Expect the unexpected: top takeaways from stage 20

Today was a nostalgic trip back to 2001 for two reasons. First, Pontarlier, the finish city, was last used as a finish location in 2001 on a stage where 161 riders finished outside the time limit; they could stay in the race due to an asterisked point found in the annexes of the regulations at that time. 

Second, 2001 was the last time the Tour de France did not conclude the penultimate day with a high mountain; that year, the organisers inserted a bunch sprint on the penultimate day. Today was primarily classified as a transition day, with a vertical gain of 2800 metres, featuring not very difficult mountains but continuous uphill and downhill sections that favoured the breakaway. 

However, due to challenging circumstances, if there had been close battles in the general classification, this could have been a GC day as well, but also, a smaller bunch sprint would not have been entirely out of the question. Given the large differences on GC, even if a time trial had been longer, at around 35-40 km in length, it would have been pointless. At the same time, a 20th stage could have been organised in the Doubs region, resembling the routes of the 20th stages of the 2021 or 2023 Vuelta. However, considering the chaos and lack of control experienced today, especially in the first 80 kilometres, there is a legitimate reason for these kinds of days, and the entire experience was still very enjoyable. Based on today’s successes, it is conceivable that we will see something similar in the coming years.

The commentator from the channel I follow said that after 55 kilometres, the first third of the stage was entirely like a good spring minestrone – the peloton put everything in, and the taste was actually very delicious. The first third was indeed like this, in which at one point Oscar Onley and Felix Gall also became victims of a split, and where EF Education-EasyPost particularly dominated, as four of the team's seven remaining riders tried to get into the breakaway – Kasper Asgreen's solo at the very beginning seemed particularly good, and if the break that included Ben Healy had succeeded in the initial phase, and the two of them could have been together in a larger break, it would have been a huge opportunity for the team. 

Jonathan Vaughters' squad, built on stage hunting, did not give up even after the first unsuccessful attempt, launching a second pair attack with Powless and Harry Sweeny during the completely uncontrolled first 60 kilometres. In the end, it was Sweeny who made it into the final 13-man breakaway, someone who had shown very good form before the Tour and who, together with many others, could seize what might be their last chance to win a stage here. Due to his own complexity and the inexplicable EF DNA of "we always attack and race attractively," at one point, 45 kilometres from the finish, it seemed Harry could achieve a wonderful solo victory. However, the changeable weather came at the worst possible moment for him; he ran out of steam and ultimately finished in 10th place. 

Regardless of the result, this is how a team built for this should race in a Grand Tour. With Healy's stage victory and top 10 finish, EF can conclude a very good Tour de France.

Before today, the most important question was whether anyone would attack between the 4th and 11th places in the general classification to improve their standings. Due to the large gaps, this was a very difficult task, but that’s why it was easier to let people go from this range – ultimately, Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) was the brave rider, who sat in 11th place about 4 minutes behind 10th- placed Ben O’Connor. 

Jegat's story was already dreamy before the race, as he reached professional level at the age of 24 after achieving numerous excellent French Cup results with the French CIC U Nantes Atlantique continental team. He had already secured two top-11 stage finishes in last year's Tour, and this year he demonstrated outstanding consistency in the mountains, reaching the same position in the general classification after the 19th day, which would have been a huge success for TotalEnergies. 

However, Jegat attempted the impossible and made it into the 13-man group from which the stage winner was ultimately selected. In the initial phase of the breakaway, when the gap slowly increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds, then to 1 minute, some teams and riders in the breakaway fiercely voiced their concerns about Jegat's presence, claiming that he threatened the success of the attack. We heard that the Picnic PostNL radio informed Frank van den Broek to act as a mediator to force Jegat to move away from the breakaway, while Simone Velasco did not use kind words to inform the French rider that he was not welcome as part of this escape.

However, Jegat did not back down and attacked on the day's toughest climb, the Côte de Thesy, attempting to execute a 60 km solo, a plan that, unfortunately, quickly fell apart. In the meantime, this solo was effective in gradually building up a lead sufficient to place him in the top 10 of the GC. The last 40 kilometres corresponded to a virtual tug-of-war in this regard. Jegat, with his last strength, often standing out of the saddle, tried to maintain his virtual 20-25 second lead, while in the peloton, Mauro Schmid, who had already escaped a serious crash without heavy injuries, and O’Connor, were pacing, with the question being who would run out of energy first. This ultimately happened to O’Connor about 10 km before the finish, who bowed his head in surrender, allowing TotalEnergies to celebrate a top-10 finish again in Paris at the Tour de France after 2015. This is how a day that begins on a negative can be turned into a complete success.

There are days when road racing transforms into a kind of track cycling-style elimination race, where the situation changes continuously, about every 3-5 minutes, due to the difficult terrain and conditions, with people dropping off the group and smaller and smaller groups forming, from which a solo winner is very likely to emerge. Today, with the rolling terrain, the constantly changing wet and dry sections, and being the 20th stage of a Grand Tour, it became typically such a day where, 25 kilometres from the finish, six riders had a realistic chance of victory: Romain Grégoire (FDJ), Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Frank van den Broek (Picnic – PostNL), Ivan Romeo (Movistar), and Simone Velasco (XDS Astana Team). 

Among them, perhaps Romeo was the one to pay the most attention to – the Spaniard, who will turn 22 next month, achieved all three of his professional victories solo, and the distance where this status quo developed provided almost a perfect opportunity for him to execute this on the biggest stage of all, even though Romeo can no longer be considered an under-the-radar rider. Ivan knew when he wanted to launch the final attack, but unfortunately, he was unable to execute it. With 23 kilometres to go, he slipped on very wet asphalt and hit the curb very hard – the fright caused several of his breakaway companions to hit the brakes or fall. 

Fortunately, they all finished the day, and hopefully, they will be able to line up in Paris tomorrow. This part was crucial for the stage, as those from the breakaway who could have possibly relied on a sprint, Stewart and Groves, along with Frank van den Broek, suddenly found themselves at the front directing events. They had not been in such a situation many times during their careers, so we were in for heightened excitement for the last half hour of the stage.

We have only seen Kaden Groves perform this well in a race specifically for puncheurs once before – during the 2023 1.1 category Volta Limburg Classic, which was known for being an incredibly cold and rainy Dutch race in April with 2,800 vertical meters. Groves responded to every attack from Maxim van Gils and Pascal Eenkhoorn, and in the end, he defeated van Gils, who was still racing for Lotto, in a one-on-one sprint. This was the punchy version of Groves we saw today, with the difference of racing two levels higher. It was remarkable to see Groves actually leading the climbs in the last 40 kilometres, which demonstrated his exceptional strength today. 

When the final selection formed, he managed to break away due to his breakaway companions' disagreement, and it was clear that Groves would have had plenty of strength even if the last part of the stage had played out completely differently tactically. This Tour de France is particularly interesting for Alpecin-Deceuninck, as all three of the Philipsen–van der Poel–Groves trident have each won a stage, which can be considered a huge success. It was definitely worth starting all three of them, and the fact that they achieved this in different ways adds to the prestige of it. It's a pity that only Groves will reach the finish line tomorrow, but for the Australian, it can be a huge confidence boost to win on a day that was perhaps one of the most exciting of this year's Tour de France, which could ensure his participation in the coming years, too.