Stage 21 Report 2013 Tour De France Final Stage Results

134k from Versailles to Paris

Weather: sunny, 33c (92f)

Versailles

The riders left Versailles for the final stage of the 100^th Tour De France under sunny skies. It is shaping up to be the hottest day of the Tour.  By the time they finish, the skies will have darkened, as the race concludes with its first ever twilight finish.

Hundreds of ex-Tour riders will be on hand for the celebrations at the end. 170 riders will celebrate finishing the 2013 Tour De France after three weeks of intense competition on the roads of France.

Chris Froome will officially solidify his win when he crosses the finish line on the Champs-Élysées, and he will earn Team Sky its second consecutive Tour victory. The Kenyan-born talent who rides for Dave Brailsford’s British team asserted his will all over the race, and finishes with an indisputable five-minute win over second place Nairo Quintana of Team Movistar.

Stage 21 profile

All the jerseys have been decided. Peter Sagan coasts into Paris with the green sprinter’s jersey. The young Slovakian speedster was diligent in both the finish sprints and the intermediate sprints, which have become more significant with the changes in the points system. He also rides into Paris with a green dyed goatee.  Read on...

Stage 21 Preview 2013 Tour De France

134k Versailles to Paris, FLAT

Stage 21 finishes, as always, in Paris

The 2013 100^th edition of the Tour De France comes to a conclusion on Sunday.  Chris Froome of Britain’s Team Sky has sown up the win after defending his lead for two weeks. He won on top of Ax 3 Domaines on stage 8, and has worn yellow ever since. He even had to defend himself, literally, when he shoved a fan out of the way who had gotten too close to the elite breakaway trio.

The other jerseys are all decided too. All that is left to contest is Sunday’s sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées. The winners will enjoy a leisurely ride into Paris from Versailles, and a nighttime finish has been scheduled for the first time, in honor of the centenary celebration. The finish is scheduled for around 9:30 pm local time. 

Stage 21 Profile

Stage 21 route

Mark Cavendish will try to grab his fifth career win on the famed Boulevard between the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde. Peter Sagan will probably pop another wheelie or two. Let’s hope he comes up with some new tricks soon.

André Greipel and Marcel Kittel wouldn’t mind another notch on their stage-win belts. There is not much more to say about the stage, except, enjoy the pageant and pick your sprinter.

MY PICK: My last pick of the race is going to the Manx Missile from Omega Pharma. Mark Cavendish

I will post full results after the stage, and then a race wrap-up later on, with conclusions from the race, and I will see how I did on my picks and predictions overall. [I think nine of my stage picks came in second]