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Tour de France 2019: Stage 20

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Hello and welcome to our full live coverage of stage 20.   

Unfortunately it is not good news. There are more rainstorms in the Alps today and there are serious concerns that even the shortened stage may not go ahead. 

The conditions have worsened since this photo was taken at the finish in Val Thorens.

It is actually dry in Albertville for the start of the stage but raining hard in the valley and on the long stage to Val Thorens. 

According to latest reports, technical director Thierry Gouvenou has said the stage will go ahead. 

Meanwhile the Jumbo-Visma team have confirmed that the UCI race judges have corrected the times and GC for stage 19 after an appeal by the Dutch team.

From the CN blimp we can see the publicity caravan move through the start but race organisers have confirmed that the many publicity vehicles will go on to Val Thorens due to the risk of bad weather. 

The Tour de France technical staff at the start have explained that the stage will go ahead despite concerns of storms later on the 33km climb to Val Thorens.  

It seems that a window of better weather could help the riders avoid the worst of the storms. 

We're just over an hour to start of the stage and riders will soon start to sign on.

First to sign on is Richie Porte of Trek.

To better understand why and how today's stage will change due to a load slide and the risk of storms, click here for the full story.   

Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo) signs on early and talks briefly.

Before the hectic final yesterday, the stage saw the dramatic and emotional abandon of Thibaut Pinot due to a thigh muscle injury. 

More and more riders are signing on.

The roads are dry in Albertville as the riders sign on and the roads are drying out on the way to Val Thorens.

Around 80 of the 155 left in the Tour are still to sign on.

Here comes the new yellow jersey as Ineos sign on. 

Bernal spoke briefly on the podium. 

Cyclingnews has three reporters on the ground at the Tour de France: Editor in chief Daniel Benson, Features Editor Patrick Fletcher and Tour de France veteran and Spanish expert Alasdair Fotheringham. 

Peter Sagan signs on and talks about yesterday's stage. He is now mathematically the winner of a record-breaking seventh green jersey if he makes it to the finish in Paris. 

Here comes Alaphilippe, today no longer in yellow.

Asked if he is dreaming of taking back yellow by going on the attack, Loulou said: 

We're just 12 minutes away from the stage start!

59km remaining from 59km

The riders face 3.1km of neutralised riding.

Here's Egan Bernal in yellow. 

This was the shot of the riders lined up at the start in Albertville. 

59km remaining from 59km

Magnus Cort Nielsen is on the move.

The Italian TV commentator in question is Riccardo 'Magro' Magrini. 

Other riders are going after him.

53km remaining from 59km

From the rear of the peloton, TV spot a sporting handshake between Julian Alaphilippe and new race leader Egan Bernal.

51km remaining from 59km

47km remaining from 59km

Other riders are trying to come across.

The riders are in the valley road that heads from Albertville to Moutiers. From there they face the 33km climb up to the finish.   

This screen grab shows the Alaphilippe-Bernal hand shake.

38km remaining from 59km

The two attacks have come together to make a big group. 

35km remaining from 59km

33km remaining from 59km

Wellens and De Gendt are trying to get across to go for the KOM polka-dot jersey.

40-30-24-20-16-12-8-4 will be awarded at the finish at Val Thorens.

As the climb to Val Thorens kicks in, the break has split.

Périchon and Turgis attacked and now Nibali and Zakarin join them. 

30km remaining from 59km

30km remaining from 59km

George Bennett is covered in bandages but still riding hard for Jumbo. 

The sun is out now and so the TV helicopters are flying and sending out great images.

The lower slopes are fast and so Nibali, Gallopin, Zakarin and Woods have formed up front. 

The climb is a constant series of snaking hairpins.

236km remaining from 59km

Daniel Benson sent us this shot from the finish. The risk of bad weather seems to be gone.

24km remaining from 59km

Nibali, Gallopin, Zakarin, Pichon and Woods are driving hard but the speed is high behind.   

This is today's finish line. Whoever leads the Tour de France here will surely be crowned the winner on Sunday in Paris. 

There are 40 or so riders left in the GC peloton as Van Baarle takes over from Jumbo and Bennett. 

Alaphilippe is still there. 

20km remaining from 59km

19km remaining from 59km

This is the full 33.4km climb. 

Bennett does one last surge and moves off. His work is done even if 18km of the climb remain.

17km remaining from 59km

Mollema is out, Porte is going out too. Aru is fighting to hang on.

The GC peloton is lined-out due to the high speed. 

