Key events
It’s just under 20 minutes now until the first rider, Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan), rolls out for the individual time trial of stage 21. I’m going to go make myself a cup of tea, but first here’s our first email of the day thanks to Cai in London:
I don’t think we can look past Tadej Pogačar for today – not only is he the best all-round rider in the peloton, but he’s not even looked close to an empty tank up to this point. Remco a distant second, for me.”
Stage 20 report: An utterly dominant Tadej Pogačar won the final mountain stage to the Col de la Couillole in the Alpes Maritimes, and edged ever closer to completing a rare double of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same season. Jeremy Whittle reports from the Col de la Couillole …
Who’s wearing what jersey
-
Yellow: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 82hr 53min 32sec
-
Green: Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 387pts
-
Polka-dot: Richard Carapaz (EF Education – Easypost) 127pts
-
White: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step)
The top 10 on General Classification
-
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 82hr 53min 32sec
-
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +5min 14sec
-
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +8min 4sec
-
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +16min 45sec
-
Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick-Step) +17min 25sec
-
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +21min 11sec
-
Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +21min 12sec
-
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +24min 26sec
-
Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +24min 50sec
-
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +25min 48sec
Stage 21: Monaco to Nice individual time trial, 33.7km
William Fotheringham on stage 11: A first-ever finish outside Paris, due to the Olympics starting later that week. The Tour hasn’t ended in a time trial since the LeMond-Fignon epic of 1989; if the top of the standings is tight, this could be equally memorable but usually by now the race is nailed down. It’s far from flat, and very technical, which suggests Pogačar or Vingegaard rather than Evenepoel for the win, but on day 21 it’s largely a matter of who has anything left in the tank.
Preamble
Good afternoon and welcome to the Guardian’s latest Tour de France 2024 liveblog. It’s the final stage of the Tour de France 2024 and today, the riders will be taking part in a 33.7km individual time trial from Monaco to Nice. It’s not the usual run around the sights of Paris and a race down the Champs-Élysées this year for the peloton, due to the upcoming Olympic Games in the French capital.
So, what do we have in store today? Well, I think it’s fair to say that time trials aren’t the most riveting or anticipated stage of any Tour, but today’s iteration at least has some (potentially) exciting things to look out for. Firstly, it’s not a flat time trial – the route heads from Monaco ininland towards the Col d’Èze summit via the La Turbie. That means lots of climbing and fast descents.
Secondly, this year’s Tour hasn’t been a fortunate one for the breakaways, so that’s left 10 teams so far without a win. Could there be a shock triumph in store as one of these teams push to make their mark before the Tour is over? Or will one of the big General Classification (GC) contenders bag the stage?
As always, feel free to email me with your thoughts, questions and predictions. I also love hearing where you’re following along from, so do drop that in if you want. OK, time to settle in …
First start: 1.40pm BST/2.40pm CET