Nat Bromhead
Monday Sept 21
Celebrating his 22nd birthday the day after the final stage in Paris, Tadej Pogacar has won the 2020 Tour de France. He also won the King of the Mountains competition and the best young rider prize.
Primoz Roglic – who spectacularly lost his Tour lead on the penultimate stage – finished second overall with Aussie legend Richie Porte third.
Irish sprinter Sam Bennett claimed the final stage win in front of world champion Mads Pedersen and mega-star Peter Sagan on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. The last winner of the final stage while in the green jersey was Mark Cavendish in 2011.
FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) en 87h20’13’’
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) à 59’’
- Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) à 3’30’’
STAGE 21 TOP 3
- Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick – Step) in 2h53’32’’
- Mads Pedersen (Trek – Segafredo), st
- Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe), st
Sunday Sept 20
Richie Porte has spectacularly ridden his way to an overall podium position at the Tour de France, the 35yo Tasmanian riding the TT of his life on Stage 20.
Providing all goes to plan on the ceremonial final stage into Paris, Porte will become the second ever Australian to stand on the final podium after Cadel Evans’ 2011 Tour victory.
In other major news 21yo Tadej Pogacar now leads the race, the Tour debutant taking the yellow jersey from Primoz Roglic in the uphill time trial.
Asked if winning the tour was a childhood dream, Tadej Pogacar said “my dream was just to ride the Tour de France.”
More to come.
Saturday Sept 19
All eyes will be on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France tonight as Richie Porte rides the most critical time trial of his career.
Rolling off just after midnight (AEST / 4:08pm CET), Richie will be the fourth last rider to tackle the 36km uphill TT course.
Miguel Lopez, who’s currently in overall third, will roll off two minutes later at 4:10pm CET.
From then on Aussie cycling fans will be on the edge of their seats to see if Richie can take time on Lopez and be on the overall podium in Paris. Porte is currently 1:36 seconds behind the Astana rider.
A predominantly uphill time trial that culminates with the 6km category 1 climb to La Planches Des Belles Filles, it will take around an hour to complete.
Friday Sept 18
It was a warming scene after what can only be described as a miserable Tour for Team Ineos – star riders Michal Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz crossing the line arm in arm to celebrate a 1-2 stage victory overnight.
It was a spectacular stage that included tough mountain climbs, a thrilling gravel sector and incredible French scenery.
And it was a stage that delivered high drama for Aussie podium hopeful Richie Porte, the 35yo, 10-Tour veteran puncturing on the gravel and briefly being left back behind the field.
Plagued by bad luck in the past, it seems nothing can stop Richie this year. Back on his bike, he made his way back to the yellow jersey group and held onto his overall 4th place position.
After days in the mountains Stage 19 is finally flatter, another wonderful opportunity for Caleb Ewan who’s on the cusp of a third stage win at this year’s Tour.
As for Richie Porte it all comes down to the Stage 20 uphill time trial. Currently just over 90 seconds from a podium position, Richie will be riding the TT of his life late on Saturday night.
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STAGE RESULT
1. Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) in 4h47’33’’ 2. Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), st 3. Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo – Vismal), at 1’51’’ |
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Thursday Sept 17
Richie Porte is within sight of an overall podium position at the Tour de France, the Tasmanian finishing 5th on the Queen stage of the race last night.
After starting Stage 17 in sixth place, he now sits in fourth, the podium in Paris closer than ever with a tough mountain stage and individual time trial to come.
“I’m happy to move to fourth on GC,” said Richie after the stage. “Let’s see how it is tomorrow and get through Friday, then hopefully do a good time trial as well.”
Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana claimed the stage victory atop the spectacular col de la Loze after out riding Richard Carapaz of Ineos.
The battle of the Slovenians for the overall victory confirmed Primoz Roglic in the yellow jersey as he crossed the line in second place with a significant advantage over Tadej Pogacar who is the new King of the Mountains.
Top 5 After Stage 17
1 Primoz Roglic
2 Tadej Pogacar +57
3 Miguel Lopez +1:26
4 Richie Porte +3:05
5 Adam Yates +3:14
Wednesday Sept 16
Lennard Kämna of Bora-Hahnsgroe claimed his first Grand Tour win on stage 16 at Villard-de-Lans. It’s the first German victory at the Tour de France since John Degenkolb on stage 9 to Roubaix in 2018.
After taking his first pro success in stage 4 of the Critérium du Dauphiné and coming second to Dani Martinez at Puy Mary, the 24 year old met all the expectations since he was a runner-up at the 2017 u23 world championship behind Benoît Cosnefroy who miraculously retained the polka dot jersey while Primoz Roglic quietly stayed in yellow on the eve of the queen stage to col de la Loze.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 70h06’47’’
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at 40’’
- Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling) at 1’34’’
Tuesday Sept 15
Second rest day.
