The Tour de France Finally Got the Ending It Always Needed

Mathieu van der Poel collapsed against the barriers on the Champs-Élysées after burying himself in a Tour de France finale for the ages.

The 2026 Tour’s most exhilarating stage came on the final day of racing as yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar and Van der Poel tried to outrun an entire peloton thundering down the Champs-Élysées.

There’s an expression in cycling about emptying the tank. Van der Poel went deeper than that on Sunday.

“I thought we were going to get caught,” he said. “I just put my head down.”

The Dutch classics star was so utterly spent he could barely unclip and collapsed onto the cobbles in a fetal position. He buried his face in his hands and lay on the ground for minutes unable to celebrate as Paris erupted into pandemonium.

If there was any lingering debate about the madness on Montmartre, it disappeared in the final 400 meters in arguably the best finish the Tour’s had in the modern era.

Montmartre gives the Tour a finale fans actually talk about.

The stage he could not stop thinking about

The Montmartre finishing circuit delivered an even bigger spectacle the second time around.

The roar that greets the peloton on Rue Lepic has quickly become one of the signature sights and sounds of the modern Tour.

Van der Poel had the stage circled on his calendar since abandoning last year’s Tour before hitting Paris.

“I’ve been thinking about this day for a year,” he said. “Even when I was sick at home watching it on television, I was thinking about this moment.”

Last year, Tour owners ASO upended the traditional sprint finish and incorporated the wild and punchy Montmartre circuit that electrified the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

This year ASO found the sweet spot by extending the run from the last climb to the Champs-Élysées just enough to give the sprinters a realistic chance to chase back turbo-attacks from the likes of Pogačar and Van der Poel.

The result Sunday was one of the best final stages the Tour has ever seen.

Stage for the ages

Sunday surpassed expectation that was already overflowing as Pogačar rolled into Paris poised to win a record-tying fifth yellow jersey.

Massive crowds waited on Montmartre and erupted into a frenzy as the peloton raced three circuits as if it were the Tour of Flanders, not a final-day romp on the streets of Paris.

Pogačar and Van der Poel — the two most complete bike racers in the world — attacked over the final passage and simply rode the rest of the peloton off their wheels.

“The way it went, it’s a dream. It’s incredible,” Van der Poel said. “It was super hard and to be up there with the best rider in the world, all my respect for Tadej.”

The closing sprint to the line was rock-of-ages stuff.

A chase group formed and the gap was 18 seconds coming off the hill, then 11 seconds as they swept past the Arc de Triomphe. Then five seconds at the red kite as the riders powered onto cycling’s most glamorous finishing straight.

Van der Poel found one final acceleration to crack Pogačar with 400 meters to go, looked back once, and threw his bike across the line just ahead of the sprinters led by Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen.

Sunday felt like a monument, not a final-stage ceremonial parade.

Why Montmartre has to stay

Winning in Paris was always a badge of honor for any Tour sprinter. Now half the peloton can dream of winning what’s suddenly one of the most prestigious dates on the calendar.

Sunday in Paris is no longer just hijinks and champagne toasts, it’s a full-gas race worthy of the Tour de France.

“If there was one race I still wanted to win in my career, this was one of them,” Van der Poel said.

The dusty tradition of finishing the Tour with a bunch sprint — there have been time trials and the occasional surprise finale — no longer seemed the fitting way to end cycling’s greatest race in the Pogačar era.

The longer run-in made all the difference. Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij, and any other sprinter left with legs still had a chance.

“It’s nice to see the yellow jersey fighting for the win here on the Champs-Élysées. It’s amazing to see Mathieu winning,” said Pedersen, who crossed the line third. “Then it comes down to one and a half meter and four guys on the line. What a finish.”

Of course, the risks are real. Even with the yellow jersey effectively secured before the Montmartre circuits, every UAE director was chewing their nails as Pogačar threaded through Paris traffic islands and cobbles.

But seeing the sport’s two superstars risking all to win will hopefully cement in the minds of race organizers that the new circuit is here to stay.

The Tour de France finally has the modern ending worthy of the race itself.

Van der Poel pushed to the limit