Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 21: Chatou – Paris Champs-Élysées, 108.4 km

[Gigs_98]

Incredible from Van Aert. If prior to the Tour someone had told me to pick the three stages which combined would make the most prestigious set of stage wins, I probably would have picked precisely the three stages he won.

 

[red_flanders]

WVA is a total mutant! Amazing stuff, I could not be happier for him.

 

[Leinster]

What was the reasoning behind moving the finish?

The junction before was changed recently, and made narrower; apparently to allow better bike access. I guess the move was to prevent too much of a scrum to get to that last corner.

 

[Rollthedice]

Wonderful Eurosport, a sober Wiggo in Paris and a Japanese looking like Arashiro in space. Vive Le Tour!

 

[benzwire]

Normally I'm bummed out once the Tour ends, but we have the Olympic road race in less than a week!

 

[JosefK]

I cannot express how glad I am that Cavendish didn't win. Low, I know.

It's okay. We need (subjectively) villains to root against as well as heroes to root for in our fandom. Yin as well as Yang.

 

[Andy262]

Cav had the chance to get out before Philipsen drifted over but didn't take it.

 

[titan31]

1 in his 1st Tour, 2 in 2nd, 3 in 3rd,... Quick maths show us that he'll have the record in 2026.

I forgot 2019 actually. Does the TTT count then in that year too?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Incredible from Van Aert. If prior to the Tour someone had told me to pick the three stages which combined would make the most prestigious set of stage wins, I probably would have picked precisely the three stages he won.

Id probably go for Portet, hardest MTF which will be a classic Tour MTF in the coming years, but yeah insane

 

[tobydawq]

I forgot 2019 actually. Does the TTT count then in that year too?

No.

 

[Bonimenier]

I forgot 2019 actually. Does the TTT count then in that year too?

Even though he was the strongest there, I wouldn't count it to his personal victories.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Took 3 weeks for the teams to work out how to derail Quick Step's leadout, essentially.

I'm pretty conflicted. I like the fact that the record is held by somebody who won all the styles of race rather than just one style of stage so the fact Cavendish was unable to usurp Merckx's record but only match it is in many ways preferable, but simultaneously, one of the things about sprint wins is that they're often eminently forgettable, individually; other than the specific cases like Milan-San Remo and the Worlds, most sprint wins, especially in stage races, tend to be only memorable as part of a statistic. Cavendish holding the record for most stage wins but without really any wins that would go down in the legend of the sport. But if he broke that record at the unofficial Sprinters' Worlds in Paris? That would be different. We haven't had a truly 'special' Champs Elysées moment since 2005, and if Cav had broken the record on the Champs, it would have been such an iconic moment, creating the finality that would be both a huge Champs Elysées moment and would give us a special, memorable win that would go down in Tour lore in a way no other sprint win possibly could, and would have also been the best possible way for him to bow out of the sport if he so wished, twelve years after his first win on the Champs.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Cav had the chance to get out before Philipsen drifted over but didn't take it.

It looked like his legs said no, not today

He has looked a bit jaded this week, maybe not surprising

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

Where's Mezgec? Another Slovenian must win for sure, no?

4th? Pathetic for a Slovenian...

 

[yaco]

Cavendish didn't have the legs today - Leinster was correct about Mezgec and Matthews in the intermediate sprint - Final sprint - Mezgec 4th and Matthews 7th.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'd imagine their initials are EM...

Bernard Hinault in 1979 (stage 23 was a bunch sprint, he won FOUR time trials - two of which were mountain time trials - plus the Pau stage he won from a group of 13, despite a flat run-in, was categorised as a mountain stage)

 

[Wvv]

This was a Tour of phenomenons.

Wout being the one I like most of all. Out of this world combination of stage wins in nowadays cycling.

Chapeau. Deepest respect.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

GREAT Wout!! 3 VERY difficult/prestigious stages to win..
where was Morkof?
can find a video os last 1,5km..

 

[Big Doopie]

I am curious who is the last rider to win a mountain, sprint, and time trial stage in a GT?

well i know eddy merckx did it in 1974.

even won the last stage sprint (the last time it ended in the Cipale velodrome) when his old buddy Sercu cut him off and was DQ-ed.

he won TT stages.

He won a couple of mountain stages.

but he has one up on WvA, because he also won two flat stages breaking away from the entire peloton and winning on his own (he won 8 stages that year).

I remember because I watched them on RTB on a black and white TV.

 

[perico]

For all the talk about Merckx, a lot of people seem to forget the other most dominant rider in cycling history and just how good Bernard Hinault was, and that he won the Champs stage 2 times.

 

[Red Rick]

For all the talk about Merckx, a lot of people seem to forget the other most dominant rider in cycling history and just how good Bernard Hinault was.

Tbh I have no idea why. For the Dutch I can imagine it has a little to do with Merckx being a Dutch speaking rider, but other that....

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Double up on the positives. Aert won and Cav lost. Perfect.

 

[tobydawq]

Took 3 weeks for the teams to work out how to derail Quick Step's leadout, essentially.

I'm pretty conflicted. I like the fact that the record is held by somebody who won all the styles of race rather than just one style of stage so the fact Cavendish was unable to usurp Merckx's record but only match it is in many ways preferable, but simultaneously, one of the things about sprint wins is that they're often eminently forgettable, individually; other than the specific cases like Milan-San Remo and the Worlds, most sprint wins, especially in stage races, tend to be only memorable as part of a statistic. Cavendish holding the record for most stage wins but without really any wins that would go down in the legend of the sport. But if he broke that record at the unofficial Sprinters' Worlds in Paris? That would be different. We haven't had a truly 'special' Champs Elysées moment since 2005, and if Cav had broken the record on the Champs, it would have been such an iconic moment, creating the finality that would be both a huge Champs Elysées moment and would give us a special, memorable win that would go down in Tour lore in a way no other sprint win possibly could, and would have also been the best possible way for him to bow out of the sport if he so wished, twelve years after his first win on the Champs.

I think Wout winning on the Champs the day after winning a TT in the same race where he won the Mont Ventoux stage qualifies as a truly special moment.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Bahrain win the team classification, I like to think somewhere Unzue is giving a disgruntled slap on the back of the head to Marc Soler, who is sat there in a full body cast.

"Next time we bring FIVE leaders."

Know only this. The 'star will be back.

 

[Salvarani]

Hats off to WVA. Most complete rider in the peloton.

Hats off to Cavendish for an incredible comeback. Hope he shows up next year to try and break the record for most stages won.

Hats off to Vingegaard for his breakthrough in this race. Hopefully he becomes a regular to compete against Pog and Bernal for the next few years.

Hats off to Pog. A second Tour win. He made it look easy but that is also a testament to his greatness.