That’s all from me. Thank you for reading, and for your emails. Congratulations to Pogacar, who is already approaching GOAT status but beaten today by Wout van Aert in a stage for the ages. Truly, the one we witnessed today in the Paris rain is is one that will go down in cycling folklore. Cheers!
Elsewhere …
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Florian Lipowitz wears the white jersey atop the podium, the last German to wear it since Jan Ullrich.
I learned a lot. It’s my second Grand Tour. Racing three weeks is something special. I have a lot of ups and downs but everyone believed in me. I never dreamt of this when I started cycling five years ago.
The riders are now approaching the podium. Van Aert laps up the applause for his stage win, while Ben Healy goes up to claim his prize for the combativity award. Next, Visma–Lease a Bike go up to receive the team award for best overall performance.
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A reminder that this was second spectacular stage of the day, after Mavi García, the oldest rider at the Tour de France Femmes, attacked solo in the closing kilometres to secure a dramatic second-stage win. I covered it live, and it was an amazing finish from the 41-year-old, who somehow clung on at the end.
Tadej Pogacar, now the four-time winner of the Tour de France, speaks:
Was a nice race. Great from the organisers to neutralise the GC times so nobody had to risk anything. But I gave it a go. Wout was incredibly strong at the top of the climb and he deserves this big, big win.
I’m super happy that it’s over, but I enjoyed the whole Tour. I will miss it next week. It was a pleasure to be here, to wear this yellow jersey.
On potentially racing at the Vuelta a España:
Let’s take one week at a time. I want to enjoy some summer days. I will see next week.
Matej Mohoric, the Slovenian who was in amongst the leaders until the final climb up Montmartre and finishes third in the stage, speaks:
It felt like the spring classics. I was really disappointed to miss out on the biggest chance I had yesterday but I was proud of my performance today. I didn’t give up or blame it on bad luck. I was hoping that Wout wasn’t on a good day, but he deserves the stage win. Fair play, chapeau. He was the strongest rider on the course, he was willing to risk it all on the corners. But I was willing to put everything on the line, I was either going to end up on the podium or in the hospital.
Tadej honoured the yellow jersey today, he really went for it. And it was also the right decision to neutralise the stage. It was really dangerous. There’s no way around that.
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Ben Healy has won the combativity award. Two stage wins and a stint in yellow, quite the race for the Irishman, who is walking his dog, Olive, on the way to meet his friends and family.
Jeremy Whittle's report from Paris
Wout van Aert, today’s stage winner, speaks:
It was a special day. Really special on the first climb to Montmartre. The rain made it quite sketchy, but I had full support of my teammates. Without them, I couldn’t control this race. But that was our plan, and it worked.
Even yesterday, I didn’t feel good enough to reach the breakaway. We came to this Tour with the ambition to win the yellow jersey but the strongest and biggest rider in the world won it. But for sure we don’t go home without prizes. Vingegaard has second, we won the team classification. I have my stage win, Simon [Yates] too.
That was an absolutely sensational stage, despite the neutralisation, despite the break with tradition in neglecting the sprinters down the Champs-Élysées. But Montmartre really delivered. The organisers might be tempted to return to the hill in the future.
The final GC standings
Pogacar embraces his girlfriend, Urska Zigart, as he mingles with the riders and their families at the finish line. He is also patiently waiting for his UAE teammates who have played such a big role in his victory.
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Next, nearly seven minutes behind Van Aert, comes Jonas Vingegaard, who is second on the podium.
Also with him, Oscar Onley (fourth placed overall), who is the youngest ever Brit to finish in the top 10 of the Tour. An absolutely amazing three weeks for the Scot.
Geraint Thomas crosses the finish line of the Tour de France for the final time. What a legend of the sport.
Stage 21 result
Pogacar is all smiles and raises a triumphant fist as he crosses the line. Full credit to the yellow jersey for having a go today in trying to win the stage, a beautiful and senseless attempt at glory. But ultimately, he just couldn’t quite cling to Van Aert up that final climb. The Visma rider timed his attack perfectly.
