An Evening in Paris

At the start of the weekend Chris Froome was in a great position, leading the Tour by over five minutes even following his 20 second punishment for receiving energy gels as he hit the wall on the Alpe d’Huez. Friday and Saturday’s big mountain stages stood between him and victory, as the organisers kept the pressure on right to the end of the race this year.

Have a quick look at another view of the Tour before we get into it:

Friday was a day for lone attacks, including Rolland, hunting for the climbers’ jersey, and Hesjedal, but in torrential rain it was Rui Costa who powered through to take another brilliant mountain win. Froome and Porte worked to mark the yellow jersey rivals and neutralised any moves as Contador looked to have thrown in the towel.

On Saturday the Alps provided another beautiful stage with the backdrop of the Lac d’Annecy and more big climbs. It was a day of marking but when the final move came it was from the three best-looking climbers in the race, Rodriguez, Quintana and Froome. With the added incentive that the first of Froome and Quintana to cross the line would also win the polka-dot jersey. Froome went hard a couple of times, but for once in the race Quintana had the measure of him and took the win ahead of Rodriguez. This gave the young Columbian the climbers’ jersey and the young riders’ jersey and the eyes of the world on him for the future. Rodriguez and Quintana’s rides put them up the General Classification and onto the podium, pushing Contador down to fourth.

Sunday was time for Froome to revel in his race win on the ride into Paris for an evening race, and for Cavendish to try and make it five out of five wins on the most famous finishing straight in road cycling. This year was always going to be tougher with Kittel and Greipel in great form.

The final stages of the final stage summed up the race for Cavendish, his lead out looked good but gained control a little early, before being swamped by Lotto and Argos. Cav switched trains and then gave it everything in a kick for the line, with the bike skipping and jumping he tried to come from behind Kittel and Greipel. It wasn't to be and the new Champs Élysées champion is Kittel, with Cavendish beaten back to third behind Greipel.

Froome rolled over the line with the entire Sky team, in the process hanging back and losing some time, but still taking the win by four minutes twenty.

So that was it, the 100th Tour de France, with spectacular scenery, exceptional racing and a place cemented in history for Chris Froome, the second Brit to win the race in as many years.

A