ROCAMADOUR, France (Reuters) - Jonas Vingegaard was poised to claim his maiden Tour de France title as the Dane retained his overall lead after avoiding a freak crash in the final time trial on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider finished second in the 20th stage, a 40.7-km solo effort from Lacapelle-Marival won by his Belgian team mate Wout van Aert, who clocked a best time of 47 minutes 59 seconds.
There was a heart-in-mouth moment, though, when Vingegaard nearly crashed into rocks after overcooking a turn on a descent before finishing 19 seconds behind Van Aert with defending champion Tadej Pogacar taking third place, 27 seconds off the pace.
Overall, Vingegaard leads Pogacar of Slovenia by 3:34 and Britain’s Geraint Thomas by 8:13 ahead of Sunday’s final stage, a largely processional ride from La Defense to the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Vingegaard set the foundations for his victory in the 10th stage after attacking Pogacar relentlessly with his team mates before the last climb up to the Col de Granon, where the Slovenian cracked and lost the yellow jersey.
Vingegaard moved closer to victory when he prevailed in the final mountain stage at Hautacam after Pogacar’s all-in strategy failed to pay off, on the same climb where Bjarne Riis, the only Danish winner of the Tour, had produced one of the most stunning performances ever seen on the race.