Nibali to win Tour de France
July 26, 2014
Nibali cemented his overall victory on Saturday after avoiding any late drama in the 20th stage of the Tour. He finished nearly two minutes slower than the dominant Martin, who clocked a time of one hour, six minutes and 21 seconds, but will cycle into Paris on Sunday with a seven minute 52 second lead.
Dutch time trial champion Tom Dumoulin was second on Saturday's stage at 1 minute 39 seconds, ahead of Czech Jan Barta at 1 minute 47 seconds.
It is a largely ceremonial ride to the Champs-Elysees Sunday, where - barring a race-ending crash - Nibali will become the first Italian winner of the Tour since Marco Pantani in 1998.
"It was not an easy time trial, it required a lot of power," said Astana rider Nibali. "I never thought about that (becoming the first Italian to win since Pantani), I'm not sure I have realized yet."
France's Jean-Christophe Peraud rose to second overall ahead of compatriot Thibaut Pinot on Saturday. It is the first time France will have two men on the podium since Laurent Fignon and Bernard Hinault finished first and second in 1984.
FDJ.fr rider Pinot was supposed to be the weakest of the three in the race, but his impressive performance saw him finish 12th on the stage and secure third.
"Near the end I was empty, the last five kilometers felt really long," he said. "I have not realized yet, I think it will sink in tomorrow."
Peraud, 37, started the day in third place overall but manage to beat the younger Pinot on the day, despite suffering a tire puncture just past the halfway point.
"It's beautiful," said a tearful Peraud after learning he finished on the podium.
His AG2R-La Mondiale teammate Romain Bardet was not so lucky. A tire puncture two kilometers from the finish line caused him to concede fifth place overall to American Tejay van Garderen.
Martin was dominant the entire stage on Saturday. By the 15 kilometer point, he had overtaken the rider who started two minutes ahead of him and four kilometers later, had a 35-second lead on the fastest man in the Tour up to that point, Barta.
dr/slk (Reuters, AFP, AP)