The showdown! All things being equal (and even with a few inequalitites) the individual time trial should provide a great spectacle at the end of a gruelling three weeks - Armstrong thrives in this race against the clock, and his dominance is well documented. But if we have a situation like 2003, this could be the clincher for the leader going into the stage, or it could provide the challenger with a whisker of hope. Here's hoping the weather stays fine and we get Ullrich out firing and witness Basso's improvement in time trialling, which has also been well-documented. The distance suits Armstrong, but the undulating terrain suits Ullrich's ability to push the big gears and power along. A surprise may be in the works, but chances are it'll come down to these two, regardless of where they are on GC - but it's also likely they'll both be at the pointy end of the field.
-
Tour de France Femmes 2026: All the yellow cards, fines, and penalties after a stage 7 where pee and sticky bottles sanctions dominated
Expensive nature breaks for Demi Vollering and two FDJ United-SUEZ teammates -
Volta a Portugal: Santiago Mesa awarded stage 2 victory in photo-finish sprint
Rui Oliveira maintains overall race lead -
'I really should have closed the gap straight away' – Demi Vollering harbours Mont Ventoux regrets as Niewiadoma-Phinney soars into Tour de France Femmes lead
'Until the finish line in Nice, all is possible' says FDJ directeur sportif Nicolas Maire -
No fairytale Mont Ventoux comeback for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot as team still without answers on underwhelming Tour de France Femmes
'Looking at last year's programme and this year's programme doesn't give us any insight for this moment, but we will do it, of course, afterwards' says team manager Rutger Thijssen
