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Tadej Pogacar is set to win the Tour de France ahead of strong favorite Primoz Roglic in one of the most dramatic changes in race history.
Pogacar, 21, will be confirmed as the youngest winner in 110 years at the end of Sunday’s grand procession to Paris.
The UAE-Team Emirates driver overcame a 57-second deficit against Roglic, who was thought to be a much stronger driver in the La Planche des Belles Filles stage 20 time trial.
It will be the first Grand Tour victory for Slovenian Pogacar, who took the yellow jersey from his compatriot Roglic after holding it for 13 days.
Pogacar is now 59 seconds ahead of Roglic at the end of a dramatic day reminiscent of the 1989 Tour, when Greg LeMond unexpectedly checked Laurent Fignon in a time trial on the final day to win by eight seconds.
Trek-Segafredo’s Richie Porte will be on the podium in Paris, finishing third, three minutes and 30 seconds behind.
Pogacar won the stage, 1 minute 21 seconds ahead of Tom Dumoulin, Roglic’s teammate at Jumbo-Visma. Porte moved up to third place overall after finishing third on stage.
Michelton-Scott’s Adam Yates of Britain will finish ninth in the overall standings, 9 minutes 25 seconds behind the winner.
What happened to Roglic?
Roglic has been imperative throughout the three-week race thanks to the support of his powerful team, supported by some of the best cyclists in the sport, including Dumoulin, Wout van Aert and Sepp Kuss.
The 36km stage from Lure to La Planche des Belles Filles was a challenging course that ended, unusually for the time trial, with a category 1 climb. Roglic, 30, was considered a better time rider than Pogacar, and started the stage with force.
But Roglic struggled with switching from specialized super fast time trial bikes to a more conventional road machine before the climb, struggling to fit on his pedals, wobbling when pushed and never seemed to find his typical pace.
Roglic, who claimed his first Grand Tour victory at last year’s Vuelta a España, looked desperate as he crossed the line, his helmet raised and slightly twisted, knowing that he had already lost the race.
Despair turned to confusion and despondency as he sat on the ground in his full yellow suit, trying to understand how he had committed one of the greatest strangles in modern cycling.
From a distant second, Pogacar takes it all
Roglic had been the favorite to win the 107th edition of cycling’s biggest race, alongside defending champion Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers.
However, Bernal abandoned the race before Stage 17 after a disastrous climb to the Grand Colombier on Stage 15, where he broke down and lost more than seven minutes to Roglic.
It was one of the biggest drops in form for a defending champion in recent history, and it ended Ineos’ record of winning every Tour since 2015, four of which were as Team Sky.
Ineos seemed set to have something to celebrate as they attempted to seal the King of the Mountains’ polka dot jersey through their second protected rider, Richard Carapaz.
Despite attempts by 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Carapaz to deliberately go through a slow first section before flying down the mountain, Pogacar’s epic performance overshadowed him and he took the jersey.
It is the second of three shirts Pogacar will claim in this year’s race; He will also collect the white jersey of the young runners.
In total, Pogacar receives a cash prize of 500,000 euros for the yellow jersey, 25,000 euros for the King of the Mountain award and another 20,000 euros for being the best classified young rider.
More to follow.
