Only 40.7 kilometres separate Jonas Vingegaard from his first victory in the Tour de France. As there is traditionally no attacking on the final stage, the decision will be made on Saturday in the individual time trial between Lacapelle-Marival and Rocamadour.
With a 3:21 minute lead over Tadej Pogacar, triumph should not be a problem, but nothing is certain in this Tour so far.
Falls and defects
Time trial bikes cannot be compared with normal road bikes. They are much more susceptible to defects and more difficult to control. Vingegaard's compatriot Michael Rasmussen had to learn this bitterly in 2005. The Dane was in third place before the penultimate stage and with a 2:12 minute lead over Jan Ullrich, the podium in Paris was only a formality. But due to two crashes, a flat tyre and three bike changes, Rasmussen lost 7:47 minutes to stage winner Lance Armstrong alone and finished the Tour in seventh place.
Diamond legs at Pogacar:
Pogacar knows only too well how to win the Tour at the last moment. In 2020, the Slovenian went into the final time trial in second place, 0:57 seconds behind his compatriot Primoz Roglic. Pogacar had a great day, Roglic had the worst day imaginable. In the end, Pogacar won the Tour by 59 seconds. However, this was a mountain time trial, the stage on Saturday is only slightly more profiled.
Corona
The coronavirus continues to cause problems at the Tour. In the final week, there has not been a single day without a rider withdrawing due to a positive test. The teams have not been obliged to test since the first rest day. However, if Vingegaard becomes infected and develops symptoms, this could weaken him so massively that he is no longer able to deliver a top performance. And this is what is needed despite the big lead.
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