A Champs-Élysées victory should be on the resume of the greatest sprinters. Mark Cavendish took four stage wins in Paris, yet it’s been four years since his last win. In 2013 and 2014 Marcel Kittel powered to victory, while another German was fastest in 2015 and 2016: André Greipel.
The last stage of the 2017 Tour de France amounts to merely 103 kilometres. Usually, the race is a slow show until the riders hit the Champs-Élysées. Then speeds ramp up in eight laps of almost 7 kilometres. Despite a lot of attacks, it’s (extremely) safe to say a bunch sprint is the most likely outcome. The last time a late escape led to the stage win was in 2005 when Aleksandr Vinokourov held off the chasing peloton.
Departure place Montgeron is not new to La Grande Boucle. On the contrary, the very first Tour de France left here in 1903. Yet, the route was really something else as the riders faced a 467 kilometres torture that ran to Lyon.
The first three riders on the line at the Champs-Élysées take time bonuses at 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 21st stage 2017 Tour de France.
Tour de France 2017 stage 21: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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Profile final kilometres
Route final kilometres
Details entrance circuit
Profile intermediate sprint 21st stage