Monday Sept 14
Richie Porte proved he is in some of the best form of his career as he finished with the two top climbers at Stage 15 of the Tour de France.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) claimed his second mountain stage victory with race leader Primoz Roglic finishing second atop the Grand Colombier.
Super strong, Porte attempted a solo victory with around 300m to go, but it was another 1-2 for Slovenia with Pogacar and Roglic cementing their place on the overall podium.
In a dramatic day, defending champion Egan Bernal faltered, eventually losing more than 7 minutes and dropping out of the Top10.
Porte moved up to 6th overall on the eve of the second and final rest day, with the very real opportunity of being on the overall podium after the final week’s mountain and uphill TT Stage.
STAGE 15 RESULT
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in 4h34’13’’
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma), st
- Richie Porte (Trek – Segafredo), at 5’’
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 15
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 65h37’07’’
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at 40’’
- Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling) at 1’34’’
Sunday Sept 13
Soren Kragh Andersen became the first Danish stage winner of the Tour de France since Magnus Cort two years ago. He also delivered Team Sunweb their second stage victory after Marc Hirschi on stage 12.
Tiesj Benoot paved the way for his attack at the 3km to go mark. It’s the first Tour de France stage victory for the 26 year old winner of the 2018 Paris-Tours.
STAGE 14 RESULT
- Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) in 4h28’10’’
- Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton – Scott), at 15”
- Simone Consonni (Cofidis), st
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 14
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 61h03’00”
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at 44’’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 59″
Saturday Sept 12
Jumbo-Visma’s Primoz Roglic further-cemented his dominance of the 2020 Tour de France overnight as Egan Bernal faltered and Richie Porte showed sensational form in the gruelling 4400 vertical meter stage.
Dani Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) sealed the first Colombian stage victory of the 107th Tour de France as he managed to beat the Bora-Hansgrohe duo formed of Maximilian Schachmann and Lennard Kämna atop the unprecedented and spectacular finish of Puy Mary.
21yo Tadej Pogacar took over from Egan Bernal as overall runner up, with Bernal now 59 seconds behind Roglic.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 13
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 56h34’35’’
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) at 44’’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 59’’
Friday Sept 11
After a heroic 30km solo effort 22yo Swiss rider Marc Hirschi of Team Sunweb won Stage 12 of the Tour de France overnight.
The 2018 u23 world champion took his first pro win in his first Grand Tour, with Pierre Rolland and Soren Kragh Andersen rounding out the podium.
Primoz Roglic retains the yellow jersey, some 21 seconds ahead of Egan Bernal as the race heads back to the mountains for Stage 13 tonight.
STAGE 12 TOP 3
- Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) in 5h08’49’’
- Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P/B KTM), at 47’’
- Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb), at 52’
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 12
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 51h26’46’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 21’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 28’’
Thursday Sept 10
Aussie sprint sensation Caleb Ewan of team Lotto Soudal has enjoyed his second Tour de France victory for 2020 in a close finish in Poitiers.
Caleb finished in front of an all-star sprint lineup pipping Stage 10 winner Sam Bennett along with Wout Van Aert and Peter Sagan.
Overall favourite Primoz Roglic of Team Jumbo – Visma continues to wear the yellow jersey with 2019 winner Egan Bernal second overall, some 21 second behind.
STAGE 11 TOP THREE
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) in 4h00’01’’
- Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick – Step), st
- Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo – Visma), st
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 11
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 46h15’24’’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 21’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 28’’
Wednesday Sept 9
Sam Bennett of Deceuninck – Quick Step won stage 10 in a bunch sprint on the scenic Ré island. The Irishman fended off an all-star sprint lineup that included Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan and Elia Viviani.
Bagging his first Tour de France win after stage victories at both the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta, Bennett also took the green jersey from Sagan who crossed the line in third place.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) retained the yellow jersey and is now 21 seconds ahead of 2019 race winner Egan Bernal of Team Ineos.
Stage 10 Top 3
- Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick -Step) in 3h35’22’’
- Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), st
- Peter Sagan (Bora – Hansgrohe), st
General Classification After Stage 10
- Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 42h15’23’’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 21’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 28’’
Tuesday Sept 8
Race Director Christian Prudhomme Tests Positive For Coronavirus
The first rest day of the 2020 Tour de France, and all involved in the event – more than 650 people from riders through to team members and race officials – were subject to mandatory COVID-19 testing.
No riders tested positive, but Race Director Christian Prudhomme along with one staff member from Ineos Grenadiers, Mitchelton-Scott, Cofidis and AG2R also tested positive. These teams now face the very real risk of being expelled from the race should a rider or staff member test positive in the next 7-days.
