After 3 weeks with lots of climbing the peloton has reached Paris for the prestigious Champs Elysees finale.
The sprinter competition is going towards zero and not many have made it which makes this stage somehow less entertaining for many I guess.
Nevertheless todays winner will always keep this win and as all sprinters, who won a sprint finish in the 2014 Tour have abandoned already, we will surely get someone completely new or even a GC rider or breakaway?
While this would be quite a shame of course, chances never were bigger.
131 riders at the start. So ~60 had to leave the race already. All the big stars of the 2014 event in the first rows with Andy Schleck being the clear dominator having 3 jerseys. For him Vanendert is wearing the KoM shirt and Phinney the point jersey.
Special mention for Cornu, who is showing the last bit of Bpost colours in this race. All other teams have at least 4 riders left and only wildcard team Bacardi and Tinkoff with all 8 riders left.
The stage is starting quite late in the evening redness. And only 1 rider is disturbing the Vesuvio celebration behind by starting a solo breakaway attempt: Anacona
The mountain goat surely not on his favoured terrain today but once more showing the VW jersey into the camera.
Some sprinters are left and two of those send their team mates to the front to guarantee a sprint finish. Only one breakaway rider surely helps them.
We see Project 1t4i for Wesley Kreder and Becherovka for todays biggest favourite Howard.
Other sprinters to watch are Tzortzakis, Von Hoff and Demare. Also riders like Kolesnikov, Ulissi or Phinney have to be watched.
With 115km to go we have almost reached Paris as easily to see in the background. Perfect conditions today with no rain. Though the wind is going quite strong.
As first rider Anacona reaches the Champs Elysees. The gap became a bit smaller with 3'30 now.
Not the smartest move by Howard. Instead of relaxing in the peloton he goes for the intermediate sprint and takes 2nd ahead of Ulissi. Only those two decided to sprint.
Sprint
Anacona
6
Howard
4
Ulissi
2
40km left and still 2'15 for Anacona, who just went around the Arc de Triomphe. The peloton is seeing him perfectly now starting the roundabout on the other road side.
7km later they only have gained 20s on him with Porte doing the most for Vesuvio. The sprinter teams needed a short rest but we see Vanendert and Mollema on the left as also Novak and Kreuziger in the middle for their sprinters.
And of course the GC podium in the first rows to avoid any crash or even split.
Just a bit later Peoject 1t4i and Becherovka accelerate again. And for the first time today also Lotto with one rider for Steele Von Hoff.
All teams with 2-3 riders each now. This obviously makes sprint trains hard later on as those teams are also reduced.
The high pace leads to some splits. But no GC rider involved and still 108 riders in the fast peloton, who is on their last lap 10km to go.
6km and a tiny 24s gap for Anacona. This could eventually work but the sprinter teams want that finish.
Surprisingly we see 3 pretty decent sprint trains. How much energy do those riders still have? After 3 weeks it`s not just about the position but a lot more about your legs.
König
Novak
Mollema
Howard
Sinkeldam
Spilak
Kreder
Phinney
Lecuisinier
Demare
Tzortzakis
Pluchkin
Schleck
Madrazo
Von Hoff
Ulissi
Ladagnous
Reijnen
Kolesnikov
It was a nice attempt but the strong Becherovka train is catching him before the last corner.
And so we will see the wanted sprint finish with Howard getting an excellent leadout by König, who did a pretty good job here taking a a top20 GC himself.
The other trains look far weaker as they lack the last bit of energy. In especially the Festina duo Demare/Tzortzakis look tired and Von Hoff, Ulissi, Ladagnous, Reijnen are far off already.
Sinkeldam wants to bring Kreder back to the front but the young Dutch can`t follow. Totally exhausted he opens a gap and his leadout goes for himself.
The same just happens on the left with Demare gapping Tzortzakis.
And as König leaves the front it`s Novak taking over. They might not be the fastest sprinters obviously but they seem to be much fresher than others. Perfect wheel of course for Spilak and Phinney, who was expected to be a great threat for the sprinters today.
But when Howard starts his sprint nobody is able to follow. Sinkeldam quite long in the wind already and Demare could eventually become dangerous but at the moment looking slower than the Aussie.
Still those three are in the top positions and only 800m left. Novak still in 4th position with Spilak and Phinney waiting behind him for the right moment.
The winner looks decided but behind the GC riders pass the next riders. Phinney, Spilak, Pluchkin, Schleck, Amador. They are all there.
A big win for Howard. Of all sprinters he recovered the best. Well done to him.
His climbing skills will surely help him in the next years as well as other sprinters struggle a lot more in the mountains.
Phinney takes 2nd ahead of Pluchkin. Spilak and Amador next ahead of Kolesnikov, who was not placed well enough to play a bigger role today. And then Andy Schleck as 7th celebrating his Tour de France win. Huge congrats to him as well of course.
Demare and Sinkeldam coming in next with top10 sprints at least. The other sprinters all further behind today.
