Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the Stage 21 Sprint on the Champs Elysees to close the 2022 Tour de France.
It was a frantic last 3km, with the trains forming up to lead their sprinters. The lead men soon ran out and the sprinters gathered near the front.
The sprinters were spread across the width of the road, with Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) going early on one side but unable to match Philipsen’s kick on the other side of the Champs Elysées.
Rounding out the top 10 after an incredible Tour de France was Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), what an incredible run the young British rider has had.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), the favorite of the day, had disappeared from the front of the race before the start of the sprint. It became clear why he had done it later, when he crossed the line arm-in-arm with his team: Jonas Vingegaard’s yellow shirt in the middle.
The stage was the usual spectacle we’ve become accustomed to in the last stage of the Tour: photos, champagne, fake attacks and lots of posing for the cameras as the peloton made its way from somewhere near Paris to the Champs Elysees .
But no one was complaining and we’ll all be back in front of our TVs to watch them again next year.
Once the remaining riders of the 2022 Tour de France reached the famous boulevard and had eight laps to go before the final crossing of the finish line, the pace picked up and the race began.
Attacks started and were quickly recovered or the sprint teams always kept them in check before the final sprint.
Stage 21 of the 2022 Tour de France: textbook final stage
From not far from the finish line, stage 21 of the 2022 Tour de France ventured away from central Paris to take in some sights and allow for the obligatory photo op of the winners (and jersey wearers) celebrating with champagne. at the head of the pack.
The only one to wear the jersey, but not the winner, was Simon Geschke (Cofidis). The unwitting Miss Havisham was forced by convention and contract to wear the polka dot jersey since she lost the lead in the race in stage 18, at which point there was no chance of her regaining it.
At the drop of the flag, white and second overall Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), green jersey Wout van Aert and this year’s overall winner Jonas Vingegaard (both Jumbo-Visma) attacked from the front . The smiles on the faces of the former pair, possibly thinking of going clear, were not matched by the latter, Vingegaard, who probably wanted an easy day and left the ball to the sprinters’ teams.
Jumbo-Visma rolled to the front and in a touching gesture held up the bibs of his three teammates who started but did not finish the 2022 Tour de France.
Ineos Grenadiers left the back of the peloton for a team photo, with all eight starters still present, to celebrate winning the team classification.
While posing in their yellow helmets and yellow bibs, the six Danish riders who will reach the finish line in Paris chatted for a while at the front, posing for the cameras.
Geschke popped up again, going over the KOM line to take the only point available on today’s stage ahead of a slow pack. He waved to the fans and smiled, showing that he’s a good sport.
The posing and slapping stopped at the first step of the finish line, which marked eight laps on the Champs Elysees between the riders and the end of the 2022 Tour de France.
Several riders tried to break away, hitting all the mini-cobbles as they tried to make a gap on the peloton. Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën) and Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) got away first before being joined by a few other drivers.
The first were Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Daniel Felipe Martínez (Ineos Grenadiers).
With the sprint teams at the head of the main pack, the doomed break lead barely flickered above 10 seconds. It didn’t last long and they were back in the fold.
EF Education-EasyPost, lacking a total sprinter, were the most active when they relaunched. Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) joined the EF pair of Owain Doull and Jonas Rutsch for a short ride on the Champs-Élysées. A two-man time trial from Groupama-FDJ hit the front of the race to put some more firepower into the doomed enterprise.
With 25 kilometers to go, they were 20 seconds ahead of a fast-moving pack. Doull was the first to give in to the inevitable but the remaining quartet kept the pressure on the pedals before falling one by one. Schachmann and Rutsch were the last to be caught with 6.9 kilometers to go as the buzzer sounded for the final lap.
Perhaps tired of the uncompetitive nature of the final stage, Pogacar followed the attack of the Ineos pair of Geraint Thomas and Filippo Ganna to go within seven meters for no more than a minute; a good bit of excitement for the last lap.
From there we moved into the lead, with the surprise (and disappointment) of seeing Van Aert drop back through the pack making it clear that he would not be competing in the sprint.
His reasoning became clear after Philipsen had won: Jumbo-Visma crossed the line as a team, arm in arm.
Tour de France 2022: Stage 20 results
1. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck, in 2-58-322. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco, at the same time3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, st4. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, st5. Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies, st6. Jeremy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM, st7. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe, st8. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, st9. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkea-Samsic, st10. Fred Wright (GBR) Bahrain Victorious, st
Final general classification of the Tour de France 2022
1. Jonas Vingegaard (So) Jumbo-Visma, 79-33-2 Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, 2-4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7-224. David Gaudu (F) Groupama-FDJ, at 13-3 Alexander Vlasov (Russia) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 15-466. Nairo Quintana (Col) Archea-Samsic, at 16-3 Romain Bardet (De) Team DSM, at 18-1 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarket–Wanty–Gobert Materials, at 18-449. Aleksey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Kazakhstan, at 22-5610. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 24-52