Tag: time trial

Dane Jonas Vingegaard set to claim first Tour de France title as Wout van Aert wins stage 20

Jonas Vingegaard is set to win the Tour de France after finishing second to his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert in the stage 20 time-trial to Rocamadour.

Van Aert set a time of 47 minutes 59.86 seconds over the 40.7km route from Lacapelle to Marival, 19 seconds faster than Vingegaard, who needed only to ride defensively given his sizable cushion over Tadej Pogacar, but instead attacked the stage and was quickest over the first half.

He faded, almost running wide on a descent late on, but his second place was enough to confirm him in yellow ahead of Sunday’s ride into Paris – his advantage over Pogacar three minutes and 34 seconds.

The longest time-trial to feature in a Tour since 2014 did nothing to change the top of the general classification, with 2018 champion Geraint Thomas fourth on the day behind Pogacar, confirming his podium place at the age of 36.

That means Vingegaard will be the one clinking champagne glasses on Sunday before an anticipated sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees, with two-time defending champion Pogacar making do with the best young rider’s white jersey.

It is a first overall Tour crown for 25-year-old Vingegaard, in an edition that set out from his native Denmark three weeks ago.

Support crew: Vingegaard’s girlfriend and daughter greeted him at the end of the time-trial (AP)

Support crew: Vingegaard’s girlfriend and daughter greeted him at the end of the time-trial (AP)

“It means everything, it’s really incredible,” he said as he wiped away tears. “It’s the biggest thing within cycling and we did it.

“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 team-mate Primoz Roglic saw his advantage in yellow disappear on a stage 20

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Jonas Vingegaard poised to win his first Tour de France title

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, hold his daughter Frida as he celebrates on the podium after the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an individual time trial over 40.7 kilometers (25.3 miles) with start in Lacapelle-Marival and finish in Rocamadour, France, Saturday, July 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Jonas Vingegaard holds his daughter Frida as he celebrates on the podium as the overall leader after the 20th stage of the Tour de France on Saturday. (Thibault Camus / Associated Press)

Jonas Vingegaard thundered through the last serious test of the Tour de France to increase his overall lead Saturday and all but guarantee winning cycling’s biggest race.

After three weeks of exhausting racing, the Jumbo-Visma leader dug deep in his reserves to deliver yet another impressive performance in a long time trial in southern France.

“It means everything, it’s really incredible,” Vingegaard said. “It’s the biggest thing within cycling and we did it.”

Vingegaard, who is not a pure specialist of the race against the clock, could have played it safe given his more than three-minute lead at the start. Yet he took all the risks on the technical course and had a scare close to the finish when he misjudged a curve and had to brake hard to avoid a crash.

Vingegaard then slowed down dramatically as he approached the finish line. He finished the 20th stage in second place 19 seconds behind winner Wout van Aert, a key teammate.

Vingegaard and Van Aert hugged each other warmly at the finish and the Danish rider was emotional after he was greeted by his wife and daughter after the stage.

“Having my two girls on the finish line means even more to me,“ said Vingegaard, who improved on last year’s runner-up finish.

“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.“

Van Aert, a versatile competitor with multiple titles and wins across the sport’s most prestigious events, has been crucial in pacing Vingegaard through the mountain stages. His third

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Jonas Vingegaard sure of Tour de France success despite time-trial scare | Tour de France

Rarely has a team dominated the Tour de France as completely as Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma have this year’s race. There is still the chance of one more stage win for Wout van Aert, the cycling everyman, a rider even more complete than his Danish team leader, when the peloton sweeps on to the Champs Élysées early on Sunday evening.

The Tour itself is already won, Vingegaard relaxing enough to smile in disbelief as he crossed the finish line of the penultimate stage, Saturday’s individual time trial, in which he gained further distance on double Tour champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, albeit only by a handful of seconds.

As Van Aert took another stage win, Vingegaard sealed his first Tour de France victory in the final time trial of the 2022 race, from Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour, although not without a heart-in-mouth moment when he almost crashed on a curving bend.

“I was actually feeling like I wasn’t taking big risks but in the corner the surface wasn’t regular and I didn’t take the right angle, so yes, it was a near miss,” he said. “After that, I was thinking the stage [win] was a bonus. There were only two or three corners left, so I took it really easy.”

Even so, he emphasised his superiority over Pogacar, the outgoing Tour champion, increasing his lead on the Slovenian by a further eight seconds to win the Tour, barring a disaster, by almost three and a half minutes.

