GAARD’S SET FOR CROWN
JONAS VINGEGAARD will win the 2022 Tour de France after finishing second to Wout van Aert in the stage 20 time trial on the penultimate day.
Van Aert finished 19 seconds ahead of his Jumbovisma team-mate – but Vingegaard now has an overall advantage of three minutes and 34 seconds on Tadej Pogacar.
It will be a first overall Tour crown for the 25-year-old Vingegaard, after the race set out from his home nation of Denmark three weeks ago.
Vingegaard, second to Pogacar last year, wrestled the yellow jersey off the Slovenian when the UAE Team Emirates man suffered a crisis on the Col du Granon in the second week.
And he a successfully defended it through the Pyrenees as he was able to match every move that Pogacar, 23, made.
Favourites
It means that Jumbovisma, who lost one of the pre-race favourites Primoz Roglic in the second week and have only five riders left, head to Paris today boasting the yellow, green and polkadot jerseys.
Van Aert – who became the first man to win a Tour time trial in the green jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1979 – cannot be caught in the points classification, while Vingegaard is top of both the general classification and the king of the mountains competition.
Vingegaard could not hold back the tears after being greeted at the finish line by his girlfriend and daughter, and welled up again during his post-race interview.
“It means everything, it’s really incredible,” he said.
“It’s the biggest thing within cycling and we did it.
“Having my two girls on the finish line means even more to me. Since last year I always believed I could do it and now it’s happened.
“It’s both a relief and I’m just so happy and proud.”
Briton Geraint Thomas, 36, finished fourth to effectively confirm his third place before the processional final day.