The individual time trial on Stage 20 is a race against the clock. After 19 stages in the Tour de France, there’s only one time that matters: three minutes and twenty-six seconds. That’s how much time Tadej Pogacar (UAE) needed to get back from Jonas Vingegaard (JV) to regain first place in the overall classification before the ceremonial 21st and final stage.

It didn’t happen. 

The young Dane not only stayed upright, he threatened to win the time trial by besting teammate Wout Van Aert’s (JV) times at multiple checkpoints. Only after a hair-raising near slip on a tight corner did he slacken his pace. In the end the time trial win goes to Van Aert, who has displayed incomparable form on a wide variety of terrain this Tour.

More importantly, the yellow jersey is not coming off the shoulders of Jonas Vingegaard for the remainder of the 2022 Tour de France. Tadej Pogacar raced well for third on the stage, but only catastrophe for the Dane would have placed the Slovenian where he needed to be time-wise.

The 40.7km time trial from Lacapelle Marival to Rocamadour (compare to the paltry 13.2km TT on Stage 1 in Copenhagen) offered the riders ample opportunity to gain or lose time, depending on their stamina after three weeks of racing. World time trial champion Filippo Ganna (IGD) set the best time early, but the mark did not outlast Van Aert. The major top-10 GC winners of the day were Aleksandr Vlasov (BOH) and Romain Bardet (DSM), who improved in the overall ranks 7th-5th and 8th-7th, respectively. The major losers were Louis Meintjes (IWG) and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), who fall 6th-8th and 5th-6th, respectively.

Elsewhere in the race Neilson Powless (EF) remains the highest placed American rider at 13th overall.

The ceremonial 21st stage tomorrow will be a ride to Paris, which will include time for champagne and photo-ops until the pace picks up for a sprint on the Champs-Elysees.