The 25-year-old Dane also won the final mountain stage to Hautacam on Thursday and has never shown any vulnerability, despite Pogacar’s numerous attacks. Yet some in the Tour convoy have criticised Pogacar and his team for arriving at the Tour “over-raced”. The 23-year-old started winning as long ago as February and that form

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Route map, profile and start times for individual time trial

Stage 20 map (letour)

Stage 20 map (letour)

The 2022 Tour de France has one final competitive stage before the procession to Paris on Sunday: a 41km individual time trial from the small clifftop village of Rocamadour in southern France to Lacapelle-Marival, a small town known for its impressive chateau.

Stage 20 has regularly been an ITT in recent years in the hope of throwing up some late drama at the end of the Tour. That was certainly the case two years ago when Tadej Pogacar beat Primoz Roglic in dramatic circumstances, but it would take something truly extraordinary here given the stranglehold Jonas Vingegaard has on the yellow jersey.

The Dane leads by more than three minutes overall and realistically just needs to navigate the relatively flat course safely in order to be assured of his first Tour de France crown. Pogacar will likely go on the attack in search of an unlikely victory, but Vingegaard has proved himself no slouch on a time trial bike, beating the Slovenian in both of last year’s ITTs at the Tour, and surely it is just a formality that he wraps up his win.

Geraint Thomas is almost assured of third place on the podium in Paris, which will complete the set for the Welshman having won the race in 2018 and finished runner-up to his teammate Egan Bernal the following year. It has been a measured, intelligent ride by the 36-year-old, who was told at the beginning of the Tour he would be riding in support of teammates Dani Martinez and Adam Yates but who has proved the only Ineos card in the general classification.

Yves Lampaert won the other ITT of this Tour, the opening stage in Copenhagen. The favourite here is Ineos’s Filippo Ganna, a flying machine when it comes to time

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Jonas Vingegaard seals yellow jersey as Wout van Aert wins time trial

Jonas Vingegaard after sealing the Tour de France (AP)

Jonas Vingegaard after sealing the Tour de France (AP)

Jonas Vingegaard is set to win the Tour de France after finishing second to his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert in the stage 20 time trial to Rocamadour.

Van Aert won the 40.7km time trial from Lacapelle-Marival in a time of 47 minutes 59.86 seconds, 19 seconds faster than Vingegaard, who needed only to ride defensively given his sizable cushion over Tadej Pogacar, but instead attacked the stage and was fastest over the first half.

He then faded, almost running wide on a descent late on, but his second place was enough to confirm him in yellow ahead of Sunday’s ride into Paris, his advantage over Pogacar now three minutes and 34 seconds.

Geraint Thomas finished fourth on the stage, behind Pogacar in third, to confirm his third place overall, ensuring the podium was rounded out by two former Tour winners.

Follow all the reaction from stage 20 below.

Tour de France – stage 20 time trial LIVE

  • A look at stage 20 profile, map and time-trial checkpoints

  • Selected ITT start times with yellow jersey going last (4pm BST)

  • Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Emirates) sets the early benchmark of 50 min 22 sec

  • Time-trial world champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos) takes hot seat with 48.41

  • Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) produces stunning performance to win in 47.59

  • Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) finishes second in time trial to seal yellow jersey

Geraint Thomas finishes third in 2022 Tour de France

17:21 , Lawrence Ostlere

Geraint Thomas says he was not surprised by his consistency over the Tour, only by how far he’s come since last year’s disappointment.

Will there be beers tonight? “After Froomey won we drank as much as wanted before Paris, but I limited myself to two beers when I won it. I think

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Vingegaard has first Tour de France win all but secured

ROCAMADOUR, France (AP) — Jonas Vingegaard thundered through the last serious test of the Tour de France to increase his overall lead on Saturday and all but guarantee winning cycling’s biggest race.

After three weeks of exhausting racing, the Jumbo-Visma leader dug deep in his reserves to deliver yet another impressive performance in a long time trial in southern France.

“It means everything, it’s really incredible,” Vingegaard said. “It’s the biggest thing within cycling and we did it.”

Vingegaard, who is not a pure specialist of the race against the clock, could have played it safe given his more than three-minute lead at the start. He, instead, took all the risks on the technical course and had a scare close to the finish when he misjudged a curve and had to brake hard to avoid a crash.

Vingegaard then slowed down dramatically as he approached the finish line. He finished the 20th stage in second place 19 seconds behind winner Wout van Aert, his key teammate.

Vingegaard and Van Aert hugged each other warmly at the finish and the Danish rider was emotional after he was greeted by his wife and daughter after the stage.

“Having my two girls on the finish line means even more to me,” said Vingegaard, who improved on last year’s runner-up finish.

“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.”

Van Aert, a versatile competitor with multiple titles and wins across the sport’s most prestigious events, has been crucial in pacing Vingegaard through the mountain stages. His third stage win this month was his ninth overall.

Van Aert, who also claimed the best sprinter’s green jersey, has proved he can win on all surfaces and

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