The Tour de France is finally in Nice. This twentieth stage started from the port of Nice and ends at the Col de la Couillole, the fourth pass of the day. Here’s a recap of this stage.
Four years after a grand départ, the Tour de France returns to Nice for another significant stage. This twentieth stage consists of the Col de Braus, the Col de Turini, the Col de la Colmiane, and finishes at the Col de la Couillole.
Kelderman, Armirail, and Mas take the lead of the stage quite early despite the chaos as everyone wants to move to the front. Tadej Pogačar stated before this stage that he would let the climbers win. With his considerable lead, he can indeed afford not to win it. In the Col de Turini, Tratnik, Soler, Carapaz, and Bardet have caught up to the leading group. A seven-man battle is on. In the struggle, the Nice local Clément Champoussin punctured his front tire 700 meters from the summit of the pass. Meanwhile, the leading pack expanded to ten riders with Stuyven, Geniets, and Johannessen catching up. Carapaz among them, reaching the Col de Turini, gains a 24-point lead for the polka dot jersey over his rival Tadej Pogačar.
Midway Through the Stage
Nans Peters was leading the yellow jersey group but eventually eased off the pace. The group accelerates during the climb of the Col de la Colmiane and starts to close in on the leading group. The yellow jersey group with twenty-four riders is only 2 minutes and 43 seconds behind the leading group. Stuyven eventually drops the pace of the leading group, leaving only six. Tadej Pogačar finds himself third in the yellow jersey group at 8.2 kilometers from the finish. This puts him in a good position to go for the win. Vingegaard and Almeida start attacking with less than seven kilometers to go, bringing Pogačar along with them.
The Final Stretch
The yellow jersey group catches up to within a minute of the leading group. Carapaz also attacks and Mas tries to follow him. Evenepoel, in the yellow jersey group, responds by accelerating but is overtaken by Vingegaard and loses two places. At four kilometers from the finish, Pogačar accelerates and moves to the front of the yellow jersey group, thirty seconds behind the leader. Vingegaard fights back and takes the lead again. This would place him second overall in the standings. Seeing them nearing, Carapaz accelerates his pace. At 2.5 kilometers from the finish, the yellow jersey group with Vingegaard and Pogačar overtakes the leading group. Carapaz stays with the pace of the other two until 865 meters, where he eventually drops off. Tadej Pogačar sprints in the final moments and wins this twentieth stage in 4 hours 24 minutes and 02 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard. Richard Carapaz finishes third. It’s his fifth victory in this 2024 Tour de France. He now holds a 5 minute and 14 seconds lead over Vingegaard.
