This year was a great race. It was almost made to measure for me, he said of the ride through the hills and dales of Yorkshire,Giants acquire Jake Peavy, England, over cobblestones in northern France, and over mountain passes in the Alps and Pyrenees.For days, Nibali s domination has reduced the drama to who would join him on the final podium on Sunday. The Stage 20 time trial solved that: Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot.They will be the first Frenchman to medal in France s beloved race since Richard Virenque in 1997.The duo did enough to leave behind an unlucky Alejandro Valverde of Spain in their three-man race for the final podium. Only 15 seconds separated them when the stage began in Bergerac, but it became more than two minutes when the time trial finished in Perigueux.Peraud, a 37-year-old former mountain bike racer, became tearful at the finish after learning he would be the Tour runner-up: It s beautiful, he said.The Beijing Olympic silver medallist also teared up during a news conference. Now, I can retire, Peraud said.Because Valverde had a bad day,Five things we learned at pra, Peraud, who even blew a flat and had to change bikes, losing about 20 seconds, and Pinot were able to shade him.Also, American Tejay van Garderen climbed a spot from sixth to fifth overall by overcoming a deficit of 2 minutes, 7 seconds to Romain Bardet by two seconds. The young French rider lost key seconds after blowing a flat at the end of the stage.The last stage is also flat, and the teams of Nibali, Peraud and Pinot will be hawking over any breakaway attempts, so it s not expected to be a competitive ride among the podium trio, and Champagne bottles are likely to be popped during the ride.Martin, the world time trial champion,Force sisters lead their clas, blistered the field over the 54-kilometer (34-mile) leg on Saturday.