“The testing campaign revealed that Christian Prudhomme has tested positive for Covid-19. The director of the Tour will now quarantine for seven days,” organisers said. “Although he was not part of the ‘race bubble’ and had not been in direct contact with any of the riders and their entourage, Christian Prudhomme still decided to get tested.”
Prudhomme’s positive test led to concerns for the health of French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who spent two hours in the lead car with Prudhomme on Saturday. The Prime Minister is to undergo testing.
Monday Sept 7
It was the final day of racing prior to the first rest day of the Tour de France, the end of a tumultuous 9 days that featured all the drama the race is famous for.
One of the overall race favourites, Primoz Roglic will go into the rest day in the yellow jersey. A former champion ski jumper, Roglic now leads 2019 Tour champion Egan Bernal by 21 seconds in the overall standings.
Adam Yates had enjoyed 4 day’s in Yellow – an all time record for Aussie team Mitchelton-Scott – but sadly that came to an end in the Pyrenean finish town of Laruns.
The stage winner was Tadej Pogacar of UAE Emirates – he won his first Tour stage out of a 5-man breakaway after brave attacker Marc Hirschi who soloed 90km before the end got caught within 2km to go.
Meanwhile Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) was dropped and rode alone in front of the broom wagon before eventually calling it a race and abandoning.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 9
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo – Visma) in 38h40’01’’
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) at 21’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 28’’
Sunday Sept 6
Adam Yates of Mitchelton-Scott will wear yellow for a third day after retaining the prized jersey on a tough mountain stage.
France’s Nans Peters of AG2R soloed to victory over the col de Peyresourde to claim the Loudenvielle stage.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 8
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) in 34h44’52’’
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo – Visma) at 3’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 9’’
Saturday Sept 5
Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) became the first rider to win two stages of the 107thTour de France overnight, the talented allrounder outsprinting Edvald Boasson Hagen (NTT Pro Cycling Team) and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels – Vital Concept P/B KTM) across the line.
Depriving the top sprinters of another opportunity, previous stage winners Alexander Kristoff and Caleb Ewan finished much further behind, along with Italian top sprinters Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) retains the yellow jersey as the race enters two mountainous weekend stages.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 7
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) in 30h36’00’’
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo – Visma) at 3’’
- Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) at 9’’
Friday Sept 4
Adam Yates of Mitchelton-Scott retained the Tour de France leader’s jersey overnight, the 26yo Brit staying with the top overall contenders atop the Stage 6 summit finish.
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) claimed a solo victory on the tough stage that concluded at Mont Aigoual. The Kazakhstan national champion, he collected his first ever Tour win. Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) finished second and Greg van Avermaet (CCC Team) third.
Adam Yates said he enjoyed his first day in yellow and the team controlled the race well.
“It was a strong breakaway and there were a lot of guys that really wanted to go in there today,” he said.
“It was pretty much flat all the way into the climbs, so it was quite hard to control, but I think we did a good job and in the end I still had Mikel and Esteban in the final, so all in all, a good day.”
“I still want to win a stage, that’s what we came here to do, but it’s pretty hard to throw away time when you’re in the lead, so I think for now we’ll just play it day-by-day and see what happens.
Stage 7 is 168km in length and one for the sprinters. It’s another golden opportunity for Caleb Ewan to score his second stage win, and precedes a solid weekend of climbing in the Pyrenees.
Overall Top 3 After Stage 6
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) in 27h03’57’’
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo – Visma) at 3’’
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) at 7’’
Thursday Sept 3
“It was a very long and boring stage…” The words of Julian Alaphillippe, the (former) leader of the 2020 Tour de France.
But that boredom didn’t last too long after the stage. Prior to the podium presentation Alaphillippe was informed he’d been docked 20 seconds (and fined 200 Swiss Francs or $300) for taking a bidon within 20km of the finish line.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates was subsequently awarded the yellow jersey and is just 3 seconds ahead of Primoz Roglic of Jumbo Visma.
Van Aert Strikes Again
His 5th major win of 2020 – including the Strade-Bianche, Milan San Remo and a stage of the Dauphine – Wout Van Aert won the Stage 5 sprint finish making it two consecutive stage wins for Jumbo Visma.
“This is a very nice win”, Van Aert said. “I am very grateful to the team for giving me the chance to go for it today. I am more than happy that I can reward their confidence with this stage win. I only got one chance and I took it.”
“It was a fairly easy stage,” Van Aert continued. “The finish was still quite difficult. Because there was no breakaway during the stage and the fact that the pace was not too high, a lot of riders were still fresh.”
Van Aert said now he has his victory he plans to return to domestic duties.
