Jonas Vingegaard poised to win Tour de France as Wout van Aert claims time trial

23.07.2022 - 20:11 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Tour de France title as the Dane retained his overall lead after avoiding a freak crash in the final time trial on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Jumbo-Visma rider finished second in the 20th stage, a 40.7-km solo effort from Lacapelle-Marival won by his Belgian team mate Wout van Aert, who clocked a best time of 47 minutes 59 seconds.

There was a heart-in-mouth moment, though, when Vingegaard nearly crashed into rocks after overcooking a turn on a descent before finishing 19 seconds behind Van Aert with defending champion Tadej Pogacar taking third place, 27 seconds off the pace.

Overall, Vingegaard leads Pogacar of Slovenia by 3:34 and Britain's Geraint Thomas by 8:13 ahead of Sunday's final stage, a largely processional ride from La Defense to the Champs Elysees in Paris.

mountaineering win as Tadej Pogacar Geraint Thomas Wout Van-Aert Christophe Laporte Jonas Vingegaard Britain France Belgium Denmark Paris Slovenia

Read more on the timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Could Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) actually win the yellow jersey at a future edition of the Tour de France? That was the question posed on The Breakaway after the curtain call at the 2022 Tour, which saw the Belgian’s team-mate Jonas Vingegaard crowned champion after a thrilling three-week battle with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Ad/> Van Aert has been the rider of the Tour with a string of devastating attacks and selfless teamwork helping deliver six stage wins for Jumbo, including three for himself and the green jersey.

Jumbo-Visma have 'torn up rulebook' but it would be ‘different story’ without Wout Van Aert at Tour de France

Adam Blythe says that Jumbo-Visma have torn up the rulebook with a performance of pure dominance at the Tour de France, and reserved special praise for their Belgian talisman Wout van Aert. The Dutch team could finish the Tour de France with the yellow, green and polka dot jerseys, and – depending on the victor on Stage 21 — seven stage wins in an almost unprecedented show of excellence at the French Grand Tour. Ad/> Jumbo-Visma secured a one-two on the Stage 20 time trial after Vingegaard survived a scare late on to finish second behind the irrepressible Van Aert.

‘Just shows how close we are!' – Jonas Vingegaard on ‘brother’ Wout van Aert’s tears at Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) has heaped praise on his team-mates after he edged closer to a maiden Tour de France win. The Dane survived a late scare on the last descent of the decisive final time trial to Rocamadour — won by his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert — to strengthen his already vice-like grip on the yellow jersey. Ad/> If he navigates Stage 21 without accident or incident, the 25-year-old will win the 109th running of the Tour de France.

Opinion: Jumbo-Visma bury 2020 demons with emphatic one-two for Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert

Wout van Aert watched his team leader defend the yellow jersey in a time trial in the penultimate day of the Tour with far more relish than he did two years ago at La Planche des Belles Filles. It certainly helped that Tadej Pogacar had a far larger deficit to close than the 57 seconds he overturned to reel in Primoz Roglic back in 2020 on what was the darkest day in Jumbo-Visma’s history – a day which spawned the now ubiquitous meme of Tom Dumoulin and a masked Van Aert watching on, helpless and in horror, as the Slovenian debutant pulled the rug from under his compatriot’s feet.

Jonas Vingegaard seals Tour de France victory with impressive time trial

Jonas Vingegaard will claim the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday after another impressive performance in Saturday's time trial, the last competitive day of the event.