Tadej Pogacar became the first Slovenian to win the Tour de France after he retained the yellow jersey in the 21st stage on Sunday, a day after he pulled off a major coup to take the overall lead.
While Sam Bennett won the final stage, the day belonged to Team UAE Emirates rider Pogacar, who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Monday and is the youngest man to win the race since Henri Cornet in 1904.
Pogacar, who claimed the yellow jersey from a stunned Primoz Roglic with a monumental performance in Saturday’s time trial, also won the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider and the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification.
Roglic ended up second, 59 seconds behind, with Australian Richie Porte taking third place, 3:30 off the pace.
“It has been a long journey, which began well before we started in Nice and has ended in the most beautiful way,” Pogacar commented at the finale. “My season was focused on the Tour de France from the start of the year, the preparation was perfect and well planned by the team with training camps and training plans during the lockdown: I was always focused even in the difficult moments when the racing stopped earlier in the year.
“I arrived at the Grande Boucle in good shape, along the way we lost two teammates, but the team managed to maintain a great atmosphere. It was a pleasure to experience this, with all my teammates and staff members by my side, the challenges that the Tour offered up every day, trying to always remain calm and, at the same time, concentrated. I really still can’t believe what fantastic moments I have lived!
“It would have been great to finish second in Paris, but being here in the yellow jersey is the best you can ask for.
Today was a special day, I was able to finally chat calmly with the other riders while we rode. It was exciting to receive the compliments of so many riders in the bunch.
“Cycling is a beautiful sport.”
“We didn’t see it coming,” said Roglic’s team mate and former Tour runner-up Tom Dumoulin.
Bennett became the first Irishman since Sean Kelly in 1989 to win the green jersey for the points classification, ahead of Peter Sagan who was looking to claim it for a record-extending eighth time.
Bennett was the strongest at the end of the 122-km ride from Mantes-la Jolie on Sunday, beating world champion Mads Pedersen, with Sagan coming home third.
Swiss Marc Hirschi, the former Under-23 world champion was voted the most aggressive on the race after notably taking a brilliant win in the longest stage of the 107th edition.
Ineos-Grenadiers had a Tour to forget as defending champion Egan Bernal dropped out of contention in the Jura stage to the Grand Colombier, pulling out a few days later with back pains.
They recovered some pride later on, however, as Michal Kwiatkowski, their unsung hero for five years, claimed an emotional stage win — although that was certainly not enough for a team who had won seven of the previous eight editions.
It was an anti-climatic finale on the Champs-Elysees as only 5,000 fans were allowed on the famous avenue as a precaution against the coronavirus.
France reported 13,498 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the previous 24 hours on Saturday, setting another record in daily additional infections since the start of the epidemic.
Reaching the Champs-Elysees was, however, a relief for organisers, who had imposed strict sanitary rules to protect the race ‘bubble’.
The bubble did not burst as only four team staff members tested positive and were removed from the race, preventing a spread that could have stopped the Tour.
No rider tested positive.
Sam Bennett Wins Green Jersey
Sam Bennett rode straight into the history books on the Champs-Élysées Sunday evening, as he carried home the race’s prestigious green jersey, a fantastic performance that Ireland had last witnessed at the end of the ‘80s, when Sean Kelly was finishing at the top of the points classification. Hailing from the same Carrick-on-Suir village as his idol, Sam returned this year at the Tour de France for the first time in 2016 and he made it count, setting several milestones along the way and elevating himself to cycling immortality.
After breaking the ice on stage 10 in Île de Ré, Sam began growing in confidence as he realised he has a fair shot at taking the prestigious green jersey, and helped by a team that turned inside out for him on the flat but also on the mountains, he made it all the way to Paris, where he put the icing on the cake on the most iconic finish venue in cycling, just as the sun was setting down over the French capital.
Once again, Deceuninck – Quick-Step gave him a superb lead-out, with Michael Mørkøv dropping him off in a perfect position, from where Sam Bennett dashed to victory, our squad’s 99th in a Grand Tour, as he became the first Irishman in history to triumph on the Champs-Élysées: “I feel amazing, I can’t tell you how happy I am! I never thought I would be in this position one day. I grew up watching these Champs-Élysées sprints filmed from every angle and to do it myself now in the green jersey it’s unbelievable! It’s the best victory of my career. It’s something I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life, especially as I did it in the green jersey, which I never dreamed of winning.”
Sam – who showed a remarkable consistency and fighting spirit over the past three weeks, two important factors which helped him become the second Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider to conquer the green jersey, after Tom Boonen in 2007 – took us through the hectic last kilometer in Paris: “It was really fast and I was a bit nervous, but the boys flawlessly controlled the race and brought me to the front when it mattered. On the final straight, I let other riders come up, because I felt some headwind, and then I opened my sprint with 150-200 meters to go. As I came on the other side, I thought someone was going to come pass me, but it didn’t happen and I still can’t believe I won.”
Deceuninck – Quick-Step concluded the Tour de France again as one of the top performers and entertainers, with three stage wins, three days in the yellow jersey – which Julian Alaphilippe sported following his thrilling victory in Nice on the opening weekend – 13 days in the green jersey and two prizes for the most combative rider of the stage, awarded to the same Alaphilippe and French ITT Champion Rémi Cavagna.
Stage 21 results:
- Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) 2h53’32”
- Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) s.t.
- Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) s.t.
- Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
Final general classification:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 87h20’05”
- Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +59 “
- Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) +3’30“
Sprint Classification:
- Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick Step) 380 pt
- Peter Sagan (BORA – hansgrohe) 284 pt
- Matteo Trentin (CCC Team) 260 pt
- Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels/Vital Concept181 pt
- Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) 174 pt
Youth Classification:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) 87h20’05”
- Enric Mas Nicolau (Movistar Team) at 6’07”
- Valentin Madouas (Groupama – FDJ) at 1h42’43”
Mountains Classification:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) 82 pt
- Richard Carapaz Montenegro (INEOS Grenadiers) 74 pt
- Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma) 67 pt
- Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) 62 pt
- Miguel Ángel López Moreno (Astana Pro Team) 51 pt
Teams Classification:
- Movistar Team 262h14’58”
- Team Jumbo-Visma at 18’31”
- Bahrain – McLaren at 57’10”
- EF Pro Cycling at 1h16’43”
- INEOS Grenadiers at 1h32’01”