Jonas Vingegaard seals Tour de France victory with impressive time trial

Danish rider takes second ahead of Tadej Pogacar to consolidate overall lead going into ceremonial last day

Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard reacts as he crosses the finish line after stage 20. Reuters

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard with his wife Trine Hansen and their child Frida celebrate after the 20th stage of the Tour de France. AP

Jonas Vingegaard cycles past the town of Rocamadour during the 20th stage of the Tour de France between Lacapelle-Marival and Rocamadour. AFP

Jonas Vingegaard crosses the finish line. AFP

Stage winner Wout Van Aert of Jumbo-Visma reacts after he crosses the finish line. EPA

Jumbo-Visma team's Belgian rider Wout Van Aert wearing the sprinter's green jersey cycles past the town of Rocamadour. AFP

UAE Team Emirates' Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar wearing the best young rider's white jersey cycles to the finish line. AFP

Jonas Vingegaard will claim the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday after another impressive performance in Saturday's time trial, the last competitive day of the event.

Having taken the yellow jersey at the end of stage 11, the Danish rider hasn’t looked back, countering every challenge thrown at him by UAE Team Emirates' defending champion Tadej Pogacar.

Vingegaard consolidated his position at the front by finishing second behind his Jumbo-Visma teammate Wout van Aert in the 20th and penultimate stage, the 40.7km individual time trial from Lacapelle-Marival to Rocamadour.

Pogacar rode well against the clock but finished third and lost a further eight seconds to Vingegaard, and now trails the Dane by three minutes and 34 seconds ahead of a ceremonial final day.

Briton Geraint Thomas crossed the finishing line in fourth to remain third in the standings. Frenchman David Gaudo held on to his fourth spot while Borah-hansgrohe’s Aleksandr Vlasov climbed to fifth.

Van Aert’s success was Jumbo-Visma’s third stage victory in a row by three different riders, and overall, their sixth across the 20 stages.

“I'm emotional, winning this Tour de France with this team is very special, and it's like a dream scenario,” Van Aert said.

“Jonas is such a strong guy and specially a good guy. I want to thank all my teammates, the whole team for this special three weeks.

“I'm super-tired after three weeks. I gave it all today. I want to win races and take this stage. Also, that Jonas could secure his yellow. He has such a big heart, he's a special guy.”

Van Aert’s win was his third stage victory and the Belgian added: “It was a very hard course, you had to keep something back for the last six kilometres.

“I measured my strength well and it was special coming up the last climb to this pretty village. So yes, it's again a great day.”

Stage 20 result

1. Wout van Aert (BEL) Jumbo-Visma 47min 59sec

2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Jumbo-Visma +19

3. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates +27

4. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers +32

5. Filippa Ganna (ITA) (Ineos Grenadiers) +42

General classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Jumbo-Visma 76hrs 33min 57sec

2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates +3:34

3. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers +8:13

4. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama FDJ +13:56

5. Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-hansgrohe +16:37