2014 Tour de France Stage 20 Results & Recap
Stage 20 of the 2014 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
The celebrations can finally begin. After three weeks of racing from Yorkshire via the Vosges, the Alps and the Pyrenees, the Tour de France is set to celebrate its finale in Paris on Sunday after the 54km time trial stage decided the final overall classification.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) will be crowned winner on the Champs-Élysées after extending his overall lead to 7:52 in the time trial. He becomes just the sixth rider in the history of cycling to have won all three Grand Tours in professional cycling, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador.
The Italian will be joined by two Frenchmen on the podium, with Jean-Christophe PĂ©raud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) securing second and third place thanks to determined rides in the time trial between Bergerac and PĂ©rigueux. PĂ©raud moved past his younger compatriot to take second at 7:52, with Pinot third at 8:24. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) was unable to gain time on them, after a terrible performance, and remains fourth at 9:55.
The USA's Tejay van Garderen (BMC) also ended the Tour on a high, moving past Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) to take fifth, 11:44 down on Nibali. He could have been close to the podium without a bad day in the Pyrenees but took fifth, by two seconds, after Bardet suffered a late puncture.
As widely expected and predicted, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) won the 54km hilly time trial. The German world time trial champion was untouchable, setting a time of 1:06:21. Dutch time trial champion Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) was second at a distant but respectable 1:39. Jan Barta (Netapp-Endura) ended on a high with third place in the time trial at 1:47. Nibali was fourth at 1:58.
Yellow jersey Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) took fourth place in the time trial
Nibali waits for Paris before celebrating in style
True to character, Nibali struggled to admit that he is the winner of the 2014 Tour de France immediately after finishing his time trial, preferring to wait until he reaches Paris on Sunday before celebrating.
"It's not a dream anymore, I suppose I've won the Tour. But let’s wait for tomorrow. That'll be the best moment with the Arc de Triomphe," he said.
"Tomorrow is going to be special, I'm sure the hairs on my arms will be standing up. I've loved the Tour and the finish in Paris ever since the first time I rode my first Tour.
"It's all still surreal for me. It's difficult to think it's almost over and that I've worn the yellow jersey for almost all the race. I can't wait to celebrate with my family and all my friends, and fan club."
Nibali has worked hard to improve his time trialing position and it has paid off with fourth place.
"I'm tired but I'm happy after my ride," he said.
"I wanted to show how well I could do. Fourth is good, even if I don’t know the time gaps. It was a testing course, with lots of dips. I couldn’t wait to get to the finish."
Martin confirms his time trial domination
Martin had to wait a long time in the race leader's hot seat but could finally smile and celebrate after Nibali crossed the line.
The German is arguably the greatest time trialist of his generation. He has suffered throughout the Tour, thinking of the final time trial but produced a superb ride to win.
During his ride the “Panzerwagen”, rolled along in his usual imperturbable fashion, pushing a 58-tooth chain ring and passing rider after rider in front of him, including a surprised looking Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who had started six minutes earlier.
“I thought I was more tired but I managed to keep a good tempo from start to finish, I didn’t fade, I’m happy with my performance," Martin said, after climbing onto the stage winner's podium.
“It’s true, I knew the course well and I had to wait for two weeks to get here. Luckily, I had won a stage already, so it eased the pressure.”
There were also other winners and losers during the stage but everyone of the 164 finishers will be able to celebrate in Paris on Sunday, from Lanterne Rouge Cheng Ji (Giant-Shimano), the first Chinese rider to finish the Tour, the four jersey winners, most aggressive rider Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale), French riders PĂ©raud and Pinot, and especially the yellow jersey winner Vincenzo Nibali.
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