Paris Baby! - Stage 21
After a huge overnight slog from down near the south coast up to Paris, the riders will be greeted with the sight of the Champs Elysee - the thought which has no doubt kept them going since Monaco.
Do I need to tell you about Paris? Oh, okay, I will. It’s the capital of France, it’s famously expensive, and I will be reporting there live (or as live as can be expected when I’m over excited and possibly inebriated) on Sunday. The tour has finished on the Champs Elysee since 1975 - prior to that it finished in a stadium just to the west of Paris - and it’s the perfect opportunity for showboating, sprinting, or desperately trying to grasp those last few seconds needed to put you on the podium. It’s a circuit race that covers 164km through the tourist spots and sights of the city before finishing on the Champs Elysee, which is perhaps fittingly French for Elysian Fields - the final resting place of the heroic and brave in Greek Mythology. A title deserved of most riders in this crazy event.
I’m writing this in advance so as to get it to you before I leave, but as of today, I can’t see any big upsets taking place on the boulevard. Any major alterations to the GC will have occurred on the Ventoux, and I imagine today will be chance for Mark Cavendish to have one last moment in the sun after forfeiting the green jersey last week.
What do the experts think?
“The showcase day and hopefully everyone enjoys it, a strolling pace to the Seine with a bit of photography and fooling about involved then the speed gradually increases as the bunch passes the Eiffel Tour and the yellow jersey team lead onto the finishing circuits. It’s a script everyone knows and Astana will enforce without too much trouble, there might be a few dissenters but the sprinters’ teams will soon take control and the inevitable showdown will take place. Mark Cavendish is the fastest and the big favourite to take the stage he really wants to win but Columbia will need to get the leadout done perfectly otherwise there’ll be plenty of chancers willing to take a flyer before the final corner.”
So, I guess all that remains to be said is that I’ll see you in Paris! Vive le Tour.