Van Aert wins the final stage of the Tour! Pogacar is crowned as champion after safely rolling over the line!
Van Aert’s first stage win since 2022! Pogacar’s fourth title is confirmed!
1km to go: Pogacar has actually dropped off the chasing group, so Ballerini, Jorgenson and Mohoric will contend for second and third place. But all the glory goes to Van Aert! Some glory for Visma after a disappointing Tour!
2km to go: Van Aert is still peddling as though Pogacar is on his wheel. But the Belgian is out of sight.
3km to go: Pogacar isn’t going to try, and is joined by Ballerini, Jorgenson and Mohoric. The gap to Van Aert is now 20 seconds, and surely the Belgian has the stage in the bag, if he doesn’t crash!
4km to go: The gap is now 11 seconds, from Van Aert to Pogacar! It is growing! Will that be that? Surely Pogacar has nothing left in the tank to catch up.
5km to go: And then there was one! Wout van Aert is all alone, six seconds up on Pogacar with just five kilometres remaining! That was a devastating attack, ridiculous acceleration and Pogacar had no answer!
6km to go: Pogacar start the climb in first place, with Van Aert on his wheel. The atmosphere is deafening as the riders pull themselves up the hill. Just 600 metres to the top! Mohoric and Trentin drop off! Ballerini too.
Van Aert attacks! Pogacar clings on briefly, but the Slovenian cannot keep up with the Belgian! For the first time in this year’s race, Pogacar is dropped!
7km to go: Here we go! The final climb of Montmartre! Who will conquer it and give themselves the best chance down the Champs-Élysées?! Just as the riders reach the foot of the hill, Jorgenson attacks but is pegged back by Pogacar and co. The Slovenian is not having this his own way, though!
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9km to go: The sprinters, like Van Aert and Ballerini, will hope to survive and Montmartre and remain in contention for the Champs-Élysées. Jorgenson leads the six, but only five or 10 metres separates the bunch. Pogacar is third, just off the front.
11km to go: The gap is now over 30 seconds to the chasing pack, which almost certainly means that the winner of the stage will come from one of these six. Just over four kilometres until the final ascent of Montmartre, which will surely be decisive (alongside the final sprint up the Champs-Élysées).
13km to go: Photography flashes are discharged by the crowd, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was lightning zinging down from the heavens. Thankfully, it’s just the downpour and the crowd that the riders have to deal with.
15km to go: A reminder of the six riders at the front: Ballerini, Jorgenson, Van Aert, Trentin, Pogacar and Mohoric.
17km to go: It is outrageously greasy on those cobbles as the riders fly down the Champs-Élysées for the penultimate time. There are some really hairy corners to negotiate, from the loop around the Arc de Triomphe to one tricky bend very close to L’Eglise de la Madeleine, with roadworks to contend with.
19km to go: Mohoric has joined the leading pack, so we are six at the front. There is a 15-second gap to the next group of riders, who were dropped up the second ascent to Montmartre.
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21km to go: Regarding my comment earlier that I couldn’t remember the wearer of the yellow jersey being this close to the front in the final stage, Oliver Pritchard gets in touch via email: “Surely Wiggins leading out Cav jumps to mind?”
Yes, but Wiggins was never really in contention to win the stage that day.
The last time the Yellow Jersey holder won on the last stage in Paris was Bernard Hinault in 1982.
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22km to go: That leading group of 27 is now just five! Pogacar is the first to the summit, with Ballerini, Jorgenson, Van Aert and Trentin in his wake.
23km to go: Real caution being shown on those hairpin bends, as Campenaerts nervously leads the group up the hill. Jorgenson, Trentin, Mohoric, Pogacar all follow. Pogacar makes the move! He jumps!
25km to go: Heavy thunder rolls over Paris. We are nearly at the second ascent to Montmartre, and the riders are once again jostling for position before we dip into those narrow streets and tight turns. The leading group is very bunched, with Campeanerts right at the very front. Pogacar is a couple of wheels behind, although there are no UAE teammates in sight. The yellow jersey is on his own in that regard.
