France 24 special correspondent in Val Thorens (France)
Mass has been said. At the end of a 20th and penultimate stage of the Tour de France 2019 largely lost due to bad weather in the Alps, Egan Bernal took another giant step towards his first coronation on the Great Loop. After 59 kilometers of racing, including thirty on the coast towards Val Thorens, the Colombian has not weakened, and it is in leader that he will approach the last exit of the peloton, Sunday, between Rambouillet and Paris.
On the last alpine sequence - won for prestige by the veteran Italian Vincenzo Nibali -, Bernal did not have to use too much to keep his tunic. In an armchair throughout the climb, he crossed the summit with other leaders without having to undergo attacks, and will be, except earthquake, the first Colombian to triumph on the Tour in Paris. And it is with the same probability that his German teammate Ineos, Geraint Thomas, and the Dutch Jumbo-Vista, Steven Kruijswijk, will accompany him on the podium.
No podium for Alaphilippe
French side, the soup with the grimace is not total, but the dreams of size took lead in the wing. On Friday, Thibaut Pinot had set foot on the ground due to an injury before, a few hours later, Julian Alaphilippe abandoned his yellow jersey to Bernal. A dynamic that has continued, Saturday.
At the end of his strength, the Deceuninck - Quick Step rider exploded on the last difficulty of this 2019 Tour, losing the leaders' wheels 13 kilometers from the summit. And the disbursement, unsurprisingly, was fatal to his last hopes. On the heights of Val Thorens, he cut the line just over 3 minutes from the winner of the day. A delay that has cost him the podium, but still allows him to save in extremis his place in the Top 5.
Only satisfaction on the blue side, Romain Bardet managed to save his jersey as the best climber of this Tour 2019. And so it is wearing the polka dot jersey that he will appear on the Champs-Elysees.