Tour de France Stage Report: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) said he would enjoy the final time trial stage to Nice from his home town of Monaco, but he celebrated in the best possible way by winning the stage and by 1 minute over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). Expected stage winner, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), was third at 11 seconds to the Dane. Obviously Pogačar has won the 2024 Tour de France.
Stage 21 finale
After the Giro d’Italia, Tadej Pogačar also won the 2024 Tour de France. A unique double we’ve not seen for over 30 years. In the final time trial of just over 33 kilometres from Monaco to Nice, there was no tension at the top of the overall standings. The battle for the stage victory between the top 3, Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel would be interesting. In the end, Pogačar left nothing to chance. With great power, the Slovenian took his sixth stage victory of this Tour.
Final stage and final overall for Tadej Pogačar
Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France general director: “Everyone remembers the last occasion the Tour finished with a time trial, when Greg LeMond stripped the yellow jersey from the shoulders of Laurent Fignon on the Champs-Élysées in 1989, by just eight seconds. Thirty-five years on, we can but dream of a similar duel, involving two or three riders, an authentic athletic confrontation whose outcome would determine the final podium of the 111th edition, and the first to finish far from its familiar Parisian setting, the ultimate finale destined for Place Masséna, just a few pedal-strokes from the Promenade des Anglais.”
Stage 21 profile
The Tour winner with champagne, the top team and the jersey winners all posing for photos and then the final sprint on the Champs-Élysées, not this year in the Tour de France. In 2024 a time trial will close the French behemoth on the road between Monaco and Nice, all because the Olympic Games start a few days later in Paris. There are two climbs on the final day time trial of 34 Kilometres. The first comes after 4 flat kilometres through the streets of Monaco. The riders climb to La Turbie (8.1km at 5.6%) on the D53. The climb is stead and not technical. From the top there is a short descent to the start of the Col d’Éze (1.6km at 8.1%), which is short and steep and the final climb of the 2024 Tour de France. From the summit, the route descends to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice and the finish next to the Mediterranean. The route goes past the finish towards the airport for a U-turn that brings them back to the city centre. The finish line is on Avenue Jean Médecin on Place Masséna.
Albert II of Monaco was on the start ramp to see the first man start the final stage – Davide Ballerini
The F1 road out of Monaco
At the course unveiling, people hoped for a battle like in 1989, when Greg LeMond who took the Tour from Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. But that wasn’t going to happen today, as Tadej Pogacar was heading for a historic double. After winning the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, he had a lead of 5:14 over Jonas Vingegaard and 8:04 on Remco Evenepoel.
Mark Cavendish finishing his last Tour de France stage
Points competition winner Biniam Girmay
At 2.40pm Davide Ballerini was the first to start, followed by teammate and history maker Mark Cavendish, for whom it was his last stage ever in the Tour de France. We had to wait until after 4p.m. for the first serious target times at the finish. The top-10 riders didn’t start until after 6:30pm, making it a long wait for everyone.
Early leader – Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ)
No TT bike for sprinter Jasper Philipsen
Lenny Martinez’s final time of 48:24 was a real target, because Kévin Vauquelin and Victor Campenaerts couldn’t get near that time. Harold Tejada (48:14, average 41.9 kph) surprisingly went faster by 9 seconds, but wouldn’t matter later. Wout van Aert took it easy a week before the Olympic time trial and conceded more than 5 minutes to the fastest times.
Mathieu van der Poel also on a road bike
Victor Campenaerts caught the man in front of him and set a good time, but not fast enough
Many experienced riders used the time trial to Nice to say goodbye to the Tour de France and the French public. This chrono was the last Tour stage of their careers for Simon Geschke and stage winner and yellow jersey wearer Romain Bardet.
Local to Monaco – Michael Matthews
The finish in Nice – A nice sight for many
In the end, all eyes were on the top of the GC. Due to the large differences in the rankings, it was questionable whether Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Pogačar would all take risks. Further on in the top 10, every second was fought for: Carlos Rodriguez was only 1 second behind Adam Yates in sixth place, and there was less than 2 minutes between 8th place, Matteo Jorgenson and 11th place, Santiago Buitrago. Derek Gee and Giulio Ciccone were also among them.
