• Two French riders in top three for first time in 30 years • Péraud and Pinot in second and third behind Italian

It is 30 years since two Frenchmen finished on the podium at the Tour de France, but on Sunday in Paris Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot will finish second and third overall respectively behind Vincenzo Nibali, after swapping their overnight placings in the 54km time trial here. The Italian is untouchable, but France is jubilant.

The images after the finish were of Gallic emotion unleashed. Péraud collapsed against the crowd barriers in tears, unable to speak, while his directeur sportif at the Ag2R team, Vincent Lavenu, was also en pleurs. Pinot’s boss, Marc Madiot, could be seen punching the air with both hands; both he and Lavenu have soldiered away for years in search of results like these.

While the stage winner, Tony Martin of Germany, was in a class of his own – the world champion had raced through the previous three weeks with his eyes on this day – the battle for the podium was less clear cut. Alejandro Valverde of Spain had the best credentials, as his country’s national time trial champion, but he has been fading these past few days, and he was never in the hunt.

From early on, Pinot and Péraud were contesting second overall, and the older man – Péraud is 37 to Pinot’s 24 years – pulled steadily ahead, his progress marred only by a puncture to his rear wheel 21 kilometres out. His mechanic was slow in getting his replacement bike ready, prompting an ironic handclap from the Ag2R leader, who lost momentum but soon recovered.

The pair make an intriguing contrast, but both have fought their demons to get here. Pinot promised much after finishing 10th in 2012 at 22 and winning the stage to Porrentruy, but his 2013 Tour was a disaster: he panicked going downhill, was ineffectual going up and eventually abandoned. It could have been catastrophic, but he picked himself up later in the season at the Tour of Spain. If he continues to mature physically, he can aspire to better than third.

For Péraud, however, at 37, this may be as good as it gets. The Toulousain is only in his fifth season racing at this level after winning a silver medal in mountain biking in Beijing, and earned his place – at the Belgian team Lotto – by beating professionals in the French time trial championship in 2009 while still an amateur. He finished ninth in the 2011 Tour but crashed out dramatically last year while riding the Embrun-Chorges time trial with a broken collarbone sustained earlier in the day while reconnoitering the course.

France will celebrate on Sunday, but so too will Italy. Nibali will become part of an elite group who have taken victories in all three major Tours – Spain, Italy and France; Felice Gimondi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador.

He will join the greatest names of a nation that has the richest cycling history of any: Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Gastone Nencini, Gimondi and Marco Pantani. Close to the finish, he and the others rode past the Cathedral of Saint Front, an onion‑domed basilica based on San Marco in Venice. It has an antique look but is a 19th century rebuild, in the same way that Nibali harks back to Coppi and company, but in a 21st century context.

His fourth place in the time trial here confirmed the most salient fact of the “Shark” Tour win: none of his closest challengers has gained a second on him in any critical stage, be it the Yorkshire hills entering Sheffield, the brutally steep finish at Planche des Belles Filles or any of the five stages through the Pyrenees and Alps. Only Péraud is within eight minutes now.

It is a victory forged on the cobbled roads leading into Roubaix, where Contador and the rest lost more than two minutes to the Italian. From then on, Nibali had no need to dig deep into his reserves to gain time, but could ride economically. As a result, he looked fresher than anyone coming into the final week.

At the start of the stage, the race leader could be seen freewheeling briefly on the first corner. It was not a mechanical issue, nor a poorly chosen line. Nibali wanted to adjust one of his shoes.

That pretty much summed up the three weeks since he won the stage in Sheffield and took yellow: a minor tweak here and there, but no crises and never a hint of a panic.