{"id":285561,"date":"2025-07-23T15:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285561\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T15:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T15:51:14","slug":"sprinters-fuming-over-no-champs-finale-at-tour-de-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/285561\/","title":{"rendered":"Sprinters Fuming Over No-Champs Finale at Tour de France"},"content":{"rendered":"

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VALENCE, France (Velo) \u2014 Sprinters in the Tour de France<\/a> are steaming that the closing-day sprint down the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es is off the menu in this year\u2019s Tour de France.<\/p>\n

This Tour\u2019s 21st stage is typically filled with madcap hijinks and a ceremonial romp ahead of a tidy final sprint down the most famous boulevard in Paris in what many consider the unofficial world championships of sprinters.<\/p>\n

Not this year.<\/p>\n

Race organizers are directing the pack over the radical Montmartre circuit that was used with dramatic effect at the Paris Olympics last summer.<\/p>\n

That might mean spectacle until the closing moments of the Tour, but sprinters are steaming.<\/p>\n

Their one chance to shine has turned into another sufferfest with little hope of contesting for victory in the most prestigious win of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate it. I think it\u2019s terrible what they\u2019ve done,\u201d Jayco-AlUla\u2019s Luke Durbridge told Velo. \u201cIt\u2019s the holy grail of sprinting and there are no sprints anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey put sprint intermediates uphill. They put 3000 meters of climbing in a sprint stage and now this, so why be a sprinter and why come to the Tour de France?\u201d<\/p>\n

50th anniversary, sprinters not invited
\n\"Evenepoel\"Evenepoel attacks last year of Montmartre. (Photo: Alex Broadway\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Innovation is one thing, messing with tradition is something else.<\/p>\n

This summer is the 50th anniversary of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es finale, and after missing out last year in Nice for the first time since 1975 due to the Paris Olympic Games, race organizers wanted to do something special.<\/p>\n

So they cut-and-pasted the Olympic Montmartre circuit used in both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s road races to spectacular effect, and squeezed it into the program of the Tour\u2019s final stage.<\/p>\n

The pack will race four laps on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es and then head for three laps over the climb up Rue Lepic.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s a fast descent onto the finishing straight on the Champs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a good idea for the Tour,\u201d Tudor Pro Cycling\u2019s Matteo Trentin told Velo. \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re pretty scared about it because if you see the Olympics, it was just 50 riders there, and it was already a big mess. Now we\u2019re sending the whole peloton over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, racers will be on edge for one more hit-out that could rattle the GC and see riders hitting the ground.<\/p>\n

Ruining the Parisian romp?
\n\"JordiJordi Meeus is the last sprinter to win on the Champs. (Photo: Marco Bertorello \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The high-octane 10 laps on the cobbles of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es to close out the Tour is arguably one of sport\u2019s most spectacular finales.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tradition that dates back to 1975, but race organizers are scrambling the script for Sunday.<\/p>\n

While the Montmartre circuit will be great for TV, many riders are on edge when they look ahead to Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody likes it,\u201d Visma-Lease a Bike\u2019s Matteo Jorgenson told Velo. \u201cBut the decision has been made, and it\u2019s unfortunate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that we can\u2019t talk with people in the peloton and celebrate the event that we just suffered through.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019ll probably be like any other stage, it\u2019ll be a race,\u201d Jorgenson said. \u201cThere\u2019ll probably be gaps in GC and guys going for the stage, and it\u2019ll be hectic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#TDF2025<\/a> \u2013 Etape 21<\/p>\n

4 passes on the classic Champs-Elys\u00e9es circuit before setting off 3 times on rue Lepic! Here\u2019s the route for this final stage.<\/p>\n

4 passages sur le circuit classique des Champs-Elys\u00e9es avant de partir 3 fois \u00e0 l\u2019assaut de la rue Lepic ! Voici le\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/MishJmsARx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tour de France\u2122 (@LeTour) May 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jorgenson attacked over Montmartre in last summer\u2019s Olympic Games to finish in the top 10 but said the climb isn\u2019t really that challenging for the GC climbers, but possibly too steep for the pure sprinters.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the nerves and tension that make it one more long day in the saddle.<\/p>\n