“I will work for Primoz (Roglic) and Tom (Dumoulin) again,” he said. “I will do so with great pleasure and happiness.”
GC Top 3 After Stage 5
1 Adam Yates ( Mitchelton-Scott ) 22h28’30
2 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) +3s
3 Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +7
Wednesday September 2
Former champion ski jumper Primoz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma showed he is a clear Tour de France favourite as he won Stage 4 of the race overnight.
Still bandaged from his crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Slovenian champion hinted his best was yet to come. “I’m still coming back … everyday I’m feeling better,” he told Eurosport after the stage win.
Solidly supported by his super team, Jumbo-Visma set a high pace up the hill with Wout van Aert leading the pack. The Belgian rouleur was phenomenal in preparing the terrain for Sepp Kuss to finish the job for Roglic. Pogacar crossed the line in second place while Martin who had tried to anticipate the sprint closed in third place.
Fifth across the line, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe remains in the yellow jersey after Stage 4 with Roglic moving up to 3rd overall.
Overall Standing After Stage 4
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick – Step) in 18h07’04’’
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scoot) at 4’’
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo – Visma) at 7’’
Tuesday September 1
Caleb Ewan has won Stage 3 of the Tour de France, the Aussie sprinter beating the likes of Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) across the line in Sisteron.
Battling many factors including the loss off two team mates from the race, crashing on Stage 1 and finishing last on Stage 2, Ewan added the victory to his three stage wins in the 2019 event.
“In the last kilometre I was a little bit too far forward,” Ewan said. “So I dropped back a bit into the wheels then that gave me a bit of time just to rest the legs a little bit … In the end it worked perfectly.”
26-year-old Ewan said the win helped prove last year’s three stage victories were no fluke.
“I hope to come back more years and keep winning. We have to take every sprinters’ opportunity we can because they are quite rare this year.”
Frenchman Julian Alaphillippe retains the yellow jersey as the riders rest prior to the 165km Stage 4. The first summit finish of the 2020 Tour, the stage features more than 3000m of ascent over 5 categorized climbs.
General Classification After Stage 3
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick – Step) in 13h59’17’’
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott), at 4’’
- Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), at 7’’
Monday Aug 31
Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck-Quick Step has won Stage 2 of the Tour de France and slipped into the overall lead. No stranger to yellow, Alaphilippe led the Tour de France for fourteen days in 2019.
The Wolfpack rider enjoyed his fifth Tour de France stage victory in Nice after launching a strong and perfectly-executed attack on the final climb of the 4000+ vertical metre stage. He outclassed debutant Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) on the line, also out-sprinting the third breakaway rider Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott).
The Tour continues tonight with the 198km Stage 3. Lumpy but not mountainous, the stage is one for the sprinters with a fast final 40km. It will be broadcast via the GCN Racepass app from 8:50pm and SBS TV from 9:30pm.
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION STAGE 2
- Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick – Step) in 8h41’35’’
- Adam Yates (Mitchelton – Scott), at 4’’
- Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb), at 7’’
Sunday Aug 30
The opening stage of the belated 2020 Tour de France perfectly illustrated the tumultuous year to date, with numerous crashes, a peloton-instigated neutral zone and upset winner of the spectacular stage in Nice.
Veteran sprinter Alexander Kristoff took the stage, hours after Lizzie Deignan enjoyed an upset win of the organiser’s token 96km single stage women’s event, La Course.
Alexander Kristoff of UAE Team Emirates won the bunch sprint beating world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Cees Bol (Team Sunweb). It’s his fourth stage win in the Tour de France after two in 2014 and the conclusive stage in Paris in 2018. The 33 year old is the second Norwegian to take the yellow jersey after Thor Hushovd.
Caleb Ewan was a stage favourite but ended up finishing 19th after being caught up in several crashes. But at least he finished, others were not so fortunate including teammate John Degenkolb who missed the time cut and is out of the 2020 Tour.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.. today I lost all…” Degenkolb wrote. “All I worked and trained for in this special 2020. A crash took us, Caleb Ewan, me and a lot of other riders on the wet ground and destroyed all my dreams. Destroyed my Tour at day one with open knees I could finish with a lot of pain the stage, alone, with a more than 18 minutes delay but obviously I am far out of the timelimit. Of course it‘s frustrating as hell but that’s the brutal reality of cycling.”
Deignan Makes It Two From Two
In sensational form less than two years after giving birth to her daughter, Trek Segafredo’s Lizzie Deignan won the 96km La Course event.
The Tour continues with Stage 2 tonight, a tough 187km stage that includes more than 4000m of climbing. It will be broadcast via the GCN Racepass app from 8:50pm and SBS TV from 9:30pm.
