Tour de France Stage 20: preview, live blog, and updates

The Tour de France enters its final piece, with Stage 20 seeing at 54km time trial for the riders. Join us for live updates from 10pm AEST.

Sitting up into the wee small hours watching a three week cycling race is exhausting for Australian cycling fans. All too often those of us who call this great land in the southern hemisphere home will consider the time trials an extra rest day and hit he hay early, trying to reclaim some of that long, lost sleep.

If that is you then all I can say is that beg you, I beseech you, don’t do that tonight.

Yes, tonight’s 54 km time trial from Bergerac to Périgueux will not decide who rides home in yellow tomorrow, all barring the unthinkable, of course.

No, tonight’s time trial will entertain us in two different ways.

Firstly, we will be witness to the great Tony Martin, who will once again educate us to the mastery of the discipline that is the race against the clock. Prior to this year’s Tour de France, the German had won two ITT stages in the most famous of the three Grand Tours, in 2011 and 2013.

For the first time this year he won a stage of the Tour de France that was not an ITT when he soloed to victory on Stage 9, from Gérardmer to Mulhouse.

Can he win a second stage? I say “yes”.

He is the clear favourite for tonight’s stage.

The other aspect of tonight’s time trial that should keep us enthralled is the battle for the minor placings on the podium.

Thibaut Pinot is sitting in second place on the GC. Countryman, Jean-Christophe Péraud is another 13 seconds back in third place and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde is 15 seconds behind Pinot.

The battle for second is on.

Whilst Pinot is not known for his time trialing, he is quoted on the official Tour de France website as saying, “I like time trialing” and he did finish in ninth place on the ITT stage of this year’s Tour de Suisse. He finished this stage +1’13” behind stage winner, Tony Martin. Interestingly, in this stage of the Tour de Suisse, Ton Dumoulin finished 22 seconds behind Martin and came second on the stage. He may also do well today.

Pinot won’t be battling it out for stage honours today, but he will be in a battle to stay on the podium.

Jean-Christope Péraud is considered a little better at the ITT than Pinot. He will be looking to make up his 13 second deficit to his fellow Frenchman. He will also be hoping to put last year’s final week time trial behind him, when he crashed out of the race on a slippery descent with a broken collarbone.

Then there is of course, Alejandro Valverde. In what is most likely his last attempt at the Tour de France, the Spaniard will be wanting to get back onto the second step of the podium.

He also won the Spanish National Championship in the ITT this year, beating Jon Izagirre.

Aussie cycling fans will also have the bonus of watching Orica GreenEdge’s and former Australian Time Trial Champion, Luke Durbridge in action tonight. In his first Tour de France appearance, Durbridge has essentially been waiting some 20 odd stages to get out there and show off his time trialing skills. Just another reason to make sure you’re watching tonight’s stage.

This battle for the podium, along with the mastery of Tony Martin should keep us well and truly glued to our TV screens tonight.

But, what about the course, I hear you say?

The ITT will begin in Bergerac and will travel along country roads, through forests and end 54 kilometres later at Périgueux.

After three weeks of racing, it will be interesting to see how the riders cope with this course. It’s an undulating course but none of the climbs are excessively steep.

The first intermediate time check comes at Beleymas, 19 kilometres in after the riders have made their way up a small climb to Lagudal.

The second on course time check is at Font-de-Meaux, after 39 kilometres of racing and this is once again at an uphill part of the course.

There are some tricky little descents scattered throughout the course and the last two kilometres will be testing as riders will need to navigate some roundabouts and tricky corners. The final 300 metres are flat.

Join me from 10pm AEST for all of the coverage of the penultimate stage of the 2014 Tour de France.