Tadej Pogačar sought and found redemption in the Haut-Rhin mountains today, out-sprinting Tour-winner elect Jonas Vingegaard and Ag2r's Felix Gall to take the stage victory, his second of this year's Tour de France.
The win will go some way to softening the sting of the Slovenian's jour sans on stage 17 when he lost over five minutes to Vingegaard.
It was also a stage in which Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone secured the top spot in the king of the mountains competition, something he was able to achieve over the course of the day's first three climbs. Winning the polka-dots makes Ciccone the first Italian to do so since 1992 when Claudio Chiapucci claimed the jersey.
The day was further animated by local rider Thibaut Pinot as he attacked on the penultimate climb of the stage, le Petite Ballon, and managed to draw out a sizeable margin over the rest of the field. Riding through a rapture of spectators amassed on the mountain-side, the Frenchman was clearly energised by his supporters and crested the summit alone.
However, it was on the early slopes of the final climb, the Col du Platzerwasel, that the big hitters came out to play. A trademark attack from Pogačar– generating a huge amount of power – put paid to the entire peloton save for Felix Gall and the ever-present yellow jersey of Jonas Vingegaard, and soon they had caught and past a flagging Pinot who at this point had been joined by Tom Pidcock and Warren Barguil.
The trio pressed on to the line, and with a little help from Adam Yates who had arrived with brother Simon, Pogačar was able to comfortably claim victory in the sprint.
"I finally feel like myself again," said the UAE man at end of the stage.
Stage 20 results
1.Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE-Emirates 03h 27' 18''
2. Felix Gall (Aut) Ag2r-Citroën at st
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma at st
4. Simon Yates (GBr) Jayco-AlUla at st
5. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE-Emirates at 8"
6. Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic at 33"
7. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ at st
8. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious at st
9. Tobias Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X at 50"
10. Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Emirates at st
GC classification after stage 20
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma in 79h 16' 38''
2. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, at 7' 29''
3. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, at 10' 56''
4. Simon Yates (Gbr) Jayco-AIUla, at 12' 23''
5. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers, at 13' 17''
6. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 13' 27''
7. Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 14' 44''
8. Felix Gall (Aut) AG2R Citroën, at 16' 09''
9. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 23' 08''
10. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic 26' 30''