Neutralizing the GC
\n\"Evenepoel\"The Olympics delivered. a spectacular race in 2024, but is it too much for the Tour? (Photo: ODD ANDERSEN\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

What he and others are worried about are crashes, nerves, spills, and possible late-hour shakeups in the GC after surviving three harrowing weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going for safety, but I don\u2019t see that as really safe,\u201d Trentin said. \u201cIf we keep the 3-kilometer rule or whatever, where the GC guys have to go over the last lap, then I will see like pretty much of a mess. Let\u2019s see. I hope to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources said discussions are ongoing behind the scenes to determine if some sort of time neutralization might be in the cards.<\/p>\n

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My opinion on Tour de France Champs Elysees route change with adding Montmartre climb is clear\u2026<\/p>\n

The last stage of the Tour de France is one of the most watched days of cycling for non-usual cycling viewers, if not the most. And you simply can\u2019t have there a race where all you\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/hyZX2DfVsz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Luk\u00e1\u0161 Ronald Luk\u00e1cs (@lucasaganronald) May 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The GC could be taken before or during the Montmartre circuit to ensure there are no unnecessary risks or prevent late-hour U-turns.<\/p>\n

But some ask, if you do that, why even bother?<\/p>\n

This is seen more as an insult to the peloton\u2019s speed demons.<\/p>\n

Durbridge pointed out a larger trend of how the bigger pure sprinters in the bunch are being squeezed out by Tour race designers who are packing in more vertical and more technical courses, even into stages that could end in a bunch sprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese big guys \u2014 80 kilos \u2014 they suffer over the Alps just to get to Paris to have the Champs, and now they\u2019re taking that away from them,\u201d Durbridge said. \u201cI\u2019m pretty upset about it, and I think a lot of people share my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The champagne toasts will have to wait
\n\"Vingegaard\"The early stage hijinks might be off the cards Sunday. (Photo: Daniel Cole \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

No more champagne toasts. The elite sprinters will have to race their guts out to make it to the line.<\/p>\n

All this means it\u2019s going to be full-on racing on the final day of Geraint Thomas\u2019 Tour de France career.<\/p>\n

The 2018 Tour winner is bracing for one more crazy day in his final pedal strokes at the Tour, but he seems unfazed by the change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people are a bit disappointed, and it\u2019s kind of nice to stick to tradition, but it\u2019s certainly going to add different elements to the race,\u201d Thomas told Velo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot tougher and a lot more stressful fighting into that climb,\u201d Thomas said with a weary shrug. \u201cThat\u2019s how bike racing\u2019s going these days. So yeah, we\u2019ll get stuck in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tour keeps evolving. Gravel, cobblestones, impossible climbs \u2014 they\u2019ve all been added to the Tour menu of suffering.<\/p>\n

There is some discussion that this will be a one-off to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary, and the sprinters will have their day in the sun back in 2026 in a return to the traditional finale.<\/p>\n

Riders can only race what the Tour organizers hand them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe organization is boss. The Olympics were beautiful to watch, and if that\u2019s what they want, for me that\u2019s no problem,\u201d Oliver Naesen (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) told Velo.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es is like the worlds for sprinters historically, and we have the champagne moment for the different jerseys and all of that, but why can\u2019t it be a real race? I think it\u2019s perfectly fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Il y a 50 ans, le 20 juillet 1975, c\u2019\u00e9tait la premi\u00e8re arriv\u00e9e du Tour de France sur les Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.
Le d\u00e9part de cette 63\u00e8me \u00e9dition \u00e9tait \u00e0 Charleroi en Belgique.
Le Belge Walter Godefroot \u00e9tait vainqueur de cette derni\u00e8re \u00e9tape.#TourdeFrance<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kYiT0W6uQ6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 P\u00e8re Louis \u2020 \u0646 (@ldevilloutreys) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sprinters suffered over the Alps and Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es to survive and have a chance to win in Paris.<\/p>\n

This year, they might have had their last chance on Wednesday in Valence.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised to see a trickle of sprinters heading for home across two brutal stages in Alps.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s no chance to win, why keep suffering?<\/p>\n