The suspense has gone out the window for the yellow jersey but it should be close for the stage win.High Five: Tadej Pogaar tried not to win, or at least his UAE team didnt mow down the breakaway. Soudal-Quickstep did this instead, the idea was try and soften up Jonas Vingegaard. It was a rare move that couldnt fail because if he toppled Vingegaard then second place overall awaited, if not then he was still in third place given nobody threatens his podium spot; Joo Almeida is eight minutes behind. He tried two moves and got caught and countered.Jonas Vingegaard was still keen to keep Evenepoel at bay and so he towed Tadej Pogaar across to the days breakaway survivors Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz, the former starting to look ready for the Vuelta and the latter now 30 points ahead in the mountains competition so no need to worry about todays second category climb. Pogaar finished it off with a sprint in the final metres and dropped Vingegaard for his fifth stage win.The Route: 33km and hard work with an uphill start out of Monaco to Beausoleil where Ineos have their local service course. Its via a series of hairpins to La Turbie and then across to the Col dEze. The comes the corniche descent, same as used by Paris-Nice for the now classic final Nice-Nice stage but in a time trial some stress as its fast and how much to use the TT position or brake. The difference is that instead of dropping down into the finish theres still three kilometres to go, its out along the sea front Promenade des Anglais before turning back towards the line.The Contenders: six stage wins for Tadej Pogaar (UAE)? Hes been talking up this stage and theres local bragging rights for it. But what if hes not ahead by the Col dEze or just has a slim lead, is it worth risking it?Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) won the Beaujolais TT but only by 12 seconds and today has more climbing. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) is a contender if he can have a good day because he might climb faster than Evenepoel to establish a lead.Its not easy looking beyond the three podium players. This isnt a course for specialist rouleurs, besides Stefan Kng has gone home. Kvin Vauquelin (Arka-B&B) did a good ride in the previous TT and is handy on short climbs but a win would be a shock. Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) would like a much flatter course. Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull) is a specialist but also seems tired. Wout van Aert (Visma-LAB) could be a contender but hasnt looked like the force of recent years.Evenepoel, PogaarVingegaardWVA, Almeida, VauquelinWeather: cloudy and 28C with an on-shore wind.TV: reverse GC order so lanterne rouge Davide Ballerini is off at 2.40pm and Tadej Pogaar goes at 6.45pm.Postcard from 1989The last time the Tour de France ended with a time trial was 1989. Instead of the usual parade turning into a sprint, a time trial was held between the old royal palace of Versailles and the capital. It made perfect sense as this was the 200th anniversary of the French revolution. It was even better on the day as Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by 58 seconds to take back the yellow jersey by eight seconds, the closest winning margin.But if the race is famous for the narrow margin, this was only the end, the coda, the conclusion of three weeks of action. Many cite 1989 as the best edition of the race and its a subjective claim, feel free to pick 1964 or 1987 or others. It was all that happened before that was thrilling. Theres a book to be written rather than a postcard but both LeMond and Fignon were on the comeback from injury, both kept swapping the race lead throughout and if it ended in a duel third the previous years winner Pedro Delgado was closing in after a disastrous start. The revolutionary theme mattered too, it gave the race and festivities added depth.1989 was the year when tri bars made their debut. Imported from the new sport of triathlon, these handlebar extensions became famous because of LeMond who won the Rennes time trial and then the Paris final stage with them but for the record he wasnt the first to use them, the 7-Eleven team started the prologue with them with British rider Sean Yates. Fignon was beaten in part by these bars but adopted them later in the seasonThe post Tour de France Stage 21 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

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