Paris, there we come! 21 days of suffer for all riders - and joy for some of them - end today in one of tbe most beautiful scenarios in cycling world; Champs-Elysses of Paris.
Today we will see Simon Spilak be crowned as a two-times Tour de France winner, six years after his previous win, which is a record since the Second World War
A breakaway with only 2 riders? This is a gift for the decimated sprinters teams like Evonik
Pichon Zordan
First time through the finish line in the Champs-Elysses, and there’s also an intermediate sprint that for same unknown reason, Van Stayen and Demare are fighting for third place
Intermediate Sprint - Champs-Elysses (1st pass)
Pichon 6
Zordan 4
Demare 2
Once in the circuit, the, now three, with Gaspar joining theearlier duo, breakaway riders aren’t allowed to have more than 1 minute of advantage, with Puma and Nemiroff working hard in the front of the bunch. Thre’s still 40 kms left in this Tour de France!
Slagter punctures! Awful timing, as despite Hugo Boss sending 4 riders to help the Dutchman, with only 20 kms to go and the sprint preparations on, it’s unlikely he’ll make it back to the group, and might lose a couple of places in GC
With 14 kms to go, the breakaway has been caught, and now it’s up to teams like Puma and Nemiroff to continue with a high pace until the last 5 kms, or relax a little until the final kms
Well, if you wonder, they kept the current pace, and now with 4 kms to go, we have very clear trains in the front
Pibernik
Scarponi
Polivoda
Bol
Vanderbiest
Koch
Arndt
Reimer
Dzamastagic
Kuroeda
Demare
Van Stayen
Porsev
Trentin
We also have the battle for the Green Jersey, with Spilak having a 2-point gap to Phinney. Both of them are just behind the sprint trains, looking for the points to win that jersey
The riders are entering the final straight, with 2 km to go - despite having there the Flamme Rouge, it’s a design mistake - and Demare is the best placed been led-out by Arndt perfectly. Nemiroff’s train has messed up a little, while Evonik’s is trying to gain ground going by the inside
Puma’s duo has opened a gap to the rest of the sprinters! This can be the easiest win for Demare, who is starting his sprint with 1,5 km left
800 metres for Demare! Dzamastagic is doing an amazing job for Van Stayen, who is yet to open his sprint, while Nemiroff did an terrible job in the last 3 kms and Vanderbiest lost Polivoda’s wheel
Only 600 metres left for Demare, but both Van Stayen and Trentin are coming much faster than the French champion! This is going to be tight...
250 metres and Demare is starting to fade! Van Stayen is about to be at the same level, while no one else can put a fight
And the winner is Michael Van Stayen! Perfect sprint for the Belgian who ties Demare and Swift with two wins between the sprinters - also Spilak with two, while Phinney has 3 and Taaramae 4.
Third place for Reimer, who beats Trentin and Porsev by milimetres!
Vanderbiest finishes sixth, and Phinney is seventh. He needs Spilak to finish ninth at best to win Green Jersey, but where is the Slovenian?
He has passed his team-mate Alaphilippe in the last 20 metres to win the Green Jersey!! Perfect team work!
Van Stayen says hi from the Champs-Elysses podium and we say goodbye to this amazing race, which has seen Simon Spilak as the winner ahead of Taylor Phinney and Robert Gesink. Thanks for following and see you next year!