New leader with a time of 48:14.53 – Harold Tejada
A good ride form Wout van Aert, but not ‘full gas’
At La Turbie (intermediate point after 11.2km), Derek Gee was the first to dip below Lenny Martinez’s top time, but that was nothing compared to the times of the big hitters. Evenepoel clocked 20:36 at the first intermediate point, but Vingegaard had ridden a strong climb and was already 19 seconds faster than the Flemish rider. And then Pogačar still had to come. The yellow jersey set a time of 20:10, making it 7 seconds faster than Vingegaard and 26 seconds faster than Evenepoel.
Geraint Thomas’ last Tour?
Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) looking back on his last Tour
After a fast descent, the Col d’Èze followed (intermediate point after 17.1km) and there Pogačar confirmed his dominance. Although Evenepoel was 46 seconds faster than Derek Gee, Vingegaard was 26 seconds under Evenepoel’s time at the top. However, they proved to be no match for the yellow jersey, who recorded 28:39 and increased his lead over Vingegaard to 24 seconds. Evenepoel followed within 51 seconds.
Richard Carapaz happy to finish in his KOM jersey
The stage win wasn’t to be Remco Evenepoel’s
At the last intermediate timing point when entering Nice (after 28.6km), after the fast and technical descent, Vingegaard and Pogačar showed that they were still on the limit, but both didn’t crash. The Slovenian was even further ahead of the rest, after which there was only 5 flat kilometres to the finish. Nothing stood in the way of a sixth stage victory for Pogačar.
Jonas Vingegaard beat Evenepoel, but…
It was not for Remco Evenepoel, who ultimately lost more than a minute to the overall leader and had to settle for 3rd place on the stage results. Vingegaard was still faster than the Belgian, but once again had to acknowledge the superiority of a merciless Tadej Pogačar. It is his third overall victory in the Tour de France after his victories in 2020 and 2021.
Tadej Pogačar doing what he does best – Winning
Stage winner and final overall Tour winner, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “I am super happy. I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years in the Tour de France, in which we always made some mistakes that cost us the race. This year, everything went to perfection. I’m super happy, it’s incredible. This is the first Grand Tour on which I have been totally confident every day. Even on the last Giro I had one bad day – I won’t say which one. This Tour de France has been amazing. I have enjoyed it from day one until today. Today I started with a good vibe. It was lovely to start from the F1 grid of the best F1 circuit ever! I was only listening to my times compared to Remco. I was feeling super good over the top of the first climb. In my head, I had my girlfriend Urska’s words – that she hated me because I always did this road on training. But it was not wasted time, as it was useful today. These last few years we have been hearing that this is the best era of cycling. If I was not competing, I would say the same. This kind of competition with Remco, Jonas, Primoz… is just incredible. And many young guys are coming, more and more. We have to enjoy this beautiful era of cycling. Next up… I know that Mathieu looks good in the rainbow jersey, but I want to take it from him.”
The UAE team were waiting to celebrate
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Tour de France Stage 21 Result:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 45:24
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma | Lease a Bike at 1:03
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-Quick-Step at 1:14
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma | Lease a Bike at 2:08
5. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 2:18
6. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 2:31
7. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 2:41
8. Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue Astana Qazaqstan at 2:50
9. Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious at 2:53
10. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates at 2:56.
Tour de France Final Overall Result:
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates in 83:38:56
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma | Lease a Bike at 6:17
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step at 9:18
4. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 19:03
5. Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step at 20:06
6. Adam Yates (GB) UAE Team Emirates at 24:07
7. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) INEOS Grenadiers at 25:04
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma | Lease a Bike at 26:34
9. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech at 27:21
10. Santiago Buitrago Sanchez (Col) Bahrain Victorious at 29:03.
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