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27km to go: Have to say that it is probably the right call that this race was neutralised, even though there are arguments to the contrary. The conditions are atrocious.
30km to go: The leading group numbers a total of 27 riders. This is the complete list: Pogacar, Campenaerts, Jorgenson, Van Aert, V. Paret-Peintre, Powless, Girmay, Mohoric, Wright, Laurance, Stuyven, Russo, Groves, Alaphilippe, Trentin, Vauquelin, A. Paret-Peintre, Tronchon, Aranburu, Teuns, Tejada, Ballerini, Bittner, Lund Andresen, De Lie, Berckmoes, Abrahamsen.
32km to go: The heavens have opened in Paris! The skies are shadowed in a doomy grey and the cobbles are now slippery wet, with the leading group now zipping through puddles back on the Champs-Élysées. This is basically a one-day classic, with the cobbles.
34km to go: So around 20 riders are at the front. Campenaerts, Mohoric, Paret-Peintre, Pogacar, Van Aert, Ballerini, Powless are there, so too Alaphilippe, De Lie.
37km to go: For those just joining, this is a reminder that there is no practical reason – other than the glory and prestige of winning yet another Tour stage – that Pogacar should be here. As long as he reaches the finish line on two wheels, he is champion. He is doing this purely for the glory, flying up and down the hill and potentially risking injury. A true champion. I cannot recall another wearer of the yellow jersey being so close to the front on the final stage. Wow.
38km to go: Pocagar and co rein De Lie and Alaphilippe in, and the riders collectively reach Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre – there appears to be a little bit of dampness on the cobbles at the top of the hill. Ominous.
39km to go: Two riders pull clear: De Lie and Alaphilippe! A huge roar for the latter, the home favourite. Ten metres back, Van Aert and Pogacar scramble to make up the ground.
40km to go: Haller is the first up, closely followed by Alaphilippe, Campenaerts and Van Aert. Pogacar is just a few riders back, maybe in sixth or seventh.
41km to go: Simmons and Lipowitz are caught, the peloton is one again. We are about to embark on the first climb of Montmartre. Riders are jostling for position, fighting to get to the front of the peloton before they get into the narrow streets and tight turns. Pogacar is there! It appears he is going to try to win the stage!
43km to go: The riders swoop around L’Eglise de la Madeleine and Saint-Augustine – two magnificent churches. The crowds are everywhere, the noise is deafening.
45km to go: Simmons and Lipowitz still have lead of around 12 seconds to the rest of the peloton, at the front of which is Pogacar, Van Aert and co.
47km to go: We will ascend Montmartre for the first time in around 7km, at around the 40km mark. Rue Lepic awaits!
Timings for overall standings are now frozen
50km to go: As per the earlier announcement, riders will retain their GC times as they have now passed the finish line for the fourth time. Pogacar just needs to finish this race on two wheels to be confirmed as the 2025 champion.
53km to go: Simmons and Lipowitz have a gap of eight seconds! The pair are gunning it as they try to get some separation, looking nervously over their shoulders. But the gap is growing.
56km to go: Not long. The riders pass over the finish line – four laps to go and one lap until we freeze the GC times – and we are about to head into the intermediate sprint. With the ominous climb to Montmartre, this course and finish does not favour the sprinters, so we might get an exciting spring here instead.
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57km to go: The trio of Powless, Buitrago and Cort open up a small gap! Let’s see how long this one lasts.
60km to go: Nine riders, among them Jonas Abrahamsen, make a brief break from the peloton. But the group are brought back to heel, and peloton is one again. Nobody has made a significant move and made it stick.
62km to go: Ben O’Connor has a puncture on the Champs-Élysées, a reminder to everyone that come unstuck on this surface. However, the weather is dry and the cobbles don’t look particularly treacherous.
65km to go: Remember, it’s three laps of the Champs circuit, then three times up the Butte Montmartre. Alexis Renard attacks, solo, and briefly has an eight-second lead before being pegged back. Ben Healy is there, too.
We are racing!
