Stage 21

The road

At the start

Evans in yellow, Paris ahead

Cadel Evans rode the time trial of his life in Grenoble and took the yellow jersey by 1:34 from Andy Schleck, with Fränk Schleck at 2:30 and Thomas Voeckler — who wore it for ten days — at 3:20. Nothing that matters will change on the road to Paris. What is still open is the sprint on the Champs-Élysées, where Mark Cavendish, green jersey secure and four stages taken, will want the last word of all.

How it was won

1. 122 km to go

   Swift lights the last break

   The truce holds until the Eiffel Tower comes into view, and ends formally the moment the race reaches the Champs-Élysées circuit. Nobody gets clear on the first lap; then Ben Swift goes, and Koren, Paulinho, Riblon and Bak go with him. HTC have a man in the move and no reason at all to chase.

2. 2At the line

   Cavendish, and green at last

   Eisel and Tony Martin set a scorching pace along the Rue de Rivoli, Renshaw guides his leader through the final sweep out of the Place de la Concorde and swings off, and Cavendish unsheathes the sprint for the twentieth time in four years. A fifth stage of this Tour, and the first green jersey of his career. Behind him Cadel Evans rides in as the winner of the 2011 Tour de France.

The result