Stage 21

The road

At the start

Cavendish, one more on the Champs

A procession into Paris and then eight laps of the Champs-Élysées, where the green jersey has one last chance at the record: Mark Cavendish came to this Tour without a guaranteed place in the team and stands on 34 stage wins, level with Merckx, on a finish he has won four times. Pogačar rides in 5:20 clear of Vingegaard. The champagne first, then the sprint.

How it was won

1. 139 km to go

   The last points

   Three men are up the road as the sprinters contest the intermediate on the Champs-Élysées, the final skirmish of a points classification Cavendish has long since won.

2. 2At the line

   The Champs-Élysées

   Van Aert launches from 230 metres and holds it, beating Philipsen by less than a wheel. Cavendish, on the best wheel in the race, cannot come around and bangs his bars — the 35th win, and the record outright, will have to wait. Ahead of them all, Pogačar rides in with his second Tour de France, the green, polka-dot and white jerseys all decided behind him.

The result