Cycling: It wasn't meant to be. Mark Cavendish missed his 35th Tour stage win and a new record. The stage win on the final stage in Paris went to Wout van Aert. The Belgian champion once again proves what an incredibly complete driver he is. In this Tour de France he won stages in the time trial, in the high mountains and in the mass sprint.
Van Aert stage winner, Cavendish wins green
The Tour de France could have ended with a big bang. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) was aiming for his fifth stage win of the year and his 35th overall. But for the first time in this Tour of France, another team should really get involved in the sprint preparation. It was the Jumbo - Visma team that put up a good fight against Deceuninck - Quick-Step. For example, Mark Cavendish couldn't let himself be piloted up to 100 meters before the finish line on the rear wheel of his opponents. wout van aert (Jumbo – Visma) was in the best position and converted it into a win. Cavendish, on the other hand, was locked in and couldn't pass between Bande and van Aert on the left, nor the long way around on the right Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin – Fenix) to tackle. So the Brit was only third behind the Belgian. After all, he can still be voted the best sprinter of this year's Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées. Because he couldn't take the green jersey anymore.
Pogacar celebrates his second tour win
With only 22 years of age Tadej pogacar (UAE) celebrate their second overall victory in the Tour de France. If his triumph last year came as a big surprise, only very few experts will be surprised this year. By defending his title, he becomes the youngest double tour winner of all time. In addition to the yellow jersey, the Slovenian again wins the white jersey and the mountain jersey. The Dane completes the podium jonas vingegaard (Jumbo – Visma) and the Ecuadorians Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), who are on the podium in the Tour de France for the first time.
Cavendish makes mega comeback
After all, the points classification does not go to Tadej Pogacar. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) wins the green jersey for the second time in his career. The Briton thus made one of the greatest comebacks in cycling after four years of hardly being able to win any important races. The team classification goes to the team Bahrain – Victorious. The Frenchman was the most combative rider in this year's Tour de France Frank Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) awarded.
With a mountain stage and a TT already to his name 🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert won on the Champs to deny 🇮🇲 Mark Cavendish his 35th win.
Here is the final KM ⬇️
A new victim of prestige for 🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert ! Le Belge s'offre les Champs-Elysées.#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/igdSgeRFlm
- Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) July 18, 2021