The Belgian Wout van Aert won the penultimate stage in the Tour de France on Saturday, a time trial of more than forty kilometers. His teammate at Jumbo-Visma Jonas Vingegaard came in second, which means that he is now virtually assured of the overall victory in the Tour of France. The 25-year-old Dane will also ride in the yellow jersey on Sunday in the last stage, the traditional round through Paris.
Van Aert managed to complete the 40.7 kilometer ride between Lacapelle-Marival and the pilgrimage town of Rocamadour in just under 48 minutes. Vingegaard was 19 seconds slower. Behind him Tadej Pogacar finished third at 27 seconds. Before the stage, Pogacar was already 3.26 minutes behind Vingegaard in the general classification. The last, prestigious final stage to the Champs-Élysées in Paris generally doesn’t change that ranking anymore.
For Jumbo-Visma, Van Aert’s victory means the sixth stage win in this Tour de France. The Dutch team also won a stage the day before. Then Christophe Laporte was fastest in a messy finish of the nineteenth stage to Cahors.
Jumbo-Visma has had five riders in the race since Saturday, because Belgian Nathan Van Hooydonck had to leave the Tour for the time trial due to private circumstances. Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk previously dropped out due to injuries.