The Tour de France comes home to Paris and all things being equal, all the major jerseys have been decided. The question remains though, who will sprint to victory on the Champs-Élysées? Join The Roar for live coverage and updates of Stage 21 from 12:40am (AEST).
Stage 21 is the traditional parade type stage into Paris, only stretching over 103 kilometres and finishing with seven laps of possibly the most famous lap in cycling.
The Champs-Élysées, looping around the Arc de Triomphe, has been home to the finish of the Tour de France since 1975 and there is no visible change to that in the coming years, with this being the 33rd year in a row of finishing with laps between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle.
This year, similar to last, the peloton will ride past the finish line seven times, with the eighth being the end of the stage. The loop is seven kilometres in total, with the peloton entering the circuit for the first time with 58 kilometres to go and doing half the circuit to the finish line for the first time.
After a long transfer from Marseille overnight, the stage itself starts to the south of Paris in Montgeron, where Chris Froome will enjoy a glass of champagne and the peloton will be out on their Sunday stroll.
Things will start to heat up as we get to the circuit itself. Breakaways will start kicking off the front and the sprinter’s teams will come to the front to control the race.
In saying that, generally the team of the yellow jersey – in this case, Team Sky – will stay out of danger and complete at least the first lap on the very front of the peloton unchallenged.
While the sprinters’ stocks have been reduced throughout this year’s race, with Marcel Kittel gone there is genuine intrigue over who is going to rise up and take this final stage.
Not being the purest sprinter in the peloton, Michael Matthews will be out to prove a point in green, but the undoubted favourites for the day’s racing are Andre Greipel and Nacer Bouhanni.
Respectively, their Lotto-Soudal and Cofidis teams will be desperate to deliver them their first stage win of what has been a lean tour. Doing it in Paris almost makes up for not winning a stage for 20 days.
If you’re a sprinter, it’s quite literally The Ashes, the World Cup or the Olympics.
It’s the highest point you can go as a sprinter to win on the Champs-Élysées. Sonny Colbrelli is the other fast man to watch.
Prediction
It’s been a long time since Andre Greipel failed to record a stage win at the Tour de France. Despite his form, the German will find a way to win in Paris ahead of Bouhanni and Matthews.
Join The Roar for live coverage from 12:40am (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks Maggie! Was certainly a good race. SBS coverage was fantastic.
Scott Pryde
Expert
No worries Mango Jack. At this stage it's a bit up in the air. We will work it out over the next few weeks.
Mango Jack
Roar Guru
Thanks for the commentary, Scott. Are you covering the Vuelta?
Maggie
Guest
Thanks Scott et al for your TDF coverage. I've loved the last 3 weeks and feel quite sad it is finished. I thought the SBS coverage was excellent for the whole period. And I particularly enjoyed the various interviews they did during tonight's final stage. Great to hear from several Australian riders who finished the event, and proud to see Michael Matthews on tne podium. So till next year!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Well, with the podium ceremony coming to an end it's time to finish up our live coverage here on The Roar as well. The Tour de France is over for another year, and on behalf of the whole team, it's been fantastic to bring you every moment of this enthralling race. I hope you have enjoyed the coverage. Special thanks to the rest of the team - Sam Brown, Brendon Vella, Connor Bennett and Ryan Day. At this stage, it's unclear whether we will be covering the Vuelta a Espana at the back end of August, but at any rate we will be back for the World Championships and then the Tour Down Under in January. Until next time, Au Revoir!
Scott Pryde
Expert
Here comes Chris Froome. He is about to be presented the final yellow jersey of the Tour de France. He will then be joined by Rigoberto Uran and Romain Bardet, who of course fended off the challenge of Romain Bardet by the smallest of margins.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Scott Pryde
Expert
Warren Barguil straight back up to the podium for the most combative award - also the most controversial, with Thomas De Gendt overlooked.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Orica Scott represented on the podium through Simon Yates, who will don the white jersey. Been a strong ride from Yates - he came into the Tour unsure of his status, but with Esteban Chavez struggling, he assumed leadership and did a great job of it.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Up next is the King of the Mountains classification, with Warren Barguil on his way up - best friends with Matthews, it's been some sort of Tour for Sunweb
Scott Pryde
Expert
It'll be the green jersey next. Michael Matthews with an Australian flag around his shoulders! What a moment.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Groenewegen taking to the stage now. Easily the biggest win of his career so far on the Champs-Elysees.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Podium presentation getting underway now on the Champs-Elysees.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Teams Classification, 2017 Tour de France 1. Team Sky @ 252:04:09 2. AG2R La Mondiale + 7:14 3. Trek-Segafredo + 1:44:46 4. BMC + 1:49:49 5. Orica-Scott + 1:52:21
Scott Pryde
Expert
Young Riders Classification, 2017 Tour de France 1. Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) @ 86:27:09 2. Louis Meintjes (UAE) + 2:06 3. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora) + 27:07 4. Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) + 35:50 5. Guillaume Martin (Wanty-Groupe) + 47:38
Scott Pryde
Expert
King of the Mountains Classification, 2017 Tour de France 1. Warren Barguil (Sunweb) – 169 points 2. Primoz Roglic (Lotto Jumbo) – 80 points 3. Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) – 63 points 4. Darwin Atapuma (UAE) – 55 points 5. Chris Froome (Sky) – 51 points
Scott Pryde
Expert
Points Classification, 2017 Tour de France 1. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) – 370 points 2. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) – 234 points 3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) – 220 points 4. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) – 174 points 5. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) – 168 points 6. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) – 149 points 7. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto Jumbo) - 144 points 8. Chris Froome (Sky) - 133 points 9. Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale Drapac) – 106 points 10. Daniel Martin (Quick Step) – 106 points
Scott Pryde
Expert
General Classification, 2017 Tour de France 1. Chris Froome (Sky) @ 86:20:55 2. Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale) + 0:54 3. Romain Bardet (AG2R) + 2:20 4. Mikel Landa (Sky) + 2:21 5. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 3:05 6. Daniel Martin (Quick-Step) + 4:42 7. Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) + 6:14 8. Louis Meintjes (UAE) + 8:20 9. Alberto Contador (Trek) + 8:49 10. Warren Barguil (Sunweb) + 9:25
Scott Pryde
Expert
TOP TEN, STAGE 21 1. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto Jumbo) @ 2:25:39 2. Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) + 0:00 3. Edvald Boasson Gagen (Dimension Data) + 0:00 4. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) + 0:00 5. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) + 0:00 6. Borut Bozic (Bahrain-Merida) + 0:00 7. Davide Cimolai (FDJ) + 0:00 8. Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo) + 0:00 9. Rudiger Selig (Bora) + 0:00 10. Daniele Bennati (Movistar) + 0:00
Scott Pryde
Expert
So, Lotto-Soudal, Cofidis and Katusha all miss out on stage wins.