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Desperately Close TdF26-163
The change in the lap up to Montmartre meant that there was a longer flatter stretch of road before the return to the Champs Elysees. That gave the sprinters and their teams the opportunity to chase down anyone that got away on the narrow climb up to the summit of Butte Montmartre. So it was for Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) as they made the final curve towards the line on the Champs Elysees. Without any true need other than pride, Pogacar sat up once the chasers caught his wheel. Tadej finished thirtieth on the stage but is still very much the winner of the Tour de France for the fifth time. He is only the fifth to officially achieve that milestone. Van Der Poel had a very different finish on the Champs Elysees than that of the Maillot Jaune. The group that had chase these two down included all of the big-name sprinters that have gotten themselves over the alps just for this moment. Lining up to fight it out for stage honors in Paris are Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Mattieu's teammate Jasper Philipsen, Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon-CMA CGM) amongst others.