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 pros only have to survive one more tough stage in the 111th edition of the Tour de France. Tomorrow it will take the peloton over 132,8 kilometers from Nice to the Col de la Couillole. But it is not just any section, it is the queen stage of this year's Tour de France, which has almost no flat meters. With the Col de Braus, In Col de Turini, In Col de la Colmiane and the Col de la Couillole Four very tough climbs await the riders. While the breakaway group will form right at the start of the race, the sprinters will be fighting for survival against the grace period from the very beginning. It is quite possible that tomorrow we will see one or two unlucky riders who are taken out of the race one day before the end of the Tour de France.
Velomotion prediction: Vingegaard against Pogacar
There can actually 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 impossible and will be crowned Tour winner for the third time in his career in the yellow jersey tomorrow. The Slovenian must, however, expect resistance. A large breakaway group could make life difficult for him. It is questionable whether the Visma – Lease a Bike team will be able to jonas vingegaard dares to make another major attack. Either way, Tadej Pogacar – despite everything he has shown so far – simply cannot be left behind. This is why the dominator 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)