Before the closing stage between Monaco and Nice, the Tour de France made a detour into the mountains for the very last time on Saturday with stage 20. Towards the col de la Couillole, four major climbs were to be covered, and Kevin Geniets managed to lead the race for a moment within the breakaway. The Luxembourg champion was only caught on the final climb and then held on nicely to take a decent nineteenth place on the line. Tadej Pogacar won for the fifth time.
It was the last – big – main course on the menu. On the eve of the final time trial of the Tour de France, a very challenging twentieth stage loomed for the peloton on Saturday from Nice to the top of the Col de la Couillole. The Braus, Turini and Colmiane climbs were also on the day’s program, for a total elevation gain of about 4800 metres over “barely” 132 kilometres of racing. The riders did not take long to get to the proper action, the bunch exploded from the first slopes, a few favorites even tried to take a step ahead, before a solid, yet inoffensive breakaway managed to establish. Enric Mas and Wilco Kelderman notably took the lead, they were subsequently joined by Richard Carapaz or Romain Bardet, then a counterattack opened after the descent of the col de Braus in the wake of Kevin Geniets. “He was brave to give it a go after such a start,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “First, he had to join the breakaway, and he did a good job, especially considering how terrible he felt two days ago. For us today, we could only hope for a breakaway.”
“I’m happy to finish on a good note,” Kevin Geniets
Together with Jasper Stuyven, Neilson Powless and Tobias Johannessen, the rider from Groupama-FDJ gradually closed the two-minute gap on the leading group, while the peloton was sailing four minutes behind. Shortly before the summit of the Col de Turini, the chasing group joined the front one, and Kevin Geniets was then able to come over the Col de la Colmiane at the front and tackle the final ascent of the Col de la Couillole about three minutes ahead of the yellow jersey peloton. As expected, things got lively at the front and at the back quite fast, and the rider from Luxembourg tried to manage his efforts as best as possible. About seven kilometres from the top, he was caught by the favorites, who then also caught the other breakaway riders, with Tadej Pogacar taking his fifth win in this Tour. “As on almost all mountain stages, the breakaway did not make it,” said Benoît. “This time, it was not UAE Team Emirates who pulled, but Soudal-Quick Step. Other teams rode for Pogacar, but we expected a battle between the GC contenders.”
Kevin Geniets fought all the way to the top to take a solid top-20 (19th, at 5’28). “The first two weeks of the Tour went very well, then I had a heat stroke at the start of this last week,” he said. “I had 2-3 difficult days, and my body needed a little time to recover. I’m happy to finish the Tour this way, on a good note. Today, I have absolutely no regrets. I raced aggressively and gave it my all until the line. I am satisfied. There were also a lot of people on the roads, which was very nice. Even though we might not appreciate it as much as we should, it definitely creates good memories for the future.” The Tour will conclude on Sunday with thirty-three kilometres against the clock from Monaco to Nice. “Some riders are motivated, like Romain and Lenny, then we will see how the weather develops because storms are predicted at the end of the day,” Benoît concluded. “Lenny can perform in this kind of time trial. In any case, he wants to give his best”.
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