Champs-Élysées stage in Tour de France

The Tour de France has finished on the Champs-Élysées every year since 1975. In the first edition of 1903, the finish was at Ville d'Avray; from 1904 to 1967 in Parc des Princes track and from 1968 to 1974 at the Vélodrome de Vincennes track.

Due to the high profile of the last day, the stage is prestigious. The overall Tour placings are typically settled before the final stage so the racing is often for the glory and/or to settle the sprinter's competition (maillot vert).

Traditionally, the stage starts with champagne served by the race leader's team, on the road photo-opportunities and joking around. As the riders approach Paris, the racing heats up as the sprinters and their teams begin the real racing of the day. When the riders reach central Paris, they enter the Champs-Élysées riding up the Rue de Rivoli, on to the Place de la Concorde and then swing right on to the Champs-Élysées itself. The riders ride laps (up towards the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs-Élysées, round les Tuileries and the Louvre and across the Place de la Concorde back to the Champs-Élysées).

The last stage has been the setting for dramatic moments. In 1989, Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by 58 seconds over a 24km time trial from Versailles. In doing so, he closed a 50-second gap to win the 1989 Tour de France by eight seconds. It was the first time trial final stage on the Champs-Élysées. The 1964, 1965 and 1967 Tours finished with time trials to the Parc des Princes, and the 1968 to 1971 stages had time trials to the Vélodrome de Vincennes (Cipale).

In 1991, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov clipped his wheels on barriers. With less than 100m left he tumbled head-over-heels in a spectacular crash. After he regained consciousness, he was helped across the line to clinch the sprinters' competition (the maillot vert). In 2001, Erik Zabel caught Stuart O'Grady at the final moment in the same competition. [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/2001/tour01/results/results_stage_20.shtml Zabel bags the green in exciting finale] ] In 2003, the green jersy was settled by a close finish between Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwen finishing 2nd and 3rd respectivly, this meant that Baden Cooke finished with 216 points to Robbie McEwen's 214. In 2005, Alexander Vinokourov succeeded in a breakaway during the last kilometre and, because of his stage win and bonus seconds, overtook Levi Leipheimer for fifth position overall. [ [http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/tour05/?id=results/tour0521 Suddenly seven] ]

References