15km remaining from 59km

There are hundreds of Colombian fans at the finish today.

Perichon is dropped from the attack.  

13km remaining from 59km

He could lose his podium spot now.

12km remaining from 59km

Nibali is alone off the front. 

Enric Mas is trying to pace Alaphilippe but he is losing time 

Bardet is with him and so he could also lose the polka-dot KOM jersey.

It could be another tragic day for the French riders.

11km remaining from 59km

This is Egan Bernal, he's gone for a full yellow look. 

9km remaining from 59km

This screen grab shows the huge effort De Plus is making. 

8km remaining from 59km

7km remaining from 59km

6km remaining from 59km

6km remaining from 59km

Simon Yates accelerates from the group. Barguil too. The GC guys will let them go to chase a stage victory. 

Simon Yates is chasing the stage victory and the polka-dot jersey.

Quintana accelerates too. He's chasing another win.

5km remaining from 59km

his lead is down to 45 seconds.

4km remaining from 59km

Quintana is pulled back bu now Marc Soler tries to go clear of the GC group.

The fans along the road are cheering Alaphilippe along but he's losing time. 

3km remaining from 59km

Soler is pulled back. It's Nibali versus the GC group. 

2km remaining from 59km

Gregor Mühlberger is leading the GC group, to help Bora teammate Buchmann moved past Alaphilippe on the GC. 

1km remaining from 59km

Landa kicks from the GC group. Where's he going? 

250m for Nibali.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain) hits the line and wins the stage in Val Thorens.

He points to the sky. 

Valverde brings home the chasers.

Just behind Thomas pats Bernal on the back as they cross the line. 

It's a sign of victory and respect from one teammate to another.  

Bernal has extended his race lead and will ride into Paris on Sunday to be crowned the winner of the 2019 Tour de France.

Here comes Alaphilippe. He finishes 3:17 down on Nibali and so drops to sixth overall. 

Bardet also finishes but his KOM polka-dot jersey is probably safe.

The new GC shows Alaphilippe down to fifth, at 3:45 on Bernal.  

Thomas grabbed Bernal's hand as they approached the finish and then patted him on the back. Bernal clenched his first and celebrated his moment.

This is the stage result. 

This is the new General Classification after stage 20:

Peter Sagan finishes 15 down but secures his seventh green jersey. He waves to the crowd ad of course, pulls a wheelie.   

Before the podium ceremony, Bernal hugs and celebrates with his partner and his father. 

Here's Bernal in yellow.

Bernal waves to the crowd from the podium. no tears today  but he's emotional and happy.  

Bernal also pulls on the white jersey as best Under 25 rider. 

Bernal also finished second in KOM competition. Bardet lost time but held onto the jersey.

Vincenzo Nibali spoke about his stage win.

Nibali crashed out of last year's Tour, suffering a vertebrae fracture but fought to return. He finished second at the Giro d'Italia but still rode the Tour. 

This is the moment Nibali won the stage.

Bernal has given Ineos their first Tour victory. with Thomas finishing second.

This is the moment that Thomas and Bernal celebrated together.

This shot is from behind the podium.

Bernal spoke after pulling on his second yellow jersey. 

Bernal added: "The last climb was very hard. Jumbo-Visma made the race hard because they wanted to finish on the podium but I felt good and was well placed."

Here's a different shot of the moment  Thomas and Bernal celebrated together.

Thomas had promised to help Berlan and kept his word, celebrating a 1-2 for Team Ineos. 

Thomas also spoke about the stage.

On what's next, he said: 

While Bernal, Thomas and Kruijswijk celebraated their podium places, this was the pain Alaphilippe endured as he fought to limit his losses. 

Alaphilippe has still to speak about missing out on a podium place but he will no doubt be gutted after all the fihgting and racing. Of course he can be very proud of what he has done in the last three weeks. 

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was happy to secure a seventh green jersey.

As the dust settles on the stage and the Alps, the Colombian fans are celebrating. They're here with Xiomy Guerrero - Bernal's girlfriend.

Dave Brailsford of Team Ineos was understandably happy to see Bernal and Thomas finish 1-2 in the Tour de France.

 

 

 

Regarding Egan Bernal Brailsford said:

For more reaction from riders and managers, click here for our finish line quotes page. 

To read out full stage report and to see a huge photo gallery and full results, click here. 

Our reporters in Val Thorens will have more exclusive interviews, features and analysis later on before the Tour heads to Paris on Sunday.

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