The showdown! All things being equal (and even with a few inequalitites) the individual time trial should provide a great spectacle at the end of a gruelling three weeks - Armstrong thrives in this race against the clock, and his dominance is well documented. But if we have a situation like 2003, this could be the clincher for the leader going into the stage, or it could provide the challenger with a whisker of hope. Here's hoping the weather stays fine and we get Ullrich out firing and witness Basso's improvement in time trialling, which has also been well-documented. The distance suits Armstrong, but the undulating terrain suits Ullrich's ability to push the big gears and power along. A surprise may be in the works, but chances are it'll come down to these two, regardless of where they are on GC - but it's also likely they'll both be at the pointy end of the field.
Start order
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As it happened: race for the red jersey climaxes in brutal stage 20 of the Vuelta a España
Robledo de Chavela to Bola del Mundo. Puerto de Navacerrad, 159km -
Vuelta a España stage 20: Jonas Vingegaard smashes Queen stage solo win to seal overall race victory
João Almeida loses time as Vingegaard makes decisive attack on Bola del Mundo -
Queen stage of Vuelta comes close to stopping after protesters block route
Protesters spill onto road with 20 kilometres to go -
Memorial Marco Pantani 2025: Michael Storer takes victory from breakaway
Alexandre Delettre takes second as breakaway companion Natnael Tesfazion takes third
