Quel est lcart? whats the gap? Dorian Godon asks the driver of the broom wagon, the last vehicle on the Tour de France route, essentially the pelotons backstop. Fall behind it and youre out.Six minutes, Stphane Bezault, the man who drives the Tours most feared vehicle, replies. Godon bows his head. He takes another bidon from Bezault, drinks a splash of it, and pours the rest over his head. Its only 19C, nothing like the infernal heat of week one, but hes suffering like a dog.Godons still got 15km left to the top of the Col du Galibier, one of cyclings hardest and highest climbs. And hes bereft of support from his Netcompany-Ineos teammates. Hes got a mountain to climb literally and metaphorically. His Tour de France participation is so cruelly hanging in the balance on the penultimate stage.But hes not alone. Luigi from Super Mario pushes him up the 8% gradients for 50 metres. Ditto a man dressed head to toe in polka dot. Three young men dressed in hot pants follow suit. Likewise three young men dressed far less revealingly.This is Godons solo battle against the broom wagon, but the tens of thousands of fans by the roadside, many of whom recognise Godon for being the French champion until just one month ago, are with him every slow, sluggish, weary pedal stroke. It takes an entire mountain to resist the broom wagon.But even the broom wagon, that most anxiety-inducing of vans for cyclists, is here to help. Thanks to this white van, the Frenchman will make it to Paris it will not scoop him up in a ball of anguish and heartache.Others wont be so lucky on stage 20, however.A century of collecting stragglers(Image credit: Future)The broom wagon, or voiture balai in French, has been in the Tour since 1910. Its only role is to collect the dropouts. Whether through injury, illness or fatigue, if a rider cant go on anymore, the white Volkswagen sponsored by a window and skylight company, Velux, is there to sweep up the oft-distraught stragglers.Once upon a time there was, but nowadays there is no broom. But the name, and legend, lives on. What there are spaces for are several bikes, two empty seats next to me, and a commissaire from the French cycling federation whos more interested in eating his mid-morning burger and hot dog than actually policing misdemeanours (and boy are there many).This year 13 riders have been mopped up by Bezault, the driver of the Tours broom wagon since 2017. Although its rarer and rarer that a rider actually gets into the van these days (they typically hop into a waiting team car or persist to the finish, even if theyre outside the time cut) it does still happen. Hence the vans continued presence. And stage 20, the queen stage of the 2026 edition, poses a far greater threat to the pelotons backmarkers.5,600 of elevation metres, three HC climbs, and the possibility of thunderstorms. The gruppetto the collection of riders, mostly sprinters, at the back of the race will have the spectre of the voiture balai hanging over them up and over the high Alps.Two quit in half-an-hourAckermann was in tears when he quit the race (Image credit: Future)On the lower slopes of the Col de la Croix de Fer, the days torment begins for the races biggest bodies. Aaron Gate, the races oldest debutant at 35, is pedalling squares, and hes only done 10km. His XDS Astana teammate Davide Ballerini, no stranger to seeing the broom wagon in his rear view mirror, drops back and helps him. The pair each take aero bottles from their teams soigneurs. Given their speed, its like a cruel, ironic joke.But Gate and Ballerini will find a second wind. 35 riders will finish after them on Alpe dHuez. Thats how this race ebbs and flows, and even more so in the third week.Pascal Ackermann, out of nowhere, takes their place at the rear of the race. His head is bowed and his legs are like jelly. Just 22km into the 171km stage, he grinds to a halt halfway up the Croix de Fer. He gently puts his bike down on the road, and sits down. The tears are next to fall. Hes abandoning. His Jayco AlUla sports directors, Mat Hayman and Steve Cummings, step out of their car and console him. But theyre unable to. Still the tears flow for Ackermann.Space is cleared for him in the Volkswagen van. He is pointed towards the middle seat, to take up position next to myself, but he opts to ride back down the mountain and to his teams bus. When he gets there, hes