Jonas Vingegaard has all but secured his first Tour de France win and the Maillot à pois. Wout Van Aert’s Green jersey complete an absolutely brillant race from Jumbo-Visma. Ineos Grenadiers can be proud if Geraint Thomas third place and the overall team classification. Finally Tadej Pogacar has nothing to be ashamed of. He was simply beaten fair and square by the better rider.
Stage 21 preview
Nothing new to say about this stage that has marked the end of the Tour de France for more than 30 years.
Against all odds, mine even more, all sprinters have survived the mountains, illness and crashes for this final showdown.
The sprinters want their chances and they will be doing all to get it. However with many of them missing men and a lack of cooperation between the main teams, no mistake should be done in chasing the hopeful breakaways.
Stage 21 predictions
★☆☆☆☆ Matteo Jorgenson; Fred Wright; Quinn Simmons; Benjamin Thomas; Nick Schultz
This is a list of riders that have continuously entertained us in the last 3 weeks with their brave aggressive rides. A win from any of them will not be displease many.
★★☆☆☆ Stefan Küng, Filippo Ganna, Valentin Madouas, Luis Leon Sanchez, Bob Jungels; Simon Geschke, Hugo Houle
The non exhaustive list of riders that do not have a sprinter to bring to the finish and will be attacking and attacking again in the finale.
★☆☆☆☆ Peter Sagan
Even his greatest fans are realistic about his chances of winning this stage, but it Sagan we are talking of and he could still do something unexpected
★☆☆☆☆ Alexander Kristoff
He has a very solid team to lead him out but he just seems a mile behind the best. He nevertheless deserve a shout out for laboring himself out a terrible last week
★★☆☆☆ Bauke Mollema, Matej Mohoric; Stefan Bissegger, Alberto Bettiol
The foxes of the peloton that you bet you lives on that they will be trying something at one point too
★★☆☆☆ Mads Pedersen
He did finished second to Sam Bennett 2 years ago with his world champion jersey and he has one of the most solid train on the day. He however has been battling stomach issues for the past days. Also, he does not have the explosive power of the best boys and will have to start much earlier if he wants to win.
★★☆☆☆ Christophe Laporte
After taking the first French win of the Tour, will Wout Van Aert lead him down the most famous avenue in the world? Very unlikely.
★★☆☆☆ Amaury Capiot and Hugo Hoffstetter
The Arkea Samsic have shown their nose 2 days ago meaning the hunger and form is here. It however takes even more to win the most famous sprint on the planet.
★★★☆☆ Tadej Pogacar
His sprint to the 3rd place on Friday suggest he is willing to end this Tour de France 2022 with something explosive. He could be in the mix for a sprint but his greatest chance of a win could come from a long range effort…
★★★☆☆ Caleb Ewan
The Australian has had a Tour full of events. While making it to Paris is an achievement in itself for the man, he will want more. He is suffering from not having a proper lead out train, but the talent and hunger is here.
★★★★☆ Wout Van Aert
Where does this man stop? He will want that 4th stage win. The only thing separating him is that raw power that the top sprinters possess.
★★★★☆ Jasper Philipsen
The belgian and his team do not need to do much to get in the fold. Come the last 5 kms, he will be easily brought up. He has the one of the fastest top gear and the world best bike throw as asset. He just need to be properly placed.
★★★★☆ Dylan Groenewegen
His team has been absolutely scintillating in this Tour de France 2022 and they will rightly bring him to the fold. It will be just up to him to put the cherry on top with a great sprint power!
★★★★☆ Alberto Dainese
With Caleb Ewan, he is one of those not to have won yet. The young Italian is coming hot in. He has a VERY good sprint train around him, has a good burst of speed and is the definitely one to watch!
★★★★★ Fabio Jakobsen
Many will argue that he will miss Morkov and that the legs are not the same after 3 weeks. He nevertheless remains the fastest man on a bike and has developed a formidable partnership with another in form man, French Champion, Florian Senechal who will lead him out.
As I close this chapter on this formidable Tour de France 2022, I would like to thank the team of cycling.today for this opportunity and all the avid readers for their support. It has been such an honour for me to bring you the previews for this year’s Tour.
