{"id":2064999,"date":"2026-07-27T10:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2064999"},"modified":"2026-07-27T10:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T07:06:02","slug":"the-tour-de-france-finally-got-the-ending-it-always-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2064999","title":{"rendered":"The Tour de France Finally Got the Ending It Always Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"
Mathieu van der Poel collapsed against the barriers on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es after burying himself in a Tour de France finale for the ages.<\/p>\n
\n
The 2026 Tour\u2019s most exhilarating stage came on the final day of racing as yellow jersey Tadej Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel tried to outrun an entire peloton thundering down the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an expression in cycling about emptying the tank. Van der Poel went deeper than that on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we were going to get caught,\u201d he said. \u201cI just put my head down.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s had in the modern era.<\/p>\n
Montmartre gives the Tour a finale fans actually talk about.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The stage he could not stop thinking about<\/h2>\nEpic scenes from Sunday\u2019s wild finale, with Van der Poel and Poga\u010dar off the front. <\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Montmartre finishing circuit delivered an even bigger spectacle the second time around.<\/p>\n
The roar that greets the peloton on Rue Lepic has quickly become one of the signature sights and sounds of the modern Tour.<\/p>\n
Van der Poel had the stage circled on his calendar since abandoning last year\u2019s Tour before hitting Paris.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about this day for a year,\u201d he said. \u201cEven when I was sick at home watching it on television, I was thinking about this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
This year ASO found the sweet spot by extending the run from the last climb to the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es just enough to give the sprinters a realistic chance to chase back turbo-attacks from the likes of Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel.<\/p>\n
The result Sunday was one of the best final stages the Tour has ever seen.<\/p>\n
Stage for the ages<\/h2>\nVan der Poel had this Tour de France stage circled. <\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Sunday surpassed expectation that was already overflowing as Poga\u010dar rolled into Paris poised to win a record-tying fifth yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel \u2014 the two most complete bike racers in the world \u2014 attacked over the final passage and simply rode the rest of the peloton off their wheels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way it went, it\u2019s a dream. It\u2019s incredible,\u201d Van der Poel said. \u201cIt was super hard and to be up there with the best rider in the world, all my respect for Tadej.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closing sprint to the line was rock-of-ages stuff.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s most glamorous finishing straight.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Van der Poel found one final acceleration to crack Poga\u010dar 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.<\/p>\n
Sunday felt like a monument, not a final-stage ceremonial parade.<\/p>\n
Why Montmartre has to stay<\/h2>\nRiders head up Rue Lepic at the Tour de France. <\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Winning in Paris was always a badge of honor for any Tour sprinter. Now half the peloton can dream of winning what\u2019s suddenly one of the most prestigious dates on the calendar.<\/p>\n
Sunday in Paris is no longer just hijinks and champagne toasts, it\u2019s a full-gas race worthy of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was one race I still wanted to win in my career, this was one of them,\u201d Van der Poel said.<\/p>\n
The dusty tradition of finishing the Tour with a bunch sprint \u2014 there have been time trials and the occasional surprise finale \u2014 no longer seemed the fitting way to end cycling\u2019s greatest race in the Poga\u010dar era.<\/p>\n
The longer run-in made all the difference. Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij, and any other sprinter left with legs still had a chance.<\/p>\n
\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see the yellow jersey fighting for the win here on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es. It\u2019s amazing to see Mathieu winning,\u201d said Pedersen, who crossed the line third. \u201cThen it comes down to one and a half meter and four guys on the line. What a finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 Poga\u010dar threaded through Paris traffic islands and cobbles.<\/p>\n
But seeing the sport\u2019s two superstars risking all to win will hopefully cement in the minds of race organizers that the new circuit is here to stay.<\/p>\n
The Tour de France finally has the modern ending worthy of the race itself.<\/p>\n
Van der Poel pushed to the limit<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
MVDP went absolutely to the limit \ud83e\udd75<\/p>\n
Mathieu Van der Poel crossed the finish line completely exhausted after winning Stage 21 of the Tour de France on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in an unforgettable finale pic.twitter.com\/lSUuQCHInF<\/p>\n
\u2014 Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 26, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/XP102258-2.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated July 27, 2026 07:51AM Mathieu van der Poel collapsed against the barriers on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es after burying himself in a Tour de France finale for the ages. The 2026 Tour\u2019s most exhilarating stage came on the final day of racing as yellow jersey Tadej Poga\u010dar and Van der Poel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2064999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2064999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2064999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2064999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2064999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2064999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8D_0792-720x655.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Van](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_7588-720x450.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Rue](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/XP103728-3-720x478.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")