Will explode. Roglic: I will cry

son, looking taut where Pogacar glided fluidly. He, too, hopped onto a road bike for the climb, his with yellow tape on the handlebars to match the jersey that he was in the process of losing.

As Roglic ascended, what was left of his lead melted away. It then became a yawning deficit to Pogacar, who’d been second overall going into the time trial, which amply lived up to its nickname: ‘‘The race of truth.’’ The 30-year-old Roglic managed no better than fifth, a whopping 1min 56secs slower than his younger and clearly fresher countryman. At the top, he sat slumped on the tarmac, the enormity of his collapse sinking in.

‘‘I will cry. Or I did, already,’’ Roglic said. ‘‘I struggled with everything, eh? Just not enough power.

‘‘I would want it to be a little different, but I cannot change it,’’ he added. ‘‘It is how it is.’’

Not since British riders Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome finished 1-2 at the 2012 Tour has one nation taken the top two spots.

But almost everyone – even Pogacar – expected that Roglic would roll into Paris with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, sipping champagne in the saddle on the processional ride, on his way to becoming Slovenia’s first winner. Roglic had taken the race lead on Stage 9 and held it all the way to yesterday, Stage 20, the worst day to lose it. He now trails Pogacar by 59 seconds overall.

‘‘I cannot believe how hard it must be for him,’’ Pogacar said. ‘‘He must be devastated. But that’s bike racing.’’

Only a major mishap highly unlikely – will prevent Pogacar from taking over from 2019 winner Egan Bernal, who was 22, as the youngest post-war champion. So sure is his victory that he was already introduced at the race organisers’ press conference yesterday as the Tour winner.

‘‘I can’t wait to cross the line in Paris,’’ Pogacar said.

Australian Richie Porte will complete the podium, after he time-trialled brilliantly to hoist himself from fourth to third overall. Porte is a veteran of 10 Tours, but he’d only once finished in the top 10 – a fifth place in 2016 – in a career dogged by ill-fortune.

The high drama was reminiscent of Frenchman Laurent Fignon’s collapse in 1989. He had a lead of 50 seconds over Greg Lemond before the final stage, also a time trial, from Versailles to Paris. Fignon ended up losing to the American by just eight seconds – the smallest ever margin of victory.