaway. With a bunch of teams still without a stage win, expect chaos early as riders jostle to get up the road.
The day kicks off immediately with a long drag to the Col de la Croix de la Serra (12.1 km at 4.1 per cent), followed by two more category climbs—Valfin and Thesy—the latter short and steep enough (3.6 km at 8.9 per cent) to sting the legs. The final kicker is the Côte de Longeville with 20 km to go, but the last seven kilometres flatten out, possibly inviting a small group sprint. Maybe, just maybe, it’s a day for Wout van Aert? How great would it be to have the Belgian take a win?
While the GC favourites will sit tight, eyes will be on strongmen like Victor Campenaerts, Fred Wright and Kasper Asgreen—all proven escape artists. And with Paris offering a new, hillier finale on Montmartre, this could be the last real shot for sprinters, too, if they can hang on. For a while, it looked like Pogi may sweep all three jerseys–yellow, polka dots and green. But now, it looks like the underachiever will have to settle for just the first two. Maybe next year he can try a little harder.
To watch the penultimate stage, tune into FloBikes.com. And be sure to check back on Canadian Cycling Magazine for a full report. Btw, the women’s race, the Tour de France Femmes is also starting today! So much Tour!
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