Tour de France: what the stars said after Wout van Aert’s time trial triumph

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The GC battle of the Tour de France ended on Saturday in the vineyards of Saint-Émilion.

Wout van Aert flattened the field with a resounding TT victory, while Tadej Pogačar sealed his overall victory by finishing eighth on the stage.

As expected, Jonas Vingegaard was able to overtake Richard Carapaz to secure second place on his very first grand tour. Ben O’Connor also did enough to push back the generally strong Wilco Kelderman time trial to travel to Paris in fourth place overall.

Here is what the stars said after the last day of classification of the Tour de France:

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): Stage winner

Wout van Aert crushed the opposition on Saturday, beating a number of specialists and overall contenders to claim his second Tour stage victory. Along with teammate Jonas Vingegaard, van Aert led a Jumbo-Visma resurgence after the team lost four riders early in the race.

Van Aert will now head to Toyko’s Olympic Time Trial as one of the big favorites. Despite a long flight to Japan on the horizon, van Aert has no plans to take his foot off the accelerator yet. The Belgian all-around ace hopes to beat players like Mark Cavendish and Jasper Philipsen in the Paris sprint on Sunday.

“Winning a Tour de France time trial has been one of the biggest goals of my career. I really focused on this day over the past couple of days – glad I was able to finish it, ”he said.

“It was a difficult Tour for the team, but we always fought until the end. Now we have three stage wins, Jonas second overall which is an incredible result for only four guys remaining. I’m really proud of the way we fought.

“I’m also motivated for tomorrow, we know Cavendish is the favorite and he’s off to a very good start. The Champs-Élysées is a special sprint so I will try to win the stage tomorrow.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): eighth on stage, leader of the general classification

Tadej Pogačar made his way to eighth place on the stage, sealing his victory in the general classification.

The reigning champion rode hard but took no chances on the final day of GC competition on Saturday and will travel to Paris with the yellow jersey on his back and a massive 5:20 lead overall.

Unlike the 2020 Tour, there was no doubt that Pogacar would finish Stage 20 leading the race. Last year, Pogačar defied the odds to close a 57-second deficit over Primož Roglič and steal the yellow jersey at the very end.

This year, the 22-year-old has been wearing yellow since Stage 8 and has rarely looked struggling since.

Pogacar was guided to victory on Saturday by UAE-Team Emirates sporting director Allan Peiper. Peiper had missed much of the race after staying home while recovering from recent cancer treatment.

“I’m really glad it’s over. In fact, it was a very fast ITT. There was so much support throughout the course. I enjoyed every mile, even though it was very hot and I was in a bit of pain. I was going full blast, but it was different from the first ITT, where there was more adrenaline, but I was still well prepared and it was still a great performance, ”said Pogačar.

“I cannot compare the two GC Tour de France victories. I can’t say which one is more beautiful. Last year, everything was decided at the last ITT and the emotions were much stronger. This time, I took the yellow jersey a little earlier. It was totally different.

“Today I saw Allan [Peiper] for the first time since January. I was really happy to see him. It was already a lot of emotions before the start. It has been great to ride the ITT with her support and the support of the team, my family, my friends… I will think about what that means in the future. At the moment, I’m just very happy.

Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick-Step): 66th on stage, leader of the points classification

Mark Cavendish, wearing a green jersey, finished at 4:12 on van Aert.

The Manxman’s goal for the day was to save energy and stay safe before the last leg to Paris. Cavendish will be aiming for his fifth Tour win on Sunday to make it a total of 35 career wins and break the all-time record for stage wins. He should also get his second green jersey in Paris. Cavendish has won the iconic Champs-Élysées four times and is in high profile for the stage victory on Sunday.

Cavendish thanked his team after Michael Morkov and Tim Declercq both led them to stage victories and dragged them through the most difficult mountain stages.

“The ITT has been good for me. It was very flat, so I just tried to stay aero to save energy. I’m already thinking about tomorrow. I hope for a stage victory. As with every stage, many teams have yet to win and will fight for victory, ”said Cavendish.

“It will normally come down to a sprint on the Champs-Elysées. I’m just going to try to win this bike race. It’s great to arrive in Paris with the whole team and three guys classified in the top 10 of the ITT. I am still very grateful that they supported me so much in the mountains.

“I am impressed with Tadej Pogacar both as a driver and as a person. He’s a sweet little boy, always smiling and in a good mood. All these young people like Vingegaard, Van der Poel and Pogacar himself are great. I am happy to have been able to share the peloton with them.

Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation): 123rd on stage, 134th on GC

Chris Froome drove to the finish with five minutes less than van Aert.

The four-time Tour champion had crashed on the opening day of this year’s race, making his return to the Tour even more difficult after battling his career-shaping injury for almost two years. Few expected the returning 36-year-old to be competitive in this year’s race, and some will see him traveling to Paris as a victory in itself.

This year’s Tour is the first that Froome will have completed since 2018 when he placed second behind teammate Geraint Thomas.

On his feelings when he arrives in Paris on Sunday: I’ll have to see when I get there but of course I’ll be in a very different position than how I was before. The last few times I went to the Champs Elysées, I was either wearing yellow or I rode with a teammate in yellow, so it’s going to be very different, but still nice to arrive at the end of these three weeks.

On his race program: Nothing is really decided yet for the rest of the season. We will make this call after a few days off. Then I will consult with the team and make a decision on what to do for the rest of the season. Potentially the Vuelta, potentially something else that we haven’t really decided yet.



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