Tour de France 2024: Pogacar defends big lead as riders tackle stage 20 – live | Tour de France 2024

Pogacar and Vingegaard surge to the front

3km to go: Pogacar smells his fifth mountain win of Le Tour – that would be a record. He and Vingegaard are working together. Meanwhile, Remco’s riding well, keeping pace, and catching up. But Mas and Carapaz are being eaten up. The gapd dwindles to nothing.

Evenepoel tries his hand – but fails

5km to go: The gap is dropping, the two leaders trying to pace each other to the finish. Mas tries to shake Carapaz but can’t, Bardet 30 seconds behind.

6km to go: Does Pogacar fancy a dig at a stage win? The race may be falling into his hands. Almeida drives them on, and is looking good for fourth on GC himself. Kelderman is caught, and he throws cooling water on teammate Vingegaard, and passes food to Jorgensen, another teammate with GC aspirations.

6.5km to go: Up at the front, Carapaz wants a stage win and is trying to crack old pal Mas, but he can’t get it done. Here we go…Evenepoel goes for it, and then Vingegaard and Pogacar get back on. This will favour the leaders as the GC contenders toy with each other. Almeida takes up the pacing, with Landa’s day done. What a pull he gave them.

8km to go: Landa, fifth on GC, is blowing holes in the race as he sets the pace. Soler, pulled back and dropping, pours water over teammates Pogacar and Almeida. Pogacar’s group is down to just five riders – Vingegaard and Evenepoel included, with Landa and Almeida as the superdomestiques. This is brutal from Landa, and Vingegaard is the target.

9km to go: The peloton are taking on ice and liquid as they rev up for that final push, though the gap remains around 2’24”. Landa, with GC hopes, takes on the Quickstep mantle and looks to ride in the services of Remco. And riders go out the back, Derek Gee is clinging on, Ciccone has gone out the back. Adam Yates loses contact as 15 seconds are chiseled off that lead. The gap is below two minutes, as Stuyven and Soler are caught.

10km to go: Sivakov is lost to UAE, and the gap begins to close. Up in the break, Mas and Carapaz go away together, and may well work together, as former teammates. That did for Soler, while Bardet attempts to get back on and makes it. He’s giving it his all for his final fling, the home favourite. Carapaz has another go, and Bardet is suddenly blown backwards and backwards. He loses 15 seconds with one burst of Mas and Carapaz. The gap to the peloton is 2’ 16”, the type of gap that Pogacar has eaten up on repeated digs during this tour.

12km to go: The gap to the peloton is 2’40”, where Quickstep are taking it up, Evenepoel and Vingegaard glued together. Pogacar looks calm as ever, and full of energy. Up the top, Soler is back on. Johansesson, a face from earlier in Le Tour, is in there too. Kelderman is pacing them along. The drinks and gels are being taken on.

13km to go: A couple of false flats, and the leaders are Stuyven, Carapaz, Mas, Bardet, Carapaz, Kelderman, with Tratnik out the back, and gone. The finish line, full of fans, is singing for Thibaut Pinot – not Bardet. Soler is riding back to the break. What a ride. Back in the field, Simon Yates and Carlos Rodriguez are losing time and legs.

15.7km to go: This is it, the big one, through tight lanes, past big crowds on the brow of the hill. Plenty of flag-waving. Has Soler cracked? It’s possible. Soudal-Quickstep lead the peloton.

16km to go: Some facts on the final destination for today from the official website:

• Population: 120 in Roubion.

• Specialities: Mercantour cheeses (carline, miche gavotte, tommes). Specialities from Nice.

• Personalities: Richie Porte, Tadej Pogacar (winners at La Couillole in Paris-Nice). Victor de Cessole (mountaineering pioneer in the Alpes-Maritimes department), Marcel Pourchier (officer and Resistance fighter), Joseph Garnier (economist and senator).

• Sport: skiing in Roubion, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking. Mountain biking. Snowkiting. Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur cycling team.

