Thibaut Pinot to the end of himself – Liberation

In an exceptional atmosphere, the French climber put on a show on Saturday to say goodbye to the Tour before finally being taken back and leaving the victory to Tadej Pogacar. Jonas Vingegaard will be in yellow in Paris.

A whole people. There were tens of thousands this Saturday during stage 20 in the Jura and the Vosges to chant the name of one man: Thibaut Pinot. In the Petit Ballon, the penultimate summit of the day, a bend was even dedicated to the French climber’s darling, with hundreds of people in an advanced state of ecstasy. The atmosphere was exceptional, a great moment to say goodbye to the Groupama-FDJ courier. He will retire at the end of the season and who was climbing his last peaks on the Grande Boucle.

To honor this torrent of love, Thibaut Pinot attacked very quickly, taking his place in a breakaway of around ten riders. At the bottom of the Petit Ballon, he took to their heels, passing alone in front of his chilled fans. When they discovered that he appeared alone, in front of them, their cries of joy made the mountain tremble.

The rest doesn’t matter. The big names never having left much of a lead, they ended up coming back to the most romantic of the peloton on the last pass of the Platzerwasel. General Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard’s top two, and the Tour’s most impressive climber, revelation Felix Gall, thought they were in contention for victory before the firecracker Yates brothers got back at them. In a five-man sprint, the Slovenian finally won ahead of the Austrian Felix Gall. Jonas Vingegaard, never threatened, secured his yellow jersey without any problem and will win his second Grande Boucle on Sunday in Paris.

Thibaut Pinot finishes seventh. His panache and the public did a lot for the cycling legend this Saturday. The Tour can thank them.