68km to go: Aaaaaaaaand here we go! The stage is properly underway now, as the riders fly past the Arc de Triomphe and back down the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées. Magnus Cort and Quinn Simmons are the ones pushing at the front, but there is no clear breakaway.
Around 10km to go until we get to the intermediate sprint.
70km to go: The riders swoop down the Champs-Élysées for the first time. Pogacar flashes a smile at the cameras and the rest of the UAE team are 30 metres in front of their rivals, in a respectful gesture by the peloton. I imagine this will be the end of the processional part of this stage.
73km to go: The peloton passes through the courtyard of the Louvre, past the glass pyramid. It’s a fine image. Hang it in the … you know the rest.
I watched the Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks, recently, a film which features the Louvre heavily. It wasn’t very good, on second viewing.
75km to go: The riders have reached central Paris as swing past the Eiffel Tower before passing over the Seine. They are still very much in processional mode, though. Nobody has upped the ante … yet.
80km to go: So we have around 30km to go until the race is neutralised and the GC times are frozen. I wonder if that development will affect the way that Pogacar approaches the end of this stage, whether he will go for the win. I can’t remember the last time someone wearing the yellow jersey won the last stage of the Tour, but it’s not beyond Pogacar. He very much cares about his legacy in the sport, about being the GOAT, and doing this sort of stuff (winning the final stage in yellow) however mad it might sound, does make a difference to that sort of thing.
BREAKING NEWS: race neutralised and times frozen with 50km to go
The final stage of the Tour de France saw its competitive element largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions.
Following a pre-stage check, officials identified several sections of the course as dangerously slippery. The stage goes up the cobbled roads of the Butte Montmartre three times.
“After a reconnaissance carried out before the stage, and after noting that certain sections had slippery road conditions, it was decided, in agreement with the president of the commissaires’ panel, that the times would be frozen at kilometre 82, that is, on the fourth crossing of the finish line,” organisers said in a statement. A stage classification will be established, but it will not affect the general classification.”
The overall standings will therefore remain unchanged, preserving the yellow jersey leader’s position. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar will, however, still need to cross the finish line to be declared winner of the race.
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87km to go: The riders are coasting through Chaville, a Parisian suburb to the south-west of the city. It’s a little damp, but not chucking it down.
Meanwhile, in Paris, reader Andy McKay has another weather update via email. “The road is slick and wet. It’s sprinkling again. Changeable might be the best description.”
90km to go: Hi everyone. Important to remember that this is also the final day of ITV coverage on the Tour de France. The free-to-air TV channel leaves a huge legacy here in the UK. Merci.
Right, it’s time to hand back to Michael Butler. Enjoy the rest of the action.
96km to go: The riders are taking in the grandeur of Versailles, cruising down the tree-lined streets around the sprawling palace grounds. TNT Sports recap the highlights of the French Revolution, which is fun.
102km to go: Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates soak up the acclaim at the front as fans wave French tricolours and whoop them on. The riders pass the 30km mark, bearing down on the streets of the capital.
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104km to go: The pace at the front is ticking upwards. The peloton begins to snake through Villepreux.
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113km to go: There’s more ominous talk of rain ahead, which could make for a treacherous ride over the cobbles of Montmartre. The riders pass the Château de Wideville, a sprawling estate which is, apparently, owned by the Italian fashion designer Valentino. So now you know!
118km to go: Pogacar keeps his steely focus as he passes a fan dressed in an inflatable dinosaur costume, wobbling uncontrollably. Others perch atop road signs or shimmy up lampposts to get a glimpse of the man in yellow. There’s a carnival atmosphere at the moment.
121km to go: XDS Astana Team link arms and soak up the applause from the roadside. The climb up the Côte de Bazemont is well under way.
Hello! Just as I begin my blogging stint, a man dressed as a hamburger is roaring on the riders. It’s that kind of a day. The peloton continues its leisurely meander as fans line the roads and wave them on towards Paris.
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Going to step away to grab a bite. Will Magee is here to steer you through the next stretch. Enjoy!
