Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France
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Every year since 1975, the final stage of the Tour de France has concluded on the Champs-Élysées, an emblematic street of the city of Paris. As the final stage of the most recognised bike race in the world, winning it is considered very prestigious.[1]
Venue | Champs-Élysées |
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Location | Paris, France |
Also known as | Final stage of the Tour de France |
Type | Cycling stage race |
Organised by | Amaury Sport Organisation |
Inaugural winner | Walter Godefroot (1975) |
Won most times | Mark Cavendish (4) |
Route | Enter Paris then, six-to-eight times:
|
The Champs-Élysées lap is 6.8km (4.1mi) in length |
The stage typically starts on the outskirts of Paris, and teams agree on a truce for the opening portion of the race, with cyclists taking the opportunity to have a moment of tranquility, laughing, and celebrating the achievement of finishing the Tour de France. The rider leading the general classification - whose lead is by custom not contested on the final stage, though usually it is by that point unassailable - poses for photographs, often taking a glass of champagne on the way.[2][3]
The second part of the race is more hotly contested. This consists of between six and ten laps of a circuit of the Champs-Élysées, a wide partly-cobblestoned road. Riders try to break away from the peloton to secure victory, though as of 2023 such attempts have only resulted in a victory on six occasions (and on only three since 1979). On the other occasions (except 1989, when the final stage was a time-trial), the winner has come from a mass sprint and has therefore typically been a specialist sprinter. At times this means that the final stage has settled the points classification, which is usually won by a sprinter.[1]
Between 2014 and 2016, the course was also used for La Course by Le Tour de France, a women's one-day race. The first edition of Tour de France Femmes in 2022 also used the course, as the first stage of the race.[4]