Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar has all but secured his fourth Tour de France crown after easing through Saturday's penultimate stage.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and reigning champion maintained his advantage over Jonas Vingegaard of four minutes and twenty-four seconds going into Sunday's finish in Paris.
However, the final stage is not a processional one, as is usually the case, and could potentially prove problematic towards the end with three consecutive climbs. But, barring any disaster in the French capital, Pogacar will be champion again.
After winning the title in 2020, 2021 and 2024, the 26-year-old has dominated this year's race, winning four stages and having kept a grip on the yellow jersey since Stage 13 from which point his lead has never dropped below four minutes.
Pogacar was given a pat on the back from Vingegaard as he crossed the line in Pontarlier with the rest of peloton, more than six minutes after stage winner Kaden Groves, with the Dane having been unable to drop his great rival despite numerous attempts in the final week.
"It's starting to sink in," said Pogacar. "Tomorrow, all being well, I'll be celebrating with my team.
"This has been another level of hard, all the way. I enjoyed it though and I'm really looking forward to the last day tomorrow."
Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Groves took the honours claiming his first Tour victory after avoiding a crash on slippery roads before powering to a solo triumph on the 184.2km race from Nantua.
Groves's bike-handling skills were on display when he managed to stay up as Spain's Ivan Romeo and France's Romain Gregoire skidded out of control in front of him on a wet descent 21 kilometres from the finish.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider then attacked from a reduced breakaway bunch and never looked back in the remaining 17 kilometres, bursting into tears in a mix of disbelief and exhaustion after the line.
The Australian finished 54 seconds ahead of Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), who was in turn five seconds ahead of his countryman Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step).
It meant Groves had completed the trilogy of winning a stage on each of the three Grand Tour races with victories in the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana already safely in the bag.
Groves seized his opportunity as Alpecin’s third man after teammates Jasper Philipsen (who won the opening stage) and Mathieu van der Poel (winner of Stage 2) dropped out of the race.
“There are so many emotions to win here, the team came here with so many different plans with Jasper and Mathieu, and in the end, I get my own opportunities,” said Groves.
“They haven't gone the right way, but today I had super legs and I just suffered to the line and it rewarded me with a Tour stage.
“The team gave me the free role in the last days, especially today we weren't sure whether to go for the stage or save for tomorrow. But when the rain starts to fall, I always have a super feeling normally in the cold weather, and it's like my first-ever time winning solo, and it's a Tour stage, so it's pretty incredible.
“It's not really a childhood dream because I only started cycling quite late, but there's so much pressure at the Tour, and having won at the Giro and the Vuelta, all I ever get asked is 'Am I good enough to win at the Tour?', and now I have shown them.”
The final stage is a 132.3km ride from Mantes-la-Jolie to Paris, where the peloton will cycle up the famous Butte Montmartre three times before the final laps on the Champs-Elysees.
