Man, the Tour de France flew by! Maybe not for the riders, but it seems like yesterday we were watching the lads in Barcelona doing the team time trial. Now, one more tough day in the mountains awaits before the traditional, and non-traditional ride into Paris. (Once again the peloton will go up Montmarte several times, as opposed to simply a sprint stage on the Champs Elysee.)

Stage 20: What a day

The Tour de France has one more massive mountain challenge before the guys get to wrap things up tomorrow. Stage 20 is the race’s queen stage, packing 170.9 km and roughly 5,600 metres of climbing into a brutal day across the French Alps.

The action begins in Bourg-d’Oisans before the peloton heads straight onto the Col de la Croix de Fer, a long opening climb that reaches more than 2,000 m above sea level. After a fast descent comes the familiar one-two punch of the Col du Télégraphe and the towering Col du Galibier, the highest point of this year’s Tour at 2,642 metres.

A long descent offers little chance to recover before the riders tackle the Col de Sarenne. Its steep ramps, many above 10 per cent, could be where the race explodes. From there, a short descent leads into the final uphill run toward Alpe d’Huez, where the stage will be decided.

The GC

Tadej Pogačar enters the day in complete control of the yellow jersey after dominating the race for nearly three weeks. The world champion was unbelievably strong on Saturday, making up four minutes up Alpe D’huez against some of the finest climbers in the peloton, including stage winner Richard Carapaz. Pogi took his 26th stage win–watch out Mark Cavendish, the Slovenian is coming for your record, champ.

Speaking of stage dubs, the biggest question may be whether UAE Team Emirates-XRG chases another stage victory or allows a breakaway to succeed. The team has been hit by illness and injuries, leaving Pogačar with fewer teammates than earlier in the Tour.

The podium

Remco Evenepoel is second overall, a whopping seven minutes behind Pogi. He will be focused on protecting his podium position from Isaac Del Toro, although he has a full two minutes on him. Then again, all it takes is one bad day to screw that up. Still, both riders could also seize any opportunity if Pogačar chooses not to contest the stage win. (But he will, right?) On paper,, the queen stage once again looks perfectly suited to the Slovenian. Then again, UAE may want to make sure the Mexican stays on the podium–French star Paul Seixas is only half a minute back.

You can watch Saturday’s stage on Flobikes.com and as always, check back on Canadian Cycling Magazine for a full report. Don’t forget, the Tour de France Femmes is about to begin soon too–with a bunch of Canucks racing.