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The final stage of the Tour de France – when it finishes in Paris, which it didn’t in 2024 – is usually a day for the sprinters, finishing on a flat circuit around the Champs-Élysées.
It’s never easy, given the speed, cobbles, and prestige of the stage, but it is usually processional leading up to the sprint. However, this year, stage 21 is going to be even tougher, as ASO have altered the route to include the Côte de la Butte Montmartre in the final three laps.
Inspired by its inclusion in the road race at the Paris Olympics last year, the narrow cobbled climb has been added to the route as part of ASO’s celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Champs-Élysées finish.
The stage will start in the traditional fashion, with the race leaving the nearby Mantes-la-Ville at the start before making its way into the city centre for seven laps of a circuit around the finish on the Champs-Élysées.
However, an extra 10km loop has been added to the final three laps, as the riders will leave the circuit to take on the ascent of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre up to Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, before returning to the circuit to complete the lap.
The climb, better known as Rue Lepic, is steep, narrow and cobbled, meaning that whilst on paper its 1.1km length and 5.9% average may not seem too threatening, it’s going to be a real fight, with positioning at the front as tough as trying to climb it with the punchiest riders.
In the Olympics, the peloton was smaller to start with at just 90 riders, and smaller than that when they hit the climb, but on Sunday, more or less the full, 160-strong bunch could arrive at the first ascent together, so the narrowness of the climb could become a real problem.
On the final lap, the top of the climb comes just 6km from the finish line, so this isn’t just a tangent away from the loop as a token – it is going to affect the finish and how the race pans out.
Sadly, the Olympic champion from Paris, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), won’t be present after abandoning during the Tour’s second week, and neither will the man who lit up the Rue Lepic, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who also left the race early.
Even when it’s expected to be a sprint, stage 21 is already raced ferociously fast and aggressively, so expect more of that on Sunday, with teams likely to try and light things up as early as the first ascent.
There is a fair amount of time to recover between ascents, around 15km, but the stage is likely to be fairly relentless in the final three laps, and the peloton will definitely split apart.
On the final ascent, the top is close enough to the finish that if a motivated group or rider goes clear, they could certainly survive to the finish line and take a small-group victory, something which is vanishingly rare in Paris. Look out for the top puncheurs and even the GC riders who haven’t got what they wanted from this race; they’ll be viewing this as a last chance with little to lose.
That said, you can’t fully rule out the more versatile sprinters in the bunch, as they may be able to hold on to the coattails of the main bunch over the top of the climb, before making their way back to the front for the finish, or indeed if the climbs are raced more sedately than expected, which could deliver a sprint finish after all.
What really remains to be seen is whether there could be any GC action in Paris. Most teams have been talking about trying to avoid any drama, and it’s highly unlikely that anyone in the top 10 will actually try to take advantage of the final stage, but splits could happen nonetheless. What’s more, it’s entirely possible that race leader Tadej Pogačar will be interested in going for the stage win, which would inherently kick off a GC narrative.
And finally, keep an eye on the weather before Sunday evening. There’s currently a small chance of rain in Paris, which could make the cobbles slippery, and the climb particularly perilous.
Stage 21 Sprints
- Champs-Élysées, km. 75.9
Stage 21 Mountains
- Côte de Bazemont (cat. 4), km. 10
- Côte du Pavé des Gardes (cat. 4), km. 45.9
- Côte de la Butte Montmartre (cat. 4), km. 92.7
- Côte de la Butte Montmartre (cat. 4), km. 109.5
- Côte de la Butte Montmartre (cat. 4), km. 126.2
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