The riders have to ride up Montmartre three times in a row in Paris, making it a very different race. The peloton is divided about the change.
Tadej Pogacar thinks the finish in Paris is one of the most beautiful parts of the Tour de France. “We’re cycling in the mountains with 180 men for weeks. And then at the end we suddenly ride in the streets of one of the biggest cities in the world,” said the yellow jersey wearer on Saturday after the twentieth stage. “Isn’t that great?”
Pogacar will still be able to enjoy the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde on Sunday. But he will be able to cycle less calmly through the center of Paris than in his previous three Tour victories.
The finish line of the final stage is still on the Champs-Élysées. Only the riders are sent over a narrow and difficult cobbled hill three times before that. The Côte de la Butte Montmartre is 1.1 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 5.9 percent. After the last passage it is only 6.1 kilometers to the finish and therefore a mass sprint seems excluded.
Pogacar – like the rest of the peloton – does not know what to expect from this new course. “It won’t be a classic, because we’ve already ridden twenty stages and the stage is relatively short (132 kilometers, ed.). We will only decide on the local circuit how much risk we will take with the team. I still have to stay focused anyway.”
Tour organization saw an opportunity through the Games
Tv viewers mainly saw the beautiful images of a packed Montmartre during the Olympic road races in Paris last summer. Tour organization ASO saw an opportunity to fundamentally change the last stage of the biggest cycling race in the world.
The idea started in last year’s Tour, when the final stage had to be moved to Nice due to the Games in Paris. In the Southern French city there was no quiet procession, but a time trial. “We were very happy with Nice,” Tour boss Christian Prudhomme told Cycling Weekly last week.
The road races during the Games did the rest. The Tour also wanted the spectacle and the beautiful photos and videos of the Montmartre. “Prudhomme had the dream to change the final stage a bit,” said course builder Thierry Gouvenou in an interview with The Athletic.
“The finish on the Champs-Élysées always worked well, we were in our comfort zone there. But then came the Games. The race over the Montmartre made a big impression on us. That was the crucial moment for this turnaround.”
Criticism from peloton on dangerous Montmartre
The ASO announced the new style final stage in May. There was direct criticism from the peloton. “When I first heard about it, I immediately thought: a lot of guys won’t be happy with this,” Pogacar said.
Riders and teams mainly fear dangerous situations on the Montmartre. The cobbled climb is barely wide enough for a car in some places. That is actually too narrow for a Tour peloton, plus the whole circus that rides in front of and behind the riders.
“At the Games they went up with fifty men, because the field of participants was much smaller,” said Jonas Vingegaard, the number two in the standings, before the Tour. “Now we’re going up the Montmartre with 150 men. That’s going to cause a lot of stress and danger.”
Team leader Grischa Niermann of Visma-Lease a Bike agrees with the words of his leader. “The differences in the standings are large, that may ensure that not much will happen on Sunday. But it will certainly be a dangerous stage. I would have preferred the traditional final stage.”
Pogacar expects that there will be enough “mutual respect” in the peloton to prevent major accidents. “It is certainly not the easiest course,” said the future Tour winner. “But I don’t expect much difference with the normal final stage. Yes, I can now perhaps compete for the victory.”
Plan B in case of rain
According to weather forecasts, it could rain in Paris during the final stage of the Tour. The cobblestones of the Montmartre will then become very slippery.
That is why the organization has a plan B. If the rain is too heavy, it can be decided at any time not to count any time differences for the general classification. Then there is only a battle for the stage victory.