Jonas Vingegaard set for victory as Lorena Wiebes leads Femmes race

The Tour de France comes to a conclusion on the streets of Paris on Stage 21 with Jonas Vingegaard assured of the Yellow Jersey following a fine performance in yesterday’s time trial, finishing second to Jumbo-Visma team-mate Wout van Aert in Rocamadour. While the Dane can relax today, Van Aert will be hoping for more fireworks and one final statement stage victory in the mad dash on the Champs-Elysees, with other sprinters who have made it this far also eager to finish on a high.

So Vingegaard will enjoy the procession to the French capital alongside his Jumbo-Visma team-mates, with a glass of champagne shared along the way. But Van Aert can bank a fourth stage win today, but he will have competition from those who endured the Alps and Pyrenees in pursuit of the prestigious sprinters’ stage, with Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin) and Dylan Groenewegen (BikeEchange) all in contention.

Elsewhere, Vingegaard also picks up the polka dot jersey after triumphing in the King of the Mountains classification with a fine display in the Pyrenees, but defending two-time champion Tadej Pogacar will have the consolation of the white jersey for best young rider at least, and Geraint Thomas has wrapped up a third podium position of his Tour de France career. Follow for all the live updates on the celebratory stage before the madness of the sprint finish caps a fabulous edition of the Tour de France.

Tour de France 2022: Stage 21

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:41 , Jack Rathborn

Vos on Wiebes: “She had a deserved win.”

Jonas Vingegaard set for victory as Lorena Wiebes leads Femmes race — Netherland’s Lorena Wiebes, right, celebrates as she crosses the finish line (AP)

Tour de France Femmes 2022: Lorena Wiebes (DSM) wins Stage 1 and becomes first leader

14:36 , Jack Rathborn

It’s Lorena Wiebes who takes it, that was a drag race to the line.

Vos pipped, incredible finish!

Huge win for Wiebes, she took the outside line and then matched Vos on a long sprint home, superb.

There are tears as she celebrates on the Champs-Élysées. Magic.

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:34 , Jack Rathborn

Biannic and Vos primed, Henderson leads out…

Norsgaard could go long.

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:34 , Jack Rathborn

Marianne Vos is well primed and Gladys Verhulst has been caught.

Just 2km to go.

The final lead-out, drama coming!

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:32 , Jack Rathborn

The pack speeds down the Champs Elysee (AP)

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:29 , Jack Rathborn

Gladys Verhulst still just ahead of the peloton, less than 5k to go now…

Only 13 seconds ahead, this could be a fun finish.

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:18 , Jack Rathborn

There’s a battle for each jersey in the first stage here.

Three riders battling for the Polka Dot jersey; Marta Lach, Femke Markus, and Anne Dorthe Ysland.

Two points on offer for the first place and one for the next one through.

Meanwhile, Gladys Verhulst is 20 seconds clear.

Tour de France 2022: Geraint Thomas’ gilet makes its way to Paris

14:13 , Jack Rathborn

What a Tour for Geraint Thomas, a sensational ride with smart tactics throughout.

A podium finish later today is his reward.

And don’t forget the gilet, it’ll take its prideful place in Paris.

If you want a piece of history, you can buy a raffle ticket for it here with the proceeds going towards the Geraint Thomas Cyling Trust.

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:07 , Jack Rathborn

Riders take the start of the first stage of the Tour de France women's cycling race (AP) — Riders take the start of the first stage of the Tour de France women’s cycling race (AP)

Tour de France Femmes 2022

14:00 , Jack Rathborn

Meanwhile in the women’s race, there are 32km to go.

Pauline Allin has a 12 second advantage, if she can negotiate the next 5km, it’s then the second intermediate sprint.

Henrietta Christie is now keeping her company.

Tour de France 2022: Stage 21 odds

13:50 , Jack Rathborn

Jasper Philipsen 9/4
Fabio Jakobsen 7/2
Wout van Aert 7/2
Dylan Groenewegen 5/1
Caleb Ewan 8/1
Mads Pedersen 10/1
Alberto Dainese 25/1
Peter Sagan 28/1
Christophe Laporte 33/1
Jasper Stuyven 50/1

What it feels like to ride up a Tour de France mountain

13:30 , Jack Rathborn

lpe d’Huez is brutal. No, it’s not the longest climb in the world, nor is it the steepest, but it is relentless. It is 14.4km long and 1100m high and has an average gradient (or steepness) of around 7.9 per cent – a flat road being 0 per cent.

What it feels like to ride up a Tour de France mountain

‘We are totally clean, every one of us’: Jonas Vingegaard defends Jumbo-Visma dominance at Tour de France

13:15 , Jack Rathborn

Jonas Vingegaard maintains every member of Jumbo-Visma is “totally clean” and nobody is “taking anything illegal” after clinching the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France.

The Dane’s victory caps a dominant race for the Dutch team, who have picked off six stage victories, including three for Wout van Aert, who triumphed in Saturday’s Stage 20 time-trial to Rocamadour.

Vingegaard, who has two wins, while Christophe Laporte also has a stage victory, was asked following the Stage 20 whether Jumbo-Visma should be trusted, a question posed to each Tour winner since the Lance Armstrong scandal, which has contributed to much of cycling’s murky past.

