Mixed reactions about the introduction of Montmartre in traditional Champs-Élysées stage: "The Tour is breaking up with a tradition"

Cycling
Wednesday, 14 May 2025 at 23:00
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Remco Evenepoel made his opinion clear on the addition of Montmartre - the climb used during the Olympic road race - to the course of the Tour de France stage 21. That would mean that for two years in a row, the traditional Champs-Élysées stage wouldn't take place in its usual form with last year the Grande Boucle finishing with a time trial in Nice.
"I understand him in a way," says Evenpoel's Soudal - Quick-Step DS Tom Steels at Het Nieuwsblad. "You've been racing hard for three weeks and now they're adding an extra element to the final stage. That is extra stress, also for the classification riders. Imagine having bad luck on Montmartre, when the support cars are far away and there's a lot of racing going on at the front. You could always put that right on the Champs-Elysées. But now?"
One aspect that will change is the usually relaxed mood as peloton approaches Paris. "The atmosphere of the 'Tour is over' will not be there on Sunday morning," says Steels.
While GC riders will mostly have to pull through this stage safely, the sprinters can truly lament as the cobbled climb will reduce the likelihood of bunch sprint. "That still seems the biggest chance to me," says Steels. "But even then it will be something for sprinters with substance. Because it will be tearing on Montmartre."
Johan Museeuw won on the Champs-Elysées 35 years ago. He is not a fan of this new course at all. "Cavendish will be happy that they are only introducing it now," says Museeuw. "He stopped just in time. Because for his type of sprinter this is bad news. I think that is a shame."
"Every organizer wants to make his race increasingly difficult. A real mass sprint, with all the top sprinters, straightforward, without fuss, that is exactly what is not possible and allowed anymore. While such a mass sprint can also be very beautiful. The Tour is breaking up with a tradition. Too bad."
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