Cycling: The Col de la Couillole will be the last big challenge of the 2024 Tour de France. On tomorrow's queen stage, the pros will have to give it their all. Even though the overall winner seems to have already been decided, it's still about the places in the top ten - and the day's victory.
The king stage of the 2024 Tour de France
One more stage. The professionals only have one more tough stage to face in the 111th edition of the Tour de France. Tomorrow, the peloton will climb 132,8 kilometers from Nice to the Col de la Couillole. But it's not just any stage; it's the queen stage of this year's Tour, offering almost no flat sections. Four very challenging climbs await the riders: the Col de Braus, the Col de Turini, the Col de la Colmiane , and the Col de la Couillole . While a breakaway group will likely form right at the start, the sprinters will be fighting for survival against the time cut from the very beginning. It's quite possible that we'll see one or two unlucky riders eliminated from the race tomorrow, just one day before the Tour de France concludes.
Velomotion prediction: Vingegaard against Pogacar
There can really only be one winner on the Col de la Couillole. The best rider in the world dominated the Giro d'Italia in May and now the Tour de France in July. Tadej Pogacar has achieved the seemingly impossible and will deservedly crown himself Tour de France winner for the third time in his career tomorrow, wearing the yellow jersey. The Slovenian, however, must expect resistance. A large breakaway group could make life difficult for him. It remains to be seen whether Team Visma – Lease a Bike, led by Jonas Vingegaard, will launch another major attack. Either way, Tadej Pogacar – despite everything he has shown so far – is simply unstoppable. Therefore, the dominant force of this cycling season will also win the highlight of the Tour de France.
* * * Tadej pogacar (UAE)
** jonas vingegaard (Visma – Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)
* Joao almeida (UAE), Mikel Landa (Soudal – Quick Step), Adam Yates (UAE)