met by German broadcaster ARD. Hes still crying. I was simply at my absolute limit the last two days, he says through sniffles. I just couldnt get going anymore. My legs were empty. My big goal was to reach Paris. I didnt manage that and Im pretty disappointed.Theres no sigh, no distress, no sympathy from the broom wagon. To Bezault and the commissaire, Ackermann is just another rider who has fallen short. Ilan Van Wilder is next. The Soudal Quick-Step rider is 12th on GC, an outside pick to win the stage, but after being dropped by the peloton early on, he crashes on the descent of the Croix de Fer. His left side is bloodied, bruised and cut open. Hes walking OK, and his team later confirm hes just suffered abrasions and no major injury, but like Ackermann, he rejects the broom wagon. The ambulance is favoured. Theres shame, clearly, in being bundled into the back of the voiture balai.Ilan van Wilder chose the ambulance over the broomwagon (Image credit: Future)Godon's not-so-solo fightGodon is fighting against what seems inevitable. Caught up in a high-speed crash during stage 12s bunch sprint in Chalon-sur-Sane, he has been struggling ever since.He drops to the back of the race at the bottom of the Col du Tlgraphe just as the first (and last) drops of rain fall. His posture and riding form dont indicate signs of trouble, but his head keeps dropping. Bezault pulls up alongside him and asks how he is. Va bien Im OK he responds. This is Godons solitary-yet-no-so-solitary long, arduous battle against the Tlgraphe and Galibier. He accepts a Coca-Cola from Bezault, but refuses a bag of Haribos (thrown out by the publicity caravan) by a fan. A young boy, no older than 10, screams Allez Dorian through a megaphone. The cries echo up the mountain. Everyone is willing him on to make the time cut.Bezault gives him a plastic bottle of Vittel. Five minutes later its a Vittel-branded bidon. Two more follow. Then hes handed a gel. The commissaire, seated in the front of the broom wagon, turns a blind eye to the questionably long sticky bottles, occasionally lengthy drafts behind a cars slipstream, and the odd super-tuck. A gendarme on a motorbike drives past and lets out a prolonged and loud yawn. Hes evidently not riveted by Godons 15km/h speed. But neither will he punish the assistance Godon is being afforded. It pays to be French, clearly.Helped by Luigi (Image credit: Future)Towards the top of the Galibier, in large part thanks to the broom wagon's invaluable aid, Godon closes in on the other strugglers, but cant quite regain touch. One kilometre down the other side and he almost comes a cropper. It was a long ascent, and it looks like it's going to be a long descent, too.Enter Josh Tarling to play the Wout van Aert role. The Welsh time trial specialist drops back though he says unintentionally so and more a result of his own struggles to pace Godon down the Galibier, from a height of 2,631m to 1,184m, through tunnels, past the viewpoints of glaciers, and around dozens of sweeping bends. There was a headwind and it [the descent] was dead straight so we could keep swapping off, Tarling explains.When they reach the Col de Sarenne, the alternative way up Alpe dHuez, Godon is no longer last. Lotto-Intermarchs Liam Slock, held up by a puncture, is. Neither he nor Godon nor the remaining 158 riders still in the race will be caught by the broom wagon.With the crash and especially the heat, he was just suffering. Hes alright, but hes had a rough week, Tarling goes on. We actually had a big margin all day but it was scary with the time limit at points. But we didnt need to stress it as hard by the end.Ackermann and Van Wilder are the days only casualties. The last riders, Cofidis Benjamin Thomas and Jenthe Biermans, arrive 43 minutes after stage winner Richard Carapaz but crucially seven minutes before the 50:56 cut-off time. It was never in doubt. But how Godon suffered.Since the crash, Ive had trouble breathing through my diaphragm and I was in trouble, the 30-year-old says. The Tlgraphe and Galibier, he admits, were a disaster. I couldnt go any further," he adds. It was pain from start to finish. Even my brain didnt want to force it anymore. I was on the verge of crying at some points I couldnt do it anymore.As he found out, though, the broom wagon is not the enemy; its the aid. It doesnt end dreams; it keeps them alive.

