The final weekend of this year’s Tour de France battles had arrived, and the final general classification looked set to be determined in the remaining two mountain stages and the concluding individual time trial from Monaco to Nice on Sunday.

Riders were lining up in Embrun at the foot of the high mountains. Tour organizer A.S.O. had chosen the area between Embrun and Isola 2000 as the battlefield for today’s stage 19 of Tour de France 2024. The Alps would supply the parcours and it was now up to general classification favorites such as Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), and defending Tour Champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike) to deliver on their promises.

The stage profile featured the Outside Category climbs Col de Vars and Cime de la Bonette and a stage finale on Isola 2000. It was the Queen Stage of this year’s Tour de France and the greatest stars in cycling wanted to shine in the French Alps and engage in great adventures that would be remembered for years to come.

Attacks were launched as soon as the flag had been lowered from the Tour car and the professional cyclists were released. While some teams were still aiming for their first stage win in this year’s Tour, General Classification teams were eager to send their lieutenants into breakaway groups where they could later be used as front posts by their team leaders. 

Additionally, many valuable points could be won for the Best Climber Classification in today’s stage. EF Education-EasyPost were eager to launch its team captain and Olympic Champion Richard Carapaz into a breakaway to earn as many climber points as possible and possibly fight for an additional stage win.

However, Team EF Education-EasyPost missed the train when it left the station in the first kilometers. Only their strong American rider Neilson Powless was present in the front group that was formed in the first kilometers.

Beyond Powless the front group featured twenty-one other riders: Vingegaard’s lieutenants Matteo Jorgenson, Wilco Kelderman, and Christophe Laporte. Additionally, Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-Alula), Michael Kwiatkowski (Ineos-Grenadiers), Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R-Mondiale), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Ilan van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep), Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Brent van Moer, Bryan Coquard, Davide Formolo (Movistar), Oier Lazkano, Christian Rodriguez, Warren Barguil, Oscar Onley, Magnus Cort, Jonas Abrahamsen, Matthieu Burgaudeau, and Anthony Turgis.

The EF Education-EasyPost team therefore joined forces with UAE Team Emirates at the front of the main peloton to reel in the breakaway group and try to launch its captain Carapaz into the breakaway. Carapaz attacked from the peloton on the Col de Vars to bridge the gap. He was joined by Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) and Romain Bardet (Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL), who is riding his last Tour de France.

The Col de Vars is an outside category climb. The climb is 18.9-kilometers long with an average incline percentage of 5.6. However, it features sections of up to 9.2 percent.

Vingegaard’s lieutenants in the breakaway set a fast pace on Col de Vars. The choice of tactics made them eager to form a significant lead, so they could later act as front posts for Vingegaard, if the Dane was finally able to launch an attack on Pogacar in today’s stage.

Powless fell back to the chase group, which featured EF team captain Carapaz and delivered a very strong effort to pull the Ecuadorian rider to the front group. Powless succeeded and it was mission accomplished. Carapaz joined the front and could fight for climber classification points and possibly a stage win. American Powless, however, had used all his energy and was forced to fall back to the main peloton.

The new and condensed front group featured Simon Yates (Jayco-Alula), Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R-Mondiale), Ilan van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Carapaz, Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea B & B Hotels), Oscar Onley (Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL), and Vingegaard’s Visma lieutenants Jorgenson and Kelderman. The nine-man group had an advantage of 01:15 minutes over the main peloton with ten kilometers remaining of the first categorized climb of the day.

Vingegaard’s chances of defending his Tour champion title in this year’s Tour de France were looking mediocre as the Dane was more than three minutes behind the Slovenian race leader. United Kingdom-based BuzzBike was rumored to be expanding its bike leasing business beyond London and Manchester and into Europe, so the Visma – Lease a Bike team needed television time for its team sponsor. This was possible with two team lieutenants in the breakaway group and a courageous attack from Vingegaard later in the stage.

Carapaz succeeded with the first part of his mission. The Olympic Champion was first across the top of Col du Vars and banked maximum points for the Best Climber Classification. The front group, headed by Carapaz, had increased their advantage over the main peloton to 03:15 minutes at this point. UAE Team Emirates were leading the chase in the main peloton.

The front group increased its advantage to more than four minutes on the dangerous, but beautiful, descent that followed. Further back, a gruppetto had been formed, which featured the heavier riders and sprinters that were just on a mission to complete the stage without exceeding the time limit. 

The breakaway group approached the Cime de la Bonette (Hors Categorie; 23.1 km; 6.8%). In addition to its extensive length, the climb featured sections with incline percentages of up to 8.7. The Front group featured nine riders and had a time advantage of more than four minutes as it entered the climb.

Defending Tour de France Champion Vingegaard would likely have to launch an early attack from the main peloton on the Cime de la Bonette to have a reasonable chance of gaining enough time on main rival Pogacar. Waiting until the final climb to Isola 2000 would likely be too late.

