General classification after stage 10

 

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 38hrs 25mins 17secs

2 . Ben O'Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen) +2mins 01secs

3. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) + 5mins 18secs

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +5mins 32secs

5. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 33secs

6. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +5mins 47secs

7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +5mins 58secs

8. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +6mins 12secs

9. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +7mins 02secs

10. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +7mins 22secs

And a third win for Cavendish, he's now just one win off of the Merckx record - let's see if he can survive tomorrow's double-ascent of Mont Ventoux...

 

Wow, so incredibly happy for Cav - just 1 short of Merckx's record... it's just unbelievable. He's got nothing to prove as he is already for me one of the all-time greats but he's actually going to do it isn't he!! One of the most amazing comebacks in sporting history and he just keeps delivering... absolutely phenomenal.

 

Green jersey standings

 

Mark Cavendish (GB/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) - 218 points

Michael Matthews (Aus/Team Bike-Exchange) - 160

Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix) - 142

Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) - 138

Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Deceunick-Quick-Step) - 119

Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) - 117

Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe) - 95

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) - 89

Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) - 77

Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) - 62

It really does look that way - today could have potentially done it but I guess everyone wanted a day off (Nils Politt won in a break 15 minutes up the road), tomorrow is another good chance for him though!

 

Yesterday's stage was exciting as well - it didn't produce the massive gaps that could have formed but Van Aert's win was class and Vingegaard dropping Pogacar showed that it is possible, even if he got caught on the descent. Pogacar - Uran - Vingegaard is the current podium.

And he's done it! Really bizarre to think that only a couple of weeks ago the idea that he would even be coming to the Tour seemed ridiculous given him being on the same team as Sam Bennett, but this really is a stunning Tour to top off all his previous achievements.

 

(back into the montains tomorrow so hopefully some GC action!)

Congratulations to Mark Cavendish on a fantastic achievement, an inspirional comeback from him.

 

Just to ask would you ever want ITV to show the final stage on ITV instead of ITV4 in the future?

Stage 14 results

1. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Trek-Segafredo) 4hrs 16mins 16secs

 

2. Patrick Konrad (Aut/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 04secs

 

3. Sergio Higuita (Col/EF Education-Nippo) Same time

 

4. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +1mins 10secs

 

5. Michael Woods (Can/Israel Start-Up Nation) Same time

 

6. Omar Fraile (Spa/Astana) +1mins 25secs

 

7. Elie Gesbert (Fra/Arkea Samsic) Same time

 

8. Quentin Pacher (Fra/ B&B Hotels)

 

9. Louis Meintjes (SA/Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert

 

10. Esteban Chaves (Col/BikeExchange) 1mins 28secs

 

General classification after stage 14

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 56hrs 50mins 21secs

 

2. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +4mins 04secs

 

3. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) + 5mins 18secs

 

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +5mins 32secs

 

5. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 33secs

 

6. Ben O'Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen) +5mins 58secs

 

7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +6mins 16secs

 

8. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +6mins 30secs

 

9. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +7mins 11secs

 

10. Mattia Cattaneo (Fra/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +9mins 48secs

Just to ask would you ever want ITV to show the final stage on ITV instead of ITV4 in the future?

I don't think I'd mind either way! With the exception of the significance of it the final stage wouldn't be the best one to show though I don't think, it's usually the most boring stage of the lot.

 

A great ride from Guillaume Martin to take 5 minutes out of everyone and pushhimself into second! Things really do get exciting when the race leader can afford to lose such a massive chunk of time and be unaffected.

Disappointed but not surprised at how little coverage Mark Cavendish received at home regarding equalling the stages record.

^ Compared to some of the French newspapers where he got a full page about him!

 

Final podium predictions since we're on the second rest day? I'll go for:

 

1. Pogacar

2. Vingegaard

3. Carapaz

 

As much as a part of me really wants Ineos with all their money and the company behind them to come away with nothing, I feel as though Carapaz will come out ahead of Uran in the long run. Vingegaard has the advantage of being a good time triallist so even if he loses time in the mountains he should be able to pick it back up again. And unless he creashes or something else happens to him Pogacar has this Tour sewn up!

Another win from the break today - this time it's Patrick Konrad for his first WorldTour win! The Top 10 remains unchanged from two days ago.

Some great stages in the mountains over the last few days - very much set Pogcar, Vingegaard and Carapaz a league apart from the other GC contenders. Just two sprint stanges and a time trial left!

Tadej Pogacar is set to win his second Tour de France after finishing seventh in the penultimate stage time trial.

 

Jumbo-Visma's Wout van Aert won stage 20, his second stage victory this year.

 

Pogacar, 22, will officially win the yellow jersey after Sunday's final stage to Paris, when - by tradition - the leader is not challenged.

 

Defending champion Pogacar, of UAE-Team Emirates, is five minutes 20 seconds ahead of Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard in second.

 

Ecuador's Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers will finish third, seven minutes three seconds down.

Mark Cavendish failed in his bid to set a new record of 35 stage wins in the Tour de France as Wout van Aert won the final stage of the 2021 Tour.

 

Cavendish struggled to find space and could not come past Van Aert in the final few metres of the bunch sprint on Paris' Champs-Elysees.

 

But the 36-year-old had already won four stages this year to equal the Tour record of 34 set by Eddy Merckx.

 

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of UAE-Team Emirates won the overall yellow jersey.

No surprises on the final weekend then, except maybe Pogacar not doing as well as we might have expected in the Time Trial, but still >5 minutes ahead of everyone else. A fantastic race for Jonas Vingegaard - certainly some way to introduce yourself onto the scene! To think that he was only in the race because Dumoulin pulled out as well, Jumbo must be glad they made that decision after Roglic crashed out. Reminds me of how Pogacar introduced himself at the Vuelta a couple of years ago, could his career be on the same path?

 

Also the decision to give Franck Bonnamour the Combativity prize was absolutely the correct decision, I'd never heard of him before this race but he was in practically every breakaway and fighting towards the end every time.

 

A fab Tour all in all! The next big cycling event will be at the Olympics :D

Aye, shame about Cav not beating the record but it's still a fantastic achievement and comeback!