Tour de France Stage 20 Odds: Pinot primed for one last performance

The 133.5km route provides six of the best climbs that the Vosges has to offer and is sure to have been designed with a potential showdown between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar in mind.

Vingegaard’s dominance means that will not be the case and it may prove tough for the exhausted Pogacar to mount a challenge, with his focus potentially on helping UAE Emirates colleague Adam Yates seal a podium place.

The Brit is a minute and 16 seconds ahead of Ineos Grenadiers’ Carlos Rodriguez, who himself holds an 18-second advantage over Yates’ twin brother, Simon, who is fifth.

There is, therefore, the potential for the breakaway to succeed, and local hopes will be pinned on Thibaut Pinot given the stage is not a million miles away from his hometown, Melisey.

Thibaut Pinot @ 25/1

It is hard not to look at Pinot, who has been one of the darlings of French cycling over the last decade, perhaps due to his penchant for stealing defeats from the jaws of victory.

After a career spent mixing courageous climbing with disastrous descending, the 33-year-old is set to call time on his career at the end of the 2023 season and Saturday marks his final big chance to dazzle his home crowd.

Pinot has recorded some decent results in this year’s Tour, with three top-six finishes on his card. He has arguably been the victim of his previous success, as his compatriots in the breakaway have often been so preoccupied by curtailing his hopes that they have ended up sacrificing their own.

While the peloton may pay tribute by allowing him a chance to ride solo for a spell on the rolling cobbles of the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, it is in the high mountains where he has made his name and the Groupama FDJ man could be the rider to watch.

Tom Pidcock @ 25/1

A rider still looking to get something from the Tour is Ineos Grenadiers’ Tom Pidcock, who was again there or thereabouts on Friday but failed to convert, finishing 10th in Poligny.

The Yorkshireman was despondent in his post-race interview and may look to give it one last go on stage 20 after a mixed three weeks.

Pidcock started the Tour aiming to make an impact on the general classification. While his ambitions have not exactly been fulfilled, his presence in Friday’s break allowed him to move up to 13th in the overall standings.

However, he is still the best part of 27 minutes away from finishing in the top 10 and after winning on Alpe d’Huez in 2022, the 29-year-old will be disappointed if he does not get over the line.

There is every chance he could get in the break again in the Vosges and as the Olympic mountain bike champion, will have no concerns about the bumpy terrain that awaits.