Mads Pedersen consolidated his first place in the overall competition for the green jersey when he won the intermediate sprint on stage 20 of the Tour de France.
This means the Dane, in theory, can no longer be overtaken by Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Premier Tech) or anyone else in the battle for the prestigious jersey at the world's biggest cycling race.
This is because Philipsen’s only mathematical chance relied on him winning today’s mountain stage from Le Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez, which is practically impossible, as he was dropped from the leading group of riders early on the stage.
Pedersen is therefore set to become the first-ever Danish winner of the Tour de France points classification - a competition for the green jersey that has existed since 1952.
The only thing that could prevent Pedersen from winning the points classification is if he fails to complete the Tour de France, which ends in Paris on Sunday evening.
That is extremely unlikely, and given the circumstances, it is hard to imagine him not being celebrated on the podium in the French capital in just over 24 hours.
Pedersen secured the decisive points on the penultimate stage in impressive fashion. Although he was initially dropped on Saturday’s first climb - the Col de la Croix de Fer - he managed to close the gap to the peloton and subsequently rode away from Tadej Pogacar and the rest of the group.
On the descent, he first bridged the gap to the large breakaway group, which shortly thereafter caught the two riders at the very front, and Pedersen subsequently won the intermediate sprint.
Pedersen now leads the competition with 527 points ahead of Philipsen, who has 445 points. Philipsen would only be able to gain a maximum of 75 points on Pedersen on Sunday's stage, and consequently, Pedersen's win is all but certain.