Julian Alaphilippe said that the 2026 Tour de France will be his last, after finishing stage 20.The Tudor Pro Cycling rider finished 29th on the penultimate stage of the race, and said just after it that it was "certainly" his final race. The 34-year-old has won six stages of the Tour over his career, including a memorable spell in the yellow jersey at the 2019 edition, which only ended on stage 19, when he rode for Deceuninck-Quick Step. He ended up fifth in the race. The double world champion raced eight Tours in all, and he does have one more year on his Tudor contract, but it seems like he won't be battling for yellow again.His returns at his home Grand Tour were slim this year; he sits 125th overall after stage 20.It was a "very, very difficult Tour de France", he told Eurosport on Saturday. "Today was a tough stage, so phew," he continued. "Honestly, my legs weren't what I'd hoped for, so I suffered a lot, but we never gave up, we fought hard. Yannis (Voisard) gave everything to protect his position in the general classification (11th, in his first Tour), and Rick (Pluimers) was also putting in some great sprints... Of course, we would have hoped to do better, winning would have been great, but we gave it our all."Tudor's best result at this year's Tour was fifth for Pluimers on stage 17, which was won by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech)."I was with Warren Barguil just then. There were a lot of emotions. We have suffered a lot in this Tour," the Frenchman said at the finish, Cyclingnews reported."Im not thinking about tomorrow. Im thinking about nothing at all," he continued, answering a question about stage 21 in Paris. "All I really want is to hold my son in my arms."Its maybe my last one, so I made the most of it, I gave everything, not with a lot of success but I didnt leave anything out there. Thats how cycling is," Alaphilippe added. He had flirted with the time cut on stage 19, finishing 159th out of 160 riders the first time the race went up Alpe d'Huez, 32:51 behind the winner, Tadej Pogaar."I feel happy to finish this Tour, its certainly my last one," Alaphilippe said, definitively.

The chaotic scenes on Alpe dHuez during stage 19 of the Tour de France have sparked fresh debate over spectator safety after Einer Rubio was forced to abandon following a heavy crash behind the UAE Team Emirates - XRG team car. Despite widespread criticism, Tour organisers insist they had already t...

Demi Vollering's FDJ United-SUEZ team have announced the roster which will support the Dutch woman at the Tour de France Femmes avec Ziwft next week.Vollering won the Tour when riding with SD Worx in 2023, and has finished second in each of the two editions since and both and the team will be desperate for her to win in Nice on August 9th.Vollering will look to Juliette Berthet and vits Muzic as her chief support riders for the hilly and mountainous days, while the increasingly versatile Paris-Roubaix winner, Franziska Koch will provide a steely backbone for the team. Recently crowned French champion, 20-year-old Clia Gery is fast improving and adaptable enough to help out on all terrains too, while Amber Kraak and Marie Le Net form the rest of the seven woman squad and are both certain to be seen on the front controlling.The team has been around for 20 years but was little more than an also ran for many of those years. However, since Muzic won the team's first World Tour race at the 2020 Giro Rosa, they have been on a tear and are now the best team in the women's peloton. However, they are yet to win their home race, the Tour de France Femmes, something manager Stephen Delcourt told Cycling Weekly before the first edition of the modern race in 2022 was their chief ambition. As the best rider in the world, Vollering is a huge part of making that ambition a reality and Delcourt has built the team around the 29-year-old Dutch woman."It's really hard to choose the roster because we have a really, really amazing team, and we have only one goal, which is the yellow," Delcourt told Cyclingnews earlier this month. "For that, we want the best riders around Demi, and not just the seven best riders, because especially with this Tour de France, there are a lot of stages where we need to be really careful if we want to put pressure on the others."The team already has 19 wins this season, with Vollering bagging 10 of those, including two stages and the GC at the Giro d'Italia last month, and she is certain to be brimming with confidence on the start line in Lausanne next week. However, if she's to win she will need to overcome last year's victor, Pauline Ferrand-Prvot who will lead a strong Visma-Lease a Bike team. Ferrand-Prvot hasn't had the best of seasons and hasn't raced since early May, though she is notoriously brilliant at peaking for goals, as she did last year.Other rivals include Movistar's time trial world champion, Marlen Reusser, who is sure to challenge, especially with the inclusion of a 21km TT on stage 4, and a resurgent Anna van der Breggen leading the SD Worx-Protime team.The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift starts in Lausanne on August 1st with two stages in Switzerland, moving into south-east France for the seven remaining stagesrest of the race. A summit finish on Mont Ventoux is the queen stage of the event, which concludes in Nice on August 9th.