"It shows a lack of respect for the race" - Brian Holm fuming after Montmartre stage of 2025 Tour de France

Wout van Aert stormed to a memorable solo win on the final stage of the 2025 Tour de France, but despite the exhilarating action given thanks to the addition of the Montmartre climb on the finishing circuit, not all have been impressed by the choice to change the traditional Champs-Élysées finale.

“It was strange," assessed Danish ex-pro and sports director Brian Holm in his post-Tour de France analysis for Ekstra Bladet. "You know what, I saw the results list was more or less settled 50 kilometres before the riders even crossed the line. That’s odd. Only 30 riders contested the finale."

This, in Holm's opinion is where the problems of making the final stage of such a tiring race so difficult, it encourages only the strongest to compete, leaving the rest of the peloton to languish behind. "The rest were practically just posing for the cameras. Are they tourists?" Holm asks critically. "I think it shows a lack of respect for the race.”

Alongside accumulated fatigue, another reason for such a small selection at the front, was the fact that any potential time gaps had been neutralised because of bad weather. “Yes, true. And Montmartre is fine — as a climb during the first week of the Tour. But not on the final day," Holm responds when this fact is noted. "Of course they had to neutralise it, but then you end up with a ridiculous bike race where 30 guys are actually competing and the rest are just sightseeing in Paris.”

Holm believes, even if the sun had been shining the situation would have similar. “You don’t think so? It’s not without risk, even in the dry. I think the stage is fine — but again, it belongs in week one. Let’s see what they plan for next year. If 160 riders go full gas, someone’s bound to break a collarbone,” he concludes, insisting the fault lies with the ASO, rather than the peloton itself. “No, no. I’d have done the same.”