Perigeux: Tears were aplenty at the Tour de France after the penultimate stage, a 54km time trial, that – barring disaster - assured two local riders would ride into Paris for Sunday’s finale with places on the podium awaiting them.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The tears were not those of Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), the overall race leader who is now just one stage away from winning the three week race for the first time.
The 29 year-old was entitled to unleash such open emotion, but the tears were those of the French who will see one of their own stand on the podium for the first time since 1997 when Richard Virenque placed second behind German Jan Ullrich.
Even better for French fans who have been starved of success in the Tour - the last French Tour winner was Bernard Hinault in 1985 - is that Sunday will mark the first time since 1984 that two Frenchmen will make the podium.
That year Frenchman Laurent Fignon won the Tour for the second of two times in his career, beating Hinault and third placed American Greg LeMond.
On Sunday, stepping up to the podium with Nibali will be Frenchmen Jean Christophe Peraud (Ag2r), up one place to second, and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) who dropped first to third.
Nibali will now lead the three week Tour into Sunday’s final stage -137.5km from Evry to Paris - with an overall lead of 7m 52s on Peraud and 8m 24s on Pinot.
After realising he had taken second spot overall, Peraud, 37, could not hold back his emotion and cried as he leaned against the wire fenced barriers on his right.
“It’s beautiful,” Peraud told French TV before again being overcome with tears.
Then when he was asked again for comment, he said: “I can’t find the words.”
Meanwhile, nearby, Marc Madiot, the team manager of Pinot, was also in tears.
Saturday’s time trial on an undulating course from Bergerac to Perigueux was won by the world champion in the discipline, German Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).
Martin, who won stage nine to Mulhouse, took out the time trial that was raced in hot and sunny conditions in 1h 6m 21s.
He beat Frenchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Shimano) by 1m 39s, and Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura) of the Czeck Republic, by 1m 47s.
Nibali placed fourth on the stage at 1m 58s to Martin, while from his two nearest challengers, Peraud took seventh place at 2m 27s, while Pinot was 12th at 3m 12s.
Nibali can now look forward to savouring his last and most important day in yellow that will end in Paris, knowing he has an insurmountable lead on his rivals.
“I haven't thought about my place in the history yet, just to give my all to arrive to this point,” Nibali said on Saturday.
“I'll have to look back after I stop off on the podium in Paris. I just want to win, I enjoy riding my bike. That's what pleased me.”
Best Australian was Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEDGE) in 19th place at 3m 38s.
Durbridge, racing in the Tour for the first time, went into the stage with an open mind.
But his sports director Matt White said he was happy with how he took the race on.
A finish by Durbridge in Paris will be his second in a grand tour after last year’s Giro d’Italia. He did not finish the Giro this year due to a broken collarbone that he sustained in a crash that required surgery and rehabilitation before the Tour.
“The results show that a stage 20 time trial is a lot different to a time trial in the first week,” White said.
“After almost 3,500km of racing, it shows who is fresher and who is not.
“It’s only his second grand tour [finish]. He has never done a time trial like this after 20 days.
“It will be good experience for him.”
