Postpublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Warren Barguil suffered a flat rear tyre a few kms back but has rejoined the peloton now.
Summary
Chris Froome seals fourth Tour victory
Britain's Simon Yates claims white jersey for best young rider
Dylan Groenewegen wins stage after sprint finish
Stage 21: Montgeron - Paris, 103km
Postpublished at 17:40 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Postpublished at 17:39 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
The last time the Champs Elysees stage didn't come down to a sprint finish?
2005, when Alexander Vinokourov won after a break escaped in the final kilometre.
Before that it was France's Eddy Seigneur in 1994.
With the rain ending, the break's chance is greatly reduced.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 17:36 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Rob Hayles
Former GB cyclist at the Tour de FranceThe rain stopping is not good news for the break.
If the roads do dry out, that will suit the pursuers, who are keen for the stage to end with a sprint finish.
Image source, PAget involved Get Involved - French fair playpublished at 17:34 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Text 81111
Just a balance on the French negativity. We were in Romans-Sur-Isere on Tuesday and the Sky bus was cheered when it arrived in the town. Fair play to Bardet for criticising the French public on the rest day as well.
Iain Russell
Intermediate sprintpublished at 17:34 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
The final intermediate sprint of the Tour de France comes and goes as the break of nine riders just roll through it, with zero interest in the points on offer.
There is some money for it though, so congratulations to Michael Schar, who was the first rider past.
Image source, AFPThe other contenderspublished at 17:33 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
If Greipel does not win, here are the other quick men to watch out for in the finale:
- John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek)
- Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data)
- Ben Swift (GB/Team UAE Emirates)
- Alexander Kristoff (Nor/Katusha)
- Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb)
- Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis)
- Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo)
- Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain Merida)
My picks? Boasson Hagen proved he's still got a very fast finish on him, with several podium places on stages during the race, while Matthews will be very motivated to win in green.
A hat-trick for Greipel?published at 17:29 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
You have to go back to Gert Steegmans in 2008 for the last rider not named Andre Greipel, Marcel Kittel or Mark Cavendish to win the final stage on the Champs Elysees.
Cavendish won four straight in dominant fashion from 2009 to 2012, Kittel did the same in 2013 and 2014, while Greipel has made this famous finish his own for the past two years.
Can Greipel make it three in a row? Well, the German has neither his compatriot Kittel nor Cavendish to battle against
However, Greipel has had a woeful race so far - barely contending in any of the sprint stages, while his Lotto Soudal lead-out train has been in disarray.
Get it right today, though, and the whole Tour will be worth it.
Image source, AFPImage caption, Andre Greipel celebrates in 2016
It's rainingpublished at 17:27 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Now, this could make it interesting. Rain is in the air in Paris.
The peloton will have to take it a bit easier on wet corners and that could favour a breakaway.
A sprint finish is still the most likely outcome, though. So, who will be in contention for the win?
Image source, ReutersNo stage win for Froomepublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Barring one of the most unexpected results in sporting history, Chris Froome will not win today's stage and will therefore become the seventh rider to win the yellow jersey without winning a stage in that year's Tour.
The other six:
- Firmin Lambot - 1922
- Roger Walkowiak -1956
- Gastone Nencini - 1960
- Lucien Aimar - 1966
- Greg Lemond - 1990
- Oscar Pereiro - 2006*
*Pereiro was handed the 2006 Tour title after Floyd Landis, who did win a stage, was stripped of the yellow jersey for testing positive for testosterone on the day he won the stage with an unbelievable long-distance solo attack.
*And in another contentious case, Alberto Contador won the 2010 Tour without winning a stage but was later stripped of the title for his clenbuterol positive, with the yellow jersey going to Andy Schleck, who did win a stage of that Tour.
Image source, ReutersPostpublished at 17:24 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
There are nine riders up the road now: Sylvain Chavanel, Daryl Impey, Alexey Lutsenko, Michael Schar, Imanol Erviti, Nils Politt, Dion Smith, Marcus Burghardt and Julien Vermote.
Postpublished at 17:22 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
So a group of eight have a slight advantage on the peloton as it stands.
But plenty of teams interested in the stage win are working together on the front of the peloton to ensure the break doesn't get too far up the road.
In snazzy footwear news of the day...published at 17:20 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Look at these bad boys. Can't miss them.
The owner: Cannondale-Drapac's Dylan van Baarle.
Cracking effort by the Dutchman.
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 17:17 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
"The gloves are off," says Simon Brotherton on commentary.
They are racing for real now. Lots of talk of rain. That could be messy on the cobbles in Paris.
Image source, Reutersget involved Get Involvedpublished at 17:17 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
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TDF re post at 16.23. This is why I dislike the Tour de France, hundreds of racers and one is not allowed to try and gain a 1 second deficit. Most of the Tour is like this, riders just happy to go through the motions.
Anonymous - please supply your name
55km to gopublished at 17:14 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Right, the race is on now as Daryl Impey goes off the front.
The peloton have just passed the line and will complete eight laps of the circuit before the finish.
Postpublished at 17:13 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
The race has taken a different route into the Champs Elysees this year and it appears that the unwritten rule that the yellow jersey's team will ride across the eventual finish line first has gone out the window.
A few riders have come to the front to try and form a breakaway.
Image source, ReutersPostpublished at 17:11 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
The peloton are into Paris and currently riding through the Grand Palais.
Er, what is this? The TV pictures are projecting a virtual swimming pool and sprinter's track either side of the peloton, with computerised athletes racing against the cyclists.
Bizarre. Something to do with Paris' bid to host the Olympics in 2024?
Not a good persuader, that.
Image source, AFPget involved Get Involved - why Froome is specialpublished at 17:07 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
Text 81111
Ax 3 Domaines, 2013. The day Froome took Yellow for the first time. Froome saw a few of us in the crowd and shouted a promise to come and see us later. 30 mins of interviews go by and he's getting chaperoned into his team car before pushing his way past the media to come and sign our gear! That's the sort of personality Froome is - Biggest moment of his career but still has time for the fans! (Later that day, Dave Brailsford also signed my hat!)
James Gough
Froome mechanicalpublished at 17:06 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
It's been a feature at times of this Tour, so it's perhaps fitting that Chris Froome has just had a mechanical problem and been forced to change his (now yellow) bike.
No drama - the race isn't on yet and they'd wait for him anyway. The Briton is back on his bike and riding now.
Image source, ReutersGrmay crashespublished at 17:00 British Summer Time 23 July 2017
I'm not sure how you manage this on a processional stage but Ethiopia's Tsgabu Grmay has just crashed.
Not a big smash, probably just a tangling or touching of wheels.
But that does sum up a thoroughly ineffective tour for the Bahrain Merida team.