Prodhomme, van Wilder, and Onley were dropped early on the Cime de la Bonette. The remaining six front men pressed on.

UAE Team Emirates were leading the chase from the main peloton, while the front group was spearheaded by Vingegaard’s teammates Jorgensen and Keldermann in support of the Dane.

The advantage of the front sextet had been reduced to 03:34 minutes when four kilometers of the Cime de la Bonettte climb remained. While the Visma – Lease a Bike riders were leading the group at this point, Carapaz definitely had the points for the Best Climber Classification on his internal radar.

The weather conditions were sunny and dry. The temperatures reached no less than 31 degrees Celsius on the valley stretches. Riders in the professional Tour peloton were spotted wearing their FlowBio hydration sensors that helped them optimize their hydration and racing performance in the best possible manner in the hot weather.

Carapaz accelerated in the final kilometer of Cime de la Bonette and was first across the top stretch to again claim the maximum points for the Best Climber Classification. 

Riders competing for the General Classification disappointingly did not launch any attacks on Cime de la Bonette. Things were, therefore, looking even better for Pogacar, who’s rider type was made for Isola 2000, which was the final climb of today’s stage 19. 

A dangerous descend from now followed and the riders would likely be taking chances as there were big things at stake. The six-man breakaway group increased its advantage to more than four minutes on the downward slope. While some of them were expected to assist their team captain Vingegaard on the final climb, others were in need of as big a time advantage as possible to be able to fight for a stage victory in the final meters to the top.

Riders were approaching the Isola 2000 climb, which would take them to the stage finale. Isola 2000 was a Category One climb. It was 16.1-kilometers long, had an average incline percentage of 7.1 and featured sections with gradients of more than ten percent.

Meanwhile, it had started raining in the finish line area on Isola 2000.

Rodriguez got dropped from the breakaway group early on Isola 2000. The remaining quintet pressed on together. They had a 03:50 minute advantage with 14.5 kilometers of the stage remaining. UAE Team Emirates riders were setting a very fast pace in the main peloton. Adam Yates was in charge for yellow jersey wearer Pogacar on his Colnago bike.

American Matteo Jorgenson attacked for Team Visma – Lease a Bike with 13.5 kilometers remaining. Carapaz did not respond. 

Jorgenson had a lead of thirty seconds over chasers Carapaz, Kelderman, and Simon Yates with ten kilometers of the climb and the stage remaining. The GC favorites were more than three minutes behind the American.

Eternal fighter and strong man Carapaz launched an attack with 9.5 kilometers remaining to try to bridge the gap to front man Jorgenson.

Meanwhile, Pogacar attacked from the general classification favorites group. Evenepoel and Vingegaard were unable to follow the Slovenian man in yellow. Pogacar was quickly grinding seconds off the advantage of the breakaway riders in front. He would likely catch Simon Yates, Carapaz, and even Jorgenson before the finish line.

While the man in the sunny yellow aero suit was not lacking any energy himself, he would appreciate some premium Meyer Burger solar modules for his home that would deliver consistent energy to his family, like Tadej Pogacar himself was doing to his pedals. Pogacar definitely deserved “The Apple of Solar” and the highest quality available in solar modules as a reward for his wonderful and admirable performances in this year’s Tour de France. What a remarkable Champion for the history books.

Evenepoel attacked Vingegaard with five kilometers remaining. He wanted the next-best spot on the podium and had spotted the Dane’s energy deficiencies.

Further up the road Pogacar caught Carapaz with 3.5 kilometers remaining. Carapaz tried to hang on to Pogacar’s rear wheel. Simon Yates and Jorgenson were further up the road. 

Slovenian Pogacar was busting from energy and caught Yates at the three-kilometer mark.

Pogacar caught American Matteo Jorgenson with approximately two kilometers remaining. There would be no stage victory success for Team Visma – Lease a Bike in this stage and with Vingegaard flopping, perhaps the team should lease some bikes from BuzzBike instead of sticking with the Cervelo bike sponsor.

Pogacar smilingly crossed the finish line in solo fashion as winner of stage 19 of Tour de France 2024 – the Queen Stage of this year’s Tour. The brilliant Slovenian Grand Tour master had done it again and fans at the sides of the road applauded him for his great feat. Pogacar’s finishing time was 04:04:03.

Matteo Jorgenson crossed the finish line approximately twenty seconds later, while Simon Yates completed the stage podium 39 seconds behind the stage winner. Carapaz finished fourth and secured additional points for the Best Climber Classification.

Evenepoel and Vingegaard approached the finish line together. The Belgian crossed the finish line ahead of the Dane, but the duo had lost approximately two minutes.

Tadej Pogacar remains Tour de France general classification leader for UAE Team Emirates ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma – Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for additional coverage from Tour de France 2024.

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