Le Tour 2014 – Stage 20

Bergerac – Périgueux

Distance: 54 kilometers.

This is the individual time trial on a hilly 54 kilometer course. It can alter the order in the general classification, especially the second, third, and fourth positions which only have a 15 second differential. This is why Nibali took two mountain stages, to build a lead that couldn’t be wiped out in the time trial.

Tony Martin won the time trial, which is not exactly a surprise and Alessandro De Marchi was selected as the Super Combative rider, the most combative rider on this year’s Tour.

Nibali gained an advantage on his closest rivals, and Pinot dropped to third place. It is considered very bad form to attack on the last day, but Bardet is only 2 seconds behind Van Garderen and a top five finish.

There is always a bunch sprint at the end of tomorrow’s stage for the prestige of winning the last stage on the Tour

Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 ) [Yellow] 86h 37′ 52″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – CAN – 051 ) [Green] 417 points
Rafal Majka ( Pol – TCS – 034 ) [Polka Dot] 181 points
Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) 3 [White]

Team: AG2R La Mondiale ( ALM – 081-089 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Tony Martin ( Ger – OPQ – 075 )
Super Combative: Alessandro De Marchi ( Ita – CAN – 053 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – AST – 041 )
2 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 07′ 52″
3 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 127 ) + 08′ 24″
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte ( Esp – MOV – 011 ) + 09′ 55″
5 Tejay Van Garderen ( US – BMC – 141 ) + 11′ 44″
6 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 11′ 46″
7 Leopold Konig ( Cze – TNE – 201 ) + 14′ 41″
8 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre ( Esp – TFR – 169 ) + 18′ 12″
9 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – BEL – 067 ) + 18′ 20″
10 Bauke Mollema ( Ned – BEL – 061 ) + 21′ 24″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 151 ) + 23′ 16″
12 Frank Schleck ( Lux – TFR – 161 ) + 25′ 57″
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 131 ) + 34′ 01″
14 Yury Trofimov ( Rus – KAT – 029 ) + 36′ 50″
15 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – BEL – 064 ) + 38′ 15″
16 Brice Feillu ( Fra – BSE – 211 ) + 43′ 59″
17 Christopher Horner ( US – LAM – 114 ) + 44′ 46″
18 Mikel Nieve Iturralde ( Esp – SKY – 005 ) + 46′ 40″
19 John Gadret ( Fra – MOV – 013 ) + 47′ 30″
20 Tanel Kangert ( Est – AST – 046 ) + 52′ 11″
21 Ben Gastauer ( Lux – ALM – 085 ) + 58′ 00″
22 Geraint Thomas ( GB – SKY – 008 ) + 59′ 29″
23 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 007 ) + 01h 00′ 35″
24 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – OPQ – 072 ) + 01h 06′ 11″
25 Cyril Gautier ( Fra – EUC – 154 ) + 01h 08′ 56″
26 Michael Rogers ( Aus – TCS – 038 ) + 01h 17′ 43″
27 Peter Velits ( Svk – BMC – 149 ) + 01h 19′ 53″
28 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 074 ) + 01h 20′ 49″
29 Tony Gallopin ( Fra – LTB – 134 ) + 01h 28′ 28″
30 Arnold Jeannesson ( Fra – FDJ – 124 ) + 01h 32′ 31″

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

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