• Economy: summer and winter tourism in Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée and Roubion. Skiing, cross-country skiing. Agriculture (sheep and cattle farming). Festivals: Fête de la Transhumance (December),

• Signature: Breathe, smile, dream (Roubion’s signature).

The Col de la Couillole beckons for the final climb

25km to go: Calculations time; can the break stay ahead? The gap is three minutes, and it could be close. It all depends – of course – on whether Pogacar fancies another stage win. Mark Cavendish was keen to tell him not to win so many the other day.

30km to go: The descent is 20km down to the final climb of the Tour, barring the hills in Sunday’s individual time trial. There’s some nasty speed bumps on this surface, as they descend past a ski station, the drop meaning they have to pedal to stay at speed.

Carapaz claims the King of the Mountains prize

40km to go: The peloton is feeling the burn, with the likes of David Gaudu being shelled but the stragglers have been eaten up. This course, short though it may be, has been relentless. No rest whatsoever. Just as it’s been for the last 10 days or so. The sprint stages seem a world away, and even they have been chaotically fought this year. By the way, the group containing the green jersey is over 14 minutes down. Remco’s team is at the front, controlling the pace. Will their man launch an attack? Up at the front, Marc Soler looks to be struggling to stay on, and is asking for bottles. The break could be a man down soon enough.

45km to go: The peloton – and Pogacar – now four minutes back, and feels like that’s a maintenance job. The final climb is expected to be the final launchpad for an attack from Pogacar or Evenepoel. Vingegaard’s team are on a man-marking job, defensive tactics expected. The bell rings for a sprint hardly contested, and they go through in formation. Stuyven takes the points, and the prize money will be shared with his Lidl-Trek soigneurs.

Next, a climb of 7.5km.

50km to go: The peloton will soon be Champoussin, one of the early breakers, as the breakaway riders get ready for that intermediate sprint and to take the francs on offer.

55km to go: Look at the scenery. Neilson Powless finds himself, er, powerless to stay with the break, who are already in the foothills of the climb to Colmiane, before a change of focus for the sprint points.

60km to go: Quick as a flash, but with little change in the order, they fly down these hairpins, the fear factor perhaps stopping anyone going for it. The race is in formation, wending its way down to yet another climb, the Col de Colmiane. There’s also a sprint in there, though the likes of Girmay and Philipsen are nowhere near the front. The grupetto must be sizeable.

70km to go: Some movement in the peloton as Remco Evenepoel’s Soudal–Quick-Step take up the slack, and start to put the hammer down. Is this them chasing down Vingegaard? The peloton gets further thinned down. The breakaway begins its descent for almost 18km.

Carapaz takes the second climb and mountain points

77km to go: To be fair to those chasers, in still, quiet woodland, they are closing in on the lead group. Stuyven, looking unsteady, almost comes off his bike. A hunger knock? He gets some help from his team car and takes on supplies. The peloton, being pulled along by a phalanx of UAE riders, is dropping five minutes behind. This feels like a period of calm, if one that looks a horrible thing to be part of. The gap to the chasers is under a minute, and they will probably join forces on the descent.

80km to go: Soler is joining Carapaz and Bardet in that chase of Mas, Kelderman and Armirail. The gap is closing as the gradient gets more difficult, and closes and now we have a leading group of some talent. Carapaz can crown himself King of the Mountains by summiting this one. There’s two Visma riders in there – and Jan Tratnik has decideed to go off and attack. Bardet fancies this one, what a way to sign off it would be.

Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Powless (EF Education – EasyPost), Johannessen (Uno-X), Peters (Decathlon-AG2R) and Jasper Stuyven of Lidl-Trek are two minutes behind and chasing hard, if making little impression.

85km to go: The leading trio work together, while the chasers, including Bardet and Carapaz are closing in to within 20 seconds. There’s flat spots and a town full of fans, heavy traffic, through Moulinet. The gap to Pogacar et approaches four minutes but some talk that Soler, up ahead, will be his satellite rider.

90km to go: Ciccone and Gee, two top-ten riders, are chasing points, with Rodriguez struggling. A reminder of GC before the day began.