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123km to go: “In a bar near Place de Clichy at the entrance to Montmarte and it’s just started raining,” emails Andy McKay in Paris. Neutralisation (of the GC times at least, perhaps not of the stage) is not out of the question.
125km to go: The riders are still in processional mode, taking photos and smiling for the cameras. Surprisingly, there’s no sign of the champagne … yet. We’re not too far away from the first Cat. 4 climb, the Côte de Bazemont, and the racing might ramp up then. Let’s see.
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127km to go: As mentioned, it’s been an amazing few weeks for Britain’s Oscar Onley, and here’s what the London-born Scot had to say before the rollout today.
There was no pressure from my team. We never really had the plan to go for GC. I’ve just taken every day as it comes. The Tour is already stressful enough. I’m really happy. It’s really cool to be on the wheel of Pogacar. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward. If I can do it here, then why not in other races?
Départ: stage three begins.
130km to go: Pogacar, flanked by his UAE teammates, start the départ for the final stage from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris Champs-Élysées. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere, with time for photos and backslapping. And why not? This has been a gruelling three weeks.
This is the final stage of the final Tour for Geraint Thomas, a winner here in 2018 and a legend of the sport: Olympic champion on the track, a winner of three World Championships. Such a storied and versatile rider that is such a popular rider for his understated charm.
Here is what Thomas had to say before today’s stage.
It’s a mixture of relief and joy. One last big day. To get to Paris is always special. We’ll enjoy it with the guys.
The Tour has been everything. I dreamt of competing in this race and I’ve done it 14 times. I think of all the guys I’ve done it alongside. Even the bad times, I still look back fondly because I know I bounced back from them.
The support I’ve had from Wales, from the UK, has been amazing. I see if from the Dutch and the French, the Americans. That’s the thing that I love the most.
And here is an interview we did with the Welshman a couple of months ago.
This was our report from Saturday, the penultimate stage.
Much has also been made of the Tour’s decision to augment Sunday’s traditional processional laps of the Champs-Élysées with three laps racing over the cobbled climbs in Montmartre. “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Vingegaard said. “Montmartre seemed very beautiful at the Paris Olympics, with a great atmosphere.”
“But when the riders arrived there, there were 50 in the peloton. Now there will be 150 of us fighting for position on a very narrow climb. It’s going to add more stress than we’d like.”
Preamble
Tadej Pogacar has more than a four-minute lead going into the final stage to Paris, and is a crash-free ride away from winning his fourth Tour. The Slovenian was the heavy favourite going into this race but has still been supreme. After gaining an early advantage, he has kept Jonas Vingegaard at bay, despite everything the Dane has thrown at his rival. Despite his victory being nearly sewn up, Pogacar remains wary of complacency. “Anything can happen but I’m not promising I’ll go for it,” said Pogacar after Saturday’s penultimate stage. “We’ll try to enjoy the yellow jersey in Paris.” There is a lot of talk that Pogacar might actually attack today. Let’s see.
Vingegaard is second (+4min24secs), Florian Lipowitz is third (11min90secs), just ahead of Scotland’s Oscar Onley, who just misses out on the podium. But what a performance by the 22-year-old. Big things await for Onley in the future.
Rain, cobbles and the Côte de la Butte Montmartre. As final stages of the Tour de France go, this one is certainly on the trickier side, even with the champagne glasses in hand. The threat of rain overshadows the finish in France’s capital and the Tour’s director of racing, Thierry Gouvenou, acknowledged that the Parisian cobbles can be treacherous when wet. “We know with the slightest drop of rain, Paris is a real ice rink,” he said before the Tour. “We saw it in the Olympic Games time trial. It can turn into a catastrophe.”
After a lot of talk about neutralisation of the stage, it looks dry in Paris. If it does rain, then the Tour is likely to “freeze” the overall standings, to ensure that the general classification is not affected by a last-day crash. “The stage will be run, but the time will be frozen,” Gouvenou said. So, as ever, in terms of riders keeping their GC position, it is just a case of them staying upright.
