Insatiable Pogacar upsets Vingegaard.
With the yellow jersey and the podium decided, the penultimate stage of the 2024 Tour de France through the Alpes-Maritimes, with four major climbs and a finish on the Col de la Cujol, was a “grace day”. A beautiful escape allowed Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) to certify the Mountain jersey, although a great team effort by Soudal-Quick Step in one fell swoop ended the chances of a breakaway victory at the finish. With 5 minutes to go, an attack by his team leader Remco Evenepoel, who was trying to distance Jonas Wingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), was met with a strong response from the Dane, who knocked him down along with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) on the wheel. The Slovenian was relentless in the final stretch to claim his 16th Grand Boucle stage win, his fifth this season and fourth in the yellow jersey in a record-breaking year. Wingegaard’s consolation is that he opened up a 48-inch lead over Evenepoel, securing his second podium spot in the absence of a final 33.7-kilometer time trial in Nice this Sunday.
At 14:05 Moscow time, 141 riders set off on stage 20 of the 2024 Tour de France, which will cover 132.8 km between Nice and the Col de la Cujol. This was not the game of Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), which had gotten out of hand the day before. The early Col de Braus (2nd km, 24.7 km) was the scene of endless movements involving the men of the general classification and an important selection for the peloton. Three cyclists managed to overcome the Col de Braus (2nd place, 24.7 km) in the following order: Enric Mas (Team Movistar), Bruno Armiraille (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) and Wilko Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Spaniard was 55 inches ahead of the main group when he attacked on the descent, where the trio took the lead. Meanwhile, in the peloton, a skilful descent by Clément Champoussin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), a resident of Sospel (35.9 km), allowed Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) to leave the parking lot in search of salvation.
Carapace Sentences the Mountain
At the foot of the very long Col de Turini (1st, 59.8 km) the leading trio had 40 inches over the chasing quintet and 1’55” over the main group, which was growing until it became a peloton under the anesthesia of the UAE Team Emirates. At the first exits of the port, Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Kevin Genietz (Groupama-FDJ), Nans Peters (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) were behind, while Champoussen had dropped away from the chasing group. Tratnik, Soler, Carapaz and Bardet would take the lead nine kilometers from the summit, just as Stuyven, Genietz and Johannessen would be just one step from the summit, with Powless and Peters eliminated. Carapaz Franqueria took first place in the rankings, which sealed his victory in the mountains classification. The peloton, managed by Soudal-Quick Step, will pass through Turini 4ft 10in from the start of the race.
Soudal-Quick Step breaks away from peloton
Stuyven was the first to pass through Saint Martin-Vésubie (SI, km 87.8), where the breakaway maintained a 3’50” advantage over the main group, which was reduced by the momentum of Soudal-Quick Step, which also reduced the lead to just 2’45” at the top of the Col de la Colmiane (1st, km 95.9). The breakaway saw attacks from Soler, Mas and Carapaz, who, by crossing the port first, mathematically confirmed the possession of the red dot jersey, which he had come close to winning four years earlier.
Vingegaard beats Evenepoel
The final climb to the Col de la Cujol (1st, 132.8 km) began with a joint acceleration by Carapaz and Mas, who were left alone 10.5 kilometers from the finish. Behind, Soudal-Quick Step accelerated to eliminate the main group until it was down to six cyclists and 9 remained: Remco Evenepoel, Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step), Jonas Wingegaard, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tadej Pogacar and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). Evenepoel’s first attack was fruitless; the second, with 5 remaining, was to his detriment, as Wingegaard finished him off, leaving him behind. Only Pogacar resisted the Dane’s strength. Together they caught the leading duo with 2.5 kilometres to go before letting them go as the final push began. The Slovenian sprinted past Vingegaard with 200 metres to go, 7 inches behind. Carapaz was third at 23 inches; Evenepoel, 4th at 53 inches; Mas, 5th at 1’07” with the satisfaction of winning the Combativity award.