• 1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 78:49:20

• 2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma – Lease a Bike +5:03

• 3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal – Quick-Step +7:01

• 4. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +15:07

• 5. Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal – Quick-Step +15:34

• 6. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers +17:36

• 7. Adam Yates (GBR) UAE Team Emirates +19:18

• 8. Derek Gee (CAN) Israel – Premier Tech +21:52

• 9. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Team Visma – Lease a Bike +22:4

• 10. Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Lidl – Trek +22:46

The second climb, the Col de Turini, has begun, fully 20km, a first category last seen in 2020, on a stage won eventually by Julian Alaphilippe.

Plenty now chasing something here, with Carapaz 30 seconds behind the leading trio, with chasers behind him, and then the yellow jersey dropping back. It looks as if the GC contenders have let their men go for the stage wins.

90km to go: Paul Griffin gets in touch: “Two issues regarding the Pog hegemony. First, I don’t see any evidence that domination is financially damaging. The NBA grew global on the back of Michael Jordan et al’s success. Usain Bolt raised the profile of track and field — and his sporting demise is actually a bigger problem than his certain victories.

“Until he was exposed, Lance Armstrong boosted the profile of cycling. When Poggy steps down, the concern will be that a charming phenomenon has left the stage, and fewer people will pay attention. Second, it’s not entirely clear that Pog will dominate.”

“Vingegaard may be a Roundhead to pog’s cavalier, but his performances when fully fit are astonishing. His TT performance in the last race against the clock last year, is arguably the greatest physical feat in the Tour for many years. It’s far from impossible that we could be stressing about the Vingegaard era in a year or two. What a time to be watching.”

Armstrong added an audience, sure, but not sure they stayed once he was gone, and later exposed. I think the best thing about Pogacar is his attack of the one-day classics with the Grand Tours, in the best Hinault/Merckx style. He’s so thrilling to watch, in a fashion Armstrong wasn’t.

Michael Kane: “Wouldn’t it be better if Armstrong gave commentary based upon his own knowledge of cycling? Great win by Pogacar yesterday. Hopefully, he’s got himself a blood transfusion to make him less likely to crack on a tiring day today. While he’s at it, he should get on TV and infer I’ll lose my job if I don’t stop talking about him. That’s smart racing.”

Lance really was that bad, wasn’t he? Remember when German TV stopped showing the sport after all the scandals. Not all of them Lance, of course, but he was forever the leading man. To be fair, his 2009 comeback was blockbuster stuff, that Tour was wild.

100km to go: Mas and Armirail fly down the descent, and the gap to the peloton is a minute. Kelderman joins the leading duo. As ever, this looks full of danger, great nasty hairpins of the type that you struggle to haul your Renault 5 round.

Mas goes first over the climb…Jorgenson steals past Carapaz

110km to go: “Chaos” is how Adam Blythe on the Discovery bike describes what Pogacar has done to the rest of the field. He’s riding alongside Carapaz. Carlos Rodriguez of Team Big Sir Jim has been dropped, and at sixth in GC, could be tumbling down. So too Simon Yates, knackered after a couple of near-misses with chasing a stage.

112km to go: Nils Politt, after two almighty pulls on Friday, looks cooked in the Med sun. Marc Soler, another superdomestique, joins him. Visma’s Wilco Kelderman and Bruno Armirail, of AG2R, are the leaders with Enrique Mas joining up. Carapaz gives chase, looking for polka points.

115km to go: Richard Carapaz is being paced up this second category climb to make sure of the points. Should he win this one and the next, he will be unassailable. The gap to the grupetto is opening, with Cavendish low in the saddle as it goes over a minute. Here comes 10km of pain for the climb. Adam Yates is in the leading group – let off the leash by Pog? Is that brother Simon joining him? It is. Visma’s Kelderman, a familiar face from yesterday, tries to get away. Oh, and Pogacar has joined them, Remco and Jonas for company. This could be the peloton for the rest of the day.

