Tour de France – Stage 19: Bonneval – Chartres

By Caelli Greenbank (Twitter @fireflycaelli) The most interesting thing about today?s time trial was the absence of the favourites.? With riders like Fabian Cancellara, Tony Martin and Sylvain Chavanel out, we got to see some of the riders who are usually only second-best stepping up to the plate on the second-last stage before the Tour reaches Paris. A much-reduced field began Stage 19 from Bonneval to Chartres, only 153 men left in the race from the 198 who started in Li?ge.? As always the lanterne rouge left the starting house first, Saur-Sojasun?s Jimmy Engoulvent once again holding the unenviable title.? The next 44 riders started one minute apart, 45^th-placed Rub?n Plaza Molina (Movistar) the first rider to start after a two-minute interval.? Argos-Shimano?s Patrick Gretsch claimed the early lead, leading through both time checks at the 14 kilometre and 30.5 kilometre marks to finish in a time of 1h06?41?. Gretsch continued to lead after American time trial Dave Zabriskie finished, the man known as ?Captain America? coming in 44? behind Gretsch to claim second place.? The German?s reign wouldn?t last much longer, though.? Despite Gretsch having bested the American champion in Zabriskie, Spanish national time trial champion Luis L?on S?nchez posted a time three seconds better than that of Gretsch at the first time check, following this up with a time 16 seconds faster at the second time check. ?An average speed of 48.6km/h helped S?nchez to finish in the leading time of 1h06?03?. S?nchez was destined to spend quite some time in the ?hot seat? of the time trial?s leading rider, none of those following quite able to dislodge the Spaniard.? Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) finished just 12 seconds behind, and Team Sky?s Richie Porte also slotted into third place, just ahead of early leader Gretsch.? The big guns were yet to come out to play, though, the day?s fastest times expected from the GC contenders who would be the last out of the blocks. The final 14 riders of the day began their time trials three minutes apart.? Young BMC rocket Tejay van Garderen had all eyes on him as he set out after his unexpected impressive fourth place performance in the Stage 9 time trial.? The 23-year-old American was the first to knock S?nchez down to second place at the first time check, but the youngster had started too fast, three places down from S?nchez after 30 kilometres, finally finishing almost three minutes down from the Spaniard. By this point the big names were out on the course, riders like Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) making one last attempt to move up in the general classification.? The weeks of racing seemed to have taken their toll, however, and in the end only two riders mattered ? Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, Sky?s deadly duo. Froome left the starting house first, topping the times at every checkpoint and finally displacing S?nchez from the hot seat by 34 seconds.? History was repeating itself; thus far the stage mimicked the earlier time trial in Besancon, and that wasn?t about to change.? Following the example set by his teammate, Wiggins became the first rider to pass inside 17? at the first time check and 37? at the second.? It came as no surprise to anyone that he topped the leaderboard on his arrival in Chartres, 1?16? ahead of Froome in a time of 1h04?13?.? The yellow jersey wearer showed the first signs of emotion in this year’s Tour, pumping his fist in the air as his Tour de France victory was assured. Wiggins remains in the yellow jersey for tomorrow?s stage into Paris, his lead now 3?21? over Froome in the general classification, the stage set for the first British winner of the Tour de France.? Thomas Voeckler will keep the King of the Mountains jersey in the absence of any more points in the classification, while Peter Sagan has an unassailable lead in the green jersey competition, regardless of the outcome of the Champs-?lys?es sprint.? Radioshack has also retained its lead over Sky in the teams classification, while Tejay van Garderen has a secure lead over Thibaut Pinot in the young riders? classification that doesn?t look to be disturbed on Stage 20.? Tomorrow, the final stage of the Tour, will arrive in Paris with a sprint finish.? Mark Cavendish will be looking to claim a third victory for Sky, and Matt Goss will be seeking Orica-GreenEDGE?s elusive stage win one last time, while Andre Greipel and Peter Sagan will be hoping to add to their Tour stage totals as well.? Whichever way the sprint goes, it?s guaranteed to be one worthy of the occasion of rounding out the 99^th Tour de France.