PREVIEW | Tour de France 2023 stage 21 - Race arrives at Champs-Elysées for celebrations and final glorious sprint
Cycling
Preview. The Tour de France comes to a close this Sunday in Paris. After three weeks of an amazing race, it comes to an end on stage 21 where the riders reach the Champs-E´lysées where a spectacular sprint is expected.
The final day of the Tour de France, at long last. Short, flat and with sight on the Champs-Élysées where the riders will finish the Tour de France. The start will take place in the velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines which hosted the 2022 Track World Championships.
Estimated start and finish times for Tour de France stage 21: 16:30-19:30CET
Stage 21: Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines - Paris, 114.8 kilometers
The finale is what we know it to be every single year. An iconic moment, the final roads the Tour will race through. It is not the easiest of sprints, with the final chicane coming with 350 meters to go, and the Champs-Elysées featuring some smooth cobbles which comes as a bit different of a sprint.
Stage 21 Finale
The Weather
Map Tour de France 2023 stage 21
Don't expect competitive racing tomorrow, but the weather looks grim. Race organizers may put the time limit early in the stage as rain is expected and there will also be strong wind. From the southwest, it shouldn't affect the stage overall as the riders will only truly race inside the city, however in the sprint it may make a difference, a cross-headwind for the final sprint.
The Favourites
The stage will have the question on whether the bunch sprint will take place or not. Jasper Philipsen will be the overwhelming favourite to take the win in that scenario with Alpecin-Deceuninck's leadout and his own technical ability and pure speed. His form is equally good and it'll be hard to beat him head-to head.
That may not be needed, many teams know they'll have to attack if they want to win the stage. The rain and wind will make it a very difficult final circuit, organizing chases will be complicated and attacks have decent chances of succeeding. However if it does come down to a sprint Mads Pedersen and Dylan Groenewegen are likely the two powerhouse sprints suited to this one. Jordi Meeus, Bryan Coquard, Christophe Laporte, Alexander Kristoff, Biniam Girmay, Cess Bol and Sam Welsford could, under perfect circumstances, fight for the win and a third week wet technical sprint is terrain for surprises.
Other fast men could try and ride close to the best too and have a minor placing such as Peter Sagan or Luca Mozzato, or former leadout men who now have their own chance to succeed in Jasper de Buyst, Michael Morkov and Nikias Arndt.
And regarding the attackers, much can happen. At any point one can succeed, the peloton will also be full of riders who still seek a victory and may not want to have a relaxing ending to the race. Stefan Küng, Mikkel Bjerg, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Nils Politt, Jasper Stuyven, Jonas Abrahamsen and Anthony Turgis are only a few riders who may give it a shot.
Other teams however have several riders, the Belgian ones. Without their sprinter they have freedom and will want success and can be specially dangerous in this final day. Soudal - Quick-Step have Kasper Asgreen, Rémi Cavagna and Yves Lampaert who can do the job, whilst Lotto Dstny has Victor Campenaerts, Florian Vermeersch and Pascal Eenkhoorn.
Prediction Tour de France 2023 stage 21:
*** Jasper Philipsen,
** Mads Pedersen, Dylan Groenewegen
* Christophe Laporte, Jordi Meeus, Cees Bol, Kasper Asgreen, Nils Politt, Victor Campenaerts
** Mads Pedersen, Dylan Groenewegen
* Christophe Laporte, Jordi Meeus, Cees Bol, Kasper Asgreen, Nils Politt, Victor Campenaerts
Pick: Jasper Philipsen
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 15visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment