Race report
Right, that’s it from me. I’ll leave you with Jeremy Whittle’s report from the picturesque town of Rocamadour:
Updated
Here are some words from Jonas Vingegaard, as reported by PA Media:
“It means everything, it’s really incredible,” he said. “It’s the biggest thing within cycling and we did it. Having my two girls on the finish line means even more to me. Since last year I always believed I could do it and now it’s happened. It’s really incredible. It’s both a relief and I’m just so happy and proud.”
Asked about his aggressive approach, Vingegaard pointed to 2020, when teammate Primoz Roglic saw his advantage in yellow disappear on a stage 20 time trial, allowing Pogacar to come through and take his first title.
“Of course I think about what happened two years ago,” he said. “We all were thinking about it. I wouldn’t say we were afraid of it but we had it in our heads and didn’t want it to happen again. I just wanted to go for it today and go for as good a result as possible.”
A lovely moment at the finish today:
💛 It's Yellow in Paris for Jonas and @JumboVismaRoad !
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 23, 2022
💛 Jusqu'au bout du bout pour ramener le Maillot Jaune à Paris !#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/aA9ZLh7udZ
Pogacar won last year’s Tour by 5min 20sec. Vingegaard has won this year’s by 3min 34sec. Which means over the past two editions of the race and a combined 4,120 miles there is a little over 100 seconds between the two riders. Feels like this rivalry could run and run.
Here’s Geraint Thomas! “Before the start I thought there was a chance today but 1km into it I didn’t have radio. Decent TT in the end. It was just a case of putting my head down and going for it.”
He says he’ll have a couple of drinks this evening to celebrate before the final procession into Paris tomorrow.
The GC top 10
1) Jonas Vingegaard 76hr 33min 57sec
2) Tadej Pogacar +3min 34sec
3) Geraint Thomas +8.13
4) David Gaudu +13.56
5) Aleksandr Vlasov +16.37
6) Nairo Quintana +17.24
7) Romain Bardet +19.02
8) Louis Meintjes +19.12
9) Alexey Lutsenko +23.47
10) Adam Yates +25.43
Here’s an emotional Wout van Aert: “Winning this Tour de France as a team is really special and today was a dream scenario. Jonas is such a strong guy and such a good guy. I want to thank all my teammates and the whole team for this special three weeks. It’s unbelievable.”
🇫🇷 #TDF2022
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July 23, 2022
This means so much to all of us! 😍🔥 pic.twitter.com/5Us88rawfh
Updated
The stage top 10
1) Van Aert 47min 59sec
2) Vingegaard +19sec
3) Pogacar +27sec
4) Thomas +32sec
5) Ganna +42sec
6) Mollema +1min 22sec
7) Cattaneo +1min 25sec
8) Wright (!!) +1min 32sec
9) Schachmann +1min 37sec
10) Tratnik +1min 48sec
Updated
Van Aert breaks down in tears of joy, Vingegaard embraces his wife, who is also tearful. What a moment for this young rider.
Updated
Van Aert wins the stage … and Vingegaard set to win race
Vingegaard crosses the line 19 seconds down on Van Aert. Nevertheless, he’s survived this final test and will wear the yellow jersey on the Champs Elysées tomorrow. A terrific effort from the Danish rider.
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Here’s that close shave for Vingegaard on the descent:
CAREFUL, JONAS! CAREFUL!#TDF2022 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/A6udix00Jg
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 23, 2022
Pogacar goes second quickest, 27 seconds behind Van Aert who surely now has his third stage win of this year’s Tour.
YIKES! As Vingegaard flies down into the valley, he’s inches away from the rock wall, his tyres kissing the grass verge. Cripes, that was very, very close to disaster.
Not quite. He’s 32 seconds down on Van Aert, which tells you what a final section Van Aert put together – still second place for Thomas as it stands.
Updated
Thomas powers up the final slope, through the tunnel, and towards the final straight. He’s not far behind Quintana and Meintjes as they approach the line. Can he squeeze past Van Aert?
The Tour’s live on-the-road timings suggest Vingegaard has just slipped a couple of seconds behind Van Aert. Then seconds later they have him four seconds up. So who knows?
Just 4km left for Geraint Thomas now. He sweeps down into the valley now before the final climbs. Meanwhile, Vlasov comes home a couple of minutes down on Van Aert but it should be enough for him to squeeze into the top five behind Vingegaard, Pogacar, Thomas and Gaudu.
Vingegaard is still quickest at the third checkpoint. He’s 1.33sec up on Van Aert, and five seconds faster than Thomas. This, I think we can say with some confidence, is going to be close.
Updated
Adam Yates rolls over the line in the middle of the pack, 58th on the day as it stands, so no move up into ninth place for him.
Pogacar is 20 seconds down on Van Aert at the third checkpoint. But still three seconds quicker than Ganna was earlier, so he’s not having a bad day.
Updated
Thomas is second fastest at the third check – just three seconds down on Van Aert, having closed the gap. This looks to be a three-horse race now: it’s Van Aert v Thomas v Vingegaard for the stage.
Vlasov looks to be heading into fifth place – Meintjes is having a horrible day and Quintana not a great deal better.
Just 12 riders remain out on the road. One of them, Geraint Thomas, has just thundered past Gaudu, who began a minute and a half ahead of him.
And Vingegaard is still flying. At halfway the yellow jersey is the fastest by seven seconds. I think we were all expecting him to play it safe today but not a bit of it.
Pogacar goes through halfway third fastest, 13 seconds down on Van Aert and six seconds slower (though slower isn’t really the word here) than Thomas. Now we wait for Vingegaard …
Thomas goes second fastest at the halfway stage, five seconds down on Van Aert and 19 seconds quicker than Ganna. The two behind him on the road are tearing across the course too though …
Updated
Geraint Thomas is having a stormer out there. He’s closing in on Gaudu as they approach the halfway checkpoint.
And Vingegaard goes even quicker! He’s seven seconds faster than Pogacar at the first check.
Things are certainly heating up now. Pogacar sets a new fastest time at the first checkpoint, one second quicker than Van Aert.
Updated
Meanwhile, Vlasov is comfortably quicker than Quintana and Meintjes through the first checkpoint though he’s only 16th fastest on the day. And not far behind them, Geraint Thomas is just a second slower than Van Aert through the same point.
That would have been sensational from Wout van Aert had he had a Tour hidden away in the peloton. But he’s been to the fore throughout, all over the front of the race, and the man last out on the road owes him a huge amount. As they say in France: “Hat!”
Van Aert sets new fastest time
Wout van Aert sets a blistering pace up the steep final slopes, with another stage win in his sights. He grits his teeth and crosses the line … 42 seconds faster than Ganna! 42 seconds! Remarkable. What a ride! What a rider!
Updated
So that’s everyone out on the road. Bauke Mollema has just gone second fastest, 40 seconds down on Ganna. Next heading up the slopes towards the finish is Van Aert …
And here comes Jonas Vingegaard. The yellow jersey just needs to get round within three minutes and 26 seconds of Pogacar to confirm his victory.
The white jersey, Tadej Pogacar, rolls down the ramp to begin his day. He’s another live contender for the stage today, even if the gap to Vingegaard on GC is too big to bridge.
Geraint Thomas starts his time trial and, like Gaudu, he will stay in place if all things run normally. He’s ridden a very smart Tour for my money, and third place behind the two big guns at the top is a fantastic effort.
“David, David, David …” echoes from the fans in attendance at the start as France’s David Gaudu begins his race against the clock. Barring something very weird happening, he’ll hold on to his fourth spot in GC by the end of today.
Van Aert goes through the third checkpoint … fastest. By 23 seconds, so he’s lost a couple to Ganna in that third quarter. Still that’s a big buffer to take into the final 8.2km.
Seventh-placed Aleksandr Vlasov starts his day – he could finish as high as fifth overall with a fast time today: Quintana and Meintjes are within 45 seconds.
Here’s the brilliant Fred Wright talking to ITV about his efforts today. He’s still third on the day as it stands.
"When [Neil Stephens] said you're faster than Ganna I was a bit like, no this is too much".
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 23, 2022
Fred Wright reacted to beating Filippo Ganna at the first check point and going provisional 3rd.#TDF2022 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/RMevNx6Q69
Wow. Van Aert goes through the midway checkpoint a stunning 25 seconds up on Ganna. He’s absolutely flying. And it’s all the more remarkable given the efforts he’s been putting in throughout the race, helping steer Vingegaard through the mountains. Ganna, in contrast, has been pretty much invisible over the first 19 stages and should in theory have a bit more in reserve. But, then, Wout van Aert is Wout van Aert.
Updated
Adam Yates rolls down the ramp, the first of the top 10 to start. He can’t really slip out of the top 10 today but may fancy his chances of pinching ninth from Alexey Lutsenko. Here’s a reminder of the top 10 on GC as it stands:
1) Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 75hrs 45mins 39secs
2) Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 3mins 26secs,
3) Geraint Thomas (GB) Ineos Grenadiers at 8:00
4) David Gaudu (Fr) Groupama-FDJ at 11:05
5) Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic at 13:35
6) Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert at 13:43
7) Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) BORA-hansgrohe at 14:10
8) Romain Bardet (Fr) Team DSM at 16:11
9) Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team at 20:29
10) Adam Yates (GB) Ineos Grenadiers at 20:37
Mollema is four seconds down on Ganna at the halfway point.
“Pulveriza” is the word.
Van Aert pulveriza el registro de Mollema en Aynac (km 10,6) https://t.co/Z8Qr4EQgTx #TDF2022
— Radio Tour ES 🇪🇸 (@radiotour_es) July 23, 2022
Thibaut Pinot sets off for his 40.7km of pain. All together now: “ALLEZ THIBAUT!”
Van Aert fastest at the first checkpoint! Mollema’s moment at the top lasted just a few minutes, with the green jersey going five seconds quicker and a full 14 seconds faster than Ganna. Küng, meanwhile, like everyone else, is unable to keep pace with Ganna over the second half of the stage and he’s down to fifth at the third checkpoint, 48 seconds down. That’s 34 seconds the European champion, no less, has lost to Ganna in a smidgeon over 10km.
Oof! Bauke Mollema, 25th on GC, has gone out fast – he’s quickest at the first checkpoint by a chunky eight seconds.
Updated
Küng goes third fastest at the midway checkpoint. Ganna was so strong in the second half of the race too – from that second checkpoint he gained 29 seconds on Wright, 30 seconds on Cattaneo, 48 seconds on Tratnik and 23 seconds on Schachmann. If you’re not ahead of Ganna at halfway, you’re not going to beat him by the finish by the looks of it. Although I think I just heard Wout van Aert say “Hold my beer” …
As Wout van Aert heads to the startline here’s a quick reminder of the leading five as it stands:
1) Filippo Ganna 48min 41sec
2) Matteo Cattaneo +43sec
3) Fred Wright +50sec
4) Max Schachmann +55sec
5) Jan Tratnik +1min 06sec
Van Aert rolls down the ramp to start his day, which leaves 22 riders still to start.
Here’s the explanation for poor old Stefan Bissegger’s mystery mechanical earlier – the electronic gear shift system thought he’d crashed, which pretty much sums up his luck on this Tour.
To clarify, the shifting system went into crash mode. With no crash. We are trying to figure out how that happened. Maybe the bike was just scared that Stefan was going to crash, so it went all mother-hen on him and nipped it in the bud? https://t.co/EYbJKm1Y5h
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) July 23, 2022
Küng blows through the first checkpoint third fastest, four seconds slower than Ganna and five behind Wright.
If you missed this earlier today, here’s William Fotheringham previewing the Tour de France Femmes, which starts on Sunday:
Fred Wright crosses the line and goes … third! What a ride from the Londoner. He’s 50 seconds down on Ganna but there’s no shame in that at all, quite the contrary.
Stefan Küng, fifth in the world championship time trial last year and a rider capable of getting close to Ganna, Van Aert and co, starts his day.
Fred Wright has held his position in the top five through the third checkpoint – he’s fourth fastest, just 43 seconds down on Ganna.
Updated
Philippe Gilbert, the great Philippe Gilbert, rolls over the line to end his stage. Sunday’s final stage will be his final day on the Tour – he’s calling it a day at the end of the season at the age of 40, having made his debut in the Tour way back in 2005.
All eyes on Fred Wright hitting the second checkpoint … where he’s fifth fastest, 21 seconds down on Ganna. He’s still on track for a fantastic day, though.
Having said Fred Wright won’t be troubling Ganna and co, he’s just gone one second faster through the first checkpoint! What a Tour the 23-year-old is having.
Bissegger – at this point, as my dad would say, with a right bag on – rolls over the line disconsolately more than four minutes down on Ganna. He more or less sat up over the final third of the stage.
Fred Wright, the Londoner who has had a terrific three weeks, sets off for his day. He’s a useful time triallist (he was fourth in the British championships last year) though won’t be troubling Ganna and co today.
He gave a lovely interview to Eurosport after coming close to a stage win on Friday:
"We were all on our knees. I don't think I would have done anything different."
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 22, 2022
See Fred Wright's emotional reaction to being told he has "lit up" this year's Tour de France#TdF2022 | @fred_wright0 | @BHRVictorious pic.twitter.com/wYGq1cD1np
Ganna goes fastest
Filippo Ganna storms up a slope as he enters the final kilometre of the stage – one of those short 7-8% ramps that barely register on the Tour but for us mere mortals would be some hideous leg-destroying hill, the climbing of which would demand immediate reward at the nearest hostelry or cafe.
The Italian meanwhile powers over the line to set the fastest time at 48min 41sec – 1min 41sec quicker than Bjerg and 43 seconds quicker than Cattaneo. That will take some beating.
Updated
Ganna, you won’t be surprised to learn, is fastest through the third checkpoint (he’s just hit an eye-watering 71kph on a descent), over a minute quicker than Bjerg and 27 seconds faster than his nearest challenger, his compatriot Mattia Cattaneo. Meanwhile, the hapless Bissegger is fifth fastest at the midway point.
Updated
Here’s Guy Hornsby:
Contre la montre @John_Ashdown, the Race Of Truth. Perhaps not quite the drama we'd hope with the top 3 GC locked down, but Quintana, Meintjes and Vlasov all close, and Adam Yates wanting to secure his place in the Top 10. I think G could get on the podium today, perhaps.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) July 23, 2022
Yep there’ll be some reshuffling in the top 10 for sure. They won’t be out on the road for an hour or two but worth reminding ourselves of the business end of the GC as it stands:
1) Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 75hrs 45mins 39secs
2) Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates at 3mins 26secs,
3) Geraint Thomas (GB) Ineos Grenadiers at 8:00
4) David Gaudu (Fr) Groupama-FDJ at 11:05
5) Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic at 13:35
6) Louis Meintjes (SA) Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert at 13:43
7) Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) BORA-hansgrohe at 14:10
8) Romain Bardet (Fr) Team DSM at 16:11
9) Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team at 20:29
10) Adam Yates (GB) Ineos Grenadiers at 20:37
Despite that delay Bissegger goes through the first checkpoint fifth fastest, which tells you something about where he could have been.
Updated
Poor old Stefan Bissegger’s chances have gone and he’s only seven minutes into the stage. It was some sort of mechanical (possibly electronic) issue and he needs to change his bike. Having crashed twice in the wet during the opening time trial, it’s fair to say his Tour has not gone as planned.
Updated
Ganna goes through the second checkpoint (at around the midpoint of the stag) and he’s still quickest – 36 seconds quicker than Bjerg as it stands.
Stefan Bissegger, another of the big time-trial hitters, rolls down the ramp to start his day. He’s a live contender today – the EF Education–EasyPost rider was fifth in the final time trial of the 2021 edition of the Tour.
It transpires Pogacar was in the team car behind Bjerg, having a good look at the course. The Dane says his day was “super, super hard”. Meanwhile, Ganna has blasted through the first checkpoint 14 seconds quicker than Bjerg.
Updated
Mikkel Bjerg sets the fastest time of the day so far at 50min 22sec. He’s two and a half minutes quicker than anyone else.
Updated
Here comes Filippo Ganna, the world time trial champion resplendent in his rainbow jersey. What a rider this guy is – the Italian is an Olympic and world champion on the track too. After a low-key race (his first Tour de France) thus far he’ll have been focussing on this stage for a good while.
Caleb Ewan was the first to start but he’s very nearly not the first to finish – Rohan Janse van Rensburg is close to catching him before the line. Janse van Rensburg sets the quickest time at 53min 54sec.
Lampaert goes through the first time check more than 20 seconds slower than Bjerg – today is not going to be his day. Bjerg’s final time will be a good early marker – he was inside the top 20 in the time trial at the world championships last year and in the top 10 on the time-trial stage of Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year.
Yves Lampaert, who after winning the opening time trial became the first yellow jersey wearer of this year’s Tour, rolls down the ramp in Lacapelle-Marival to start his day.
21 riders are scattered along the road now. UAE Team Emirates’ man Mikkel Bjerg is the fastest through the first checkpoint thus far.
Updated
Pretty sure there’s a contractual obligation whenever we get to the final time trial of the Tour to mention the Greatest Tour De France Time Trial Of All Time. So consider that box ticked:
Fignon writes beautifully about that famous day:
Everyone has seen the pictures at least once in their lives. I cross the finish line and collapse. Simply to get my breath back. A bit of air, please. Just a bit of air, if I may.
At that precise moment, I don’t know what is going on. I’m gasping “Well?” again and again, to the people who flutter around me. There’s no answer. I ask again. Still no answer.
No one dares to look me in the eye and show me reality.
The reality of which everyone is now aware apart from me: I’ve lost. By eight seconds. Eight seconds in Hell.
So who’ll win the stage? It’s probably between the aforementioned Ganna, Wout van Aert and possibly Pogacar. Tom Pidcock and Geraint Thomas will be eyeing top 10 finishes at least.
Ganna starts at 1.05pm BST while Van Aert begins at 3.16pm and Pogacar at 3.58pm.
And we're off
The banged-up and bandaged Caleb Ewan rolls down the ramp to start the day’s contre la montre action. He’ll just want today over and done with, ideally keeping something in reserve for the Champs Elysees sprint tomorrow.
So can Pogacar make up more than three minutes?
Umm, no. The Slovenian is a tremendous time-trialler but Vingegaard isn’t far behind him at all. The most recent example of that came in the opening TT three weeks ago, when Vingegaard was just eight seconds slower than his rival over the 13.2km around Copenhagen. The time-trial stage of the Dauphiné last month was over 31.9km and Vingegaard was just 1min 12sec slower than the winner, Filippo Ganna, the world’s premier time-trialler. Back in March Vingegaard lost 35 seconds to Pogacar over the 13.9km Tirreno-Adriatico TT but even that extended over today’s distance won’t be enough and Vingegaard is clearly in significantly better shape now. So if the Jumbo-Visma man stays upright, he stays in yellow.
Stage profile
Preamble
There’s a description of time trials from Victor Hugo Peña, the time-trial specialist who in 2003 became the first Colombian to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour, in Matt Rendell’s fascinating book A Significant Other that has always stuck with me:
Time trials are about maintaining a constant pace, like a continuous hum. But they are also about pain, an agonising heat you feel in the stomach, a burning that affects your breathing. You get into a rhythm, and when the pain comes, you tunnel into it, exploring it to the bitter end … From top to bottom, front to back, I gather it into a smooth ball of pain that spins around in my mind until the time trial is over.
That is what the combatants are faced with today – 40.7km of tunnelling into the pain. For Jonas Vingegaard the light at the end of that tunnel is becoming the first Danish winner of the Tour de France (or, at least, the first Danish winner without a gigantic asterisk next to his name). To do so, he has to finish within 3min 25sec of Tadej Pogacar’s time across the Causses du Quercy in south eastern France – something, barring injury or accident, he is basically certain to do.
The first rider – last placed Caleb Ewan – is scheduled to come down the ramp at 12.05pm BST, with Vingegaard last out at 4pm.
