Following a storming victory on stage 18 and a stabilised stage 19, the time trial looked like the last chance for the Slovenian to win his third Tour de France title in a row, but he needed to overhaul the yellow jersey leader by more than three minutes.

He only had 40.7 kilometres to do this too - with stage 20 starting in Lacapelle-Marival.

In the early stages of the race, Italian time trial specialist and Olympic team pursuit gold medallist Filippo Ganna of Ineos Grenadiers set the mark to beat, crossing the line in 48min 41sec.

Dutch rider Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo finished 40 seconds behind Ganna, putting in a strong performance to finish sixth behind him.

But Van Aert put down the time to beat in 47:59, showing the speed he had on stage 18 where he helped Vingegaard to the stage win.

Britain's Geraint Thomas finished fourth in the end, coming in in front of team-mate Ganna, but behind the Belgian.

By the halfway stage, it was clear that UAE Team Emirates' Pogačar would not be able to overhaul the deficit and he crossed the line in 48:26 for third.

With the pressure off, Vingegaard enjoyed the run in, finishing second in 48:18.

Overall, Vingegaard holds a 3:34 lead over Pogačar and 8:13 over Thomas.

Tomorrow's stage is set to be largely processional starting from Paris La Défense Arena, with tradition dictating the race leader is not challenged, before concluding with what is usually a hotly-contested sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris over 116km.