120km to go: We have a group: Costa, Wærenskjold, Magnus Cort, Neilson Powless, Hugo Houle, Anthony Turgis and Jordan Jegat. This is an experienced group of stage winners, though the gap starts dropping to a peloton driven on by Jai Hindley, and suddenly, Turgis is dropped. There is dissent in the group ranks. At the back, the grupetto is collecting as they go past the Matisse museum. And so does the main group as the first climb begins.

128km to go: Søren Wærenskjold, another Norwegian, continues to stay away, before some others set off in pursuit. He idles, and once he has company resumes his pace. Rui Costa, the old stager, joins him for company. At the back, Matthieu van der Poel has a puncture. Untimely.

Away they go in Nice!

This stage is very similar to a Paris-Nice stage, and so is this an indicator? Though Jorgenson may have little left after his efforts on Friday.

The riders make their way through the streets of Nice, where the sky is blue with only a few clouds. Rather unlike this clammy, cloudy day in London. The expectation is that this stage will begin with wildcat attacks for a break. This will be hilly.

Gary Naylor gets in touch: “I do feel that, as the patron of the peloton and leader of the team with the biggest budget, Pog does need to be careful about the well-being of the sport. Who’s going to sponsor a team to see its riders continually arriving at the finish a minute or two down on Pog or a sprinter and a scattering of their domestiques in two of the GTs?

“The real villain is Christian Prudhomme, who was too clever for his own good in jamming the Galibier into Stage 4 looking for a three week mano-a-mano between Pog and Vingegaard. For very understandable reasons, it didn’t happen and we’re left with a rider who likes to win winning when he likes.”

Vingegaard is speaking, and saying the first two weeks were the highest level he had been at but the last had been too much, after the preparation. His plan for today seems to look for Remco and hold on to second.

Some discussion of the Pog/hog thing.

Matthew Lysaght: “Absolutely not, in my eyes anyway. It was the Queen Stage, he’s in yellow and he clearly wanted to “layeth the smacketh down” on Visma. As they hinted on Eurosport, he could have eyes on Cavs record too and that is all the more reason to do what he did.”

Joe Pearson: “After yesterday’s stage, some of the commentators (mostly the former riders) on USA/NBC were grousing that Pogacar was breaking some unwritten rule by taking the stage from Jorgenson. And I don’t get it. One of the qualities of being the GOAT is to have no mercy for your competitors. Did Michael Jordan have mercy? No. How about Tiger Woods? Absolutely not. If he wants to go down in history, Pog should crush all of those around him, every chance he gets.”

Alberto Contador, speaking to Discovery at the Nice start line, says of Pogacar: “he can improve.” There’s big smiles between Vingegaard and Pogacar at the start line, with Richard Carapaz in polka as they set off on the départ fictif.

Iain Cameron gets in touch: “Seeing Lance Armstrong criticising Pogacar, saying he shouldn’t have attacked again yesterday, just underlines why I love Pog. Armstrong, then Sky, and latterly Visma, liked to make one or two decisive moves then shut the race down. But for Tadej attack is the best form of defence, and it’s great to watch. And uber-cheat Armstrong should keep his thoughts to himself anyway. Ciao.”

Before all the revelations, and bar a couple of (in)famous incidents, Armstrong’s defensive riding was such a drain on Le Tour.

Friday was a grim day in the grupetto, with Cav making it but Arnaud DeMare not so lucky.

And some ructions between riders over a “sticky bottle”.

It will be loud and rowdy on today’s climbs.

Salient point made here by the breakaway king. Is Pog a hog?

Oh, and visit Nice. It’s really..er, nice.

Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s report from the finish of Stage 19.

William Fotheringham’s verdict

Shorter than the day before, but even more vertical metres of climbing. By now most of the questions should have answers: can Pogacar hang on to the form that won him the Giro, can Evenepoel find some climbing legs in his first Tour, have Roglic and Vingegaard recovered from their horrific crash in April, and is Egan Bernal anywhere near his old self? As on Friday, this is a day for the overall contenders in a totally unique final weekend to the Tour.

Preamble