And despite no implication or evidence of any wrongdoing, from either Vingegaard or his team, the rider answered candidly, explaining the team set-up and training philosophy.

‘We are totally clean’: Jonas Vingegaard defends Jumbo-Visma dominance

Annemiek van Vleuten eager to make mark at inaugural Tour de France Femmes

13:00 , Jack Rathborn

Race favourite Annemiek van Vleuten has declared herself “ready” for Sunday’s start of inaugural edition of the Tour de France Femmes.

The former world champion will be one of 144 riders who will race down the Champs-Elysees when this long-awaited ‘proper’ women’s edition of the Tour gets under way.

The 82km sprint around Paris will be merely an hors d’oeuvres for the eight-day race, which will cover 1,029km on its way to a climax on La Super des Planche des Belles Filles on July 31.

Van Vleuten, the 2019 world champion who is in her penultimate season at the age of 39, goes into the race full of confidence after securing her third Giro Donne crown earlier this month.

Annemiek van Vleuten eager to make mark at inaugural Tour de France Femmes

How Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma broke Tadej Pogacar’s stranglehold on the Tour de France

12:45 , Jack Rathborn

One of the beauties of the Tour de France is the myriad ways in which it can be won. Sometimes a rider bullies from start to finish, like Bernard Hinault, who intimidated rivals with his presence and crushed them at every opportunity en route to Paris in 1981. Time-trial specialists mark rivals on the climbs and hurt them on the clock, as Miguel Indurain did so emphatically in 1992, and again in 1994. Chris Froome used Team Sky’s stranglehold on the peloton to suffocate his opponents, while Tadej Pogacar’s back-to-back wins in 2020 and 2021 displayed his individual, unpredictable brilliance.

Jonas Vingegaard is the latest man to win the Tour, and for all his unerring strength and resilience across these past three weeks, the race was won in a decisive hour in the Alps, when Jumbo-Visma’s team tactics isolated and outwitted Pogacar and stripped the yellow jersey from his back.

Head to head, there has not been much to choose between the two leading protagonists of this year’s compelling story. Both are capable time-triallists, both strong climbers, both clearly able to handle the unique pressures that come with leading a team in a grand tour. Pogacar had a slight burst of flat speed that helped him edge stages seven and 17, and the punchier legs that saw him surge to victory on stage 6, back when it seemed his race to lose. Vingegaard had the edge in the highest mountains, where he never cracked despite Pogacar’s best efforts.

How Jonas Vingegaard broke Tadej Pogacar’s stranglehold on the Tour de France

‘It changes everything’: Why the Tour de France Femmes is a historic moment for women’s cycling

12:30 , Jack Rathborn

After years of failed attempts and half-hearted gimmicks, women’s cycling will finally have a Tour de France worthy of the name when it begins in Paris on Sunday. The brand new Tour de France Femmes is the most lucrative ever women’s cycling race, bursting with talent on a varied and challenging eight-stage parcours built to entertain, and organiser ASO has perhaps finally planted the seeds of a race which will grow and blossom for many summers to come.

There have been several different incarnations of a women’s Tour de France stretching back to 1955. The race peaked during the 1980s but faded away, and when it returned under the guise of the one-day La Course in 2014, thanks to sustained pressure and campaigning, it always felt like a token gesture, an afterthought tacked on to the men’s race. ASO’s claim that it was unfeasible to have both a men’s and women’s Tour only ever seemed like an excuse.

Now the Tour de France Femmes stands alone as a multiple stage race in its own right, with the resources and the momentum to flourish. Virtual cycling giant Zwift is the lead sponsor, signing a four-year deal and helping fund a prize pot of more than £200,000, with around £40,000 for the winner. More significant is that TV coverage of the race will be wide-reaching, even if it is a shame ITV will not be showing the action free-to-air as it has done for the men’s edition. UK fans can watch via Eurosport, Discovery+ or Global Cycling Network.

Why the inaugural Tour de France Femmes ‘changes everything’

Tour de France 2022 stage 21 preview: Route map and profile of Paris finale

12:21 , Jack Rathborn

The 2022 Tour de France comes to a close on Sunday with a 116km jaunt to the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

The traditional stage 21 truce means Jonas Vingegaard will get to enjoy the procession to the French capital alongside his Jumbo-Visma teammates at the end of a long, hard month, and modern tradition dictates the winning team drink champagne as they ride.

They may well have sore heads from Saturday’s celebrations after sealing the yellow jersey in style, earning a one-two on the stage 20 individual time trial with the green jersey of Wout van Aert pipping teammate Vingegaard to the victory.

It has been a sensational Tour for both riders and Van Aert will try to pick up his fourth stage win of the race when the pack arrive on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday afternoon for what is typically a bunch sprint.

The superstar Belgian may be the favourite for this one but he will face competition from those sprinters who struggled through the Alps and Pyrenees to get to this point, all desperate to win the prestigious Paris stage. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), Fabio Jakobsen (QuickStep), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin) and Dylan Groenewegen (BikeEchange) are among those who will hope to challenge.

Geraint Thomas will ride to Paris to confirm the third podium position of his Tour de France career, the dethroned Tadej Pogacar will win the young rider’s white jersey, and Vingegaard will collect the polka dot jersey to go along with yellow, after his efforts in the Pyrenees saw him rise to the top of the King of the Mountains classification.