Tour de France director hopes for yellow jersey to win at Champs-Elysées - "It will ensure that the glorious uncertainty of the sport will return"

Tour de France Christian Prudhomme has talked about the addition of the Montmarte climb to the final day of the Tour de France. Without hesitation, he has opened up about the dream of seeing the yellow jersey win on the Champs-Elysées once again and how this iconic cobbled climb can further boost the race's international reputation.

“This will increase the prestige of the Tour all over the world. It allows cycling to further expand its legend," Prudhomme argued in an interview with Sporza. "It was obvious to us that we wanted to do something big for the 50th anniversary of the first finish on the Champs-Élysées.” This something is a three-lap circuit in Paris which includes the climb that was featured in last year's Olympic Games Road Race. With the final summit only 6 kilometers from the finish, it will make for a very different approach to the finale than in prior years.

“It will ensure that the glorious uncertainty of the sport will return. I have a crazy dream. The only rider who has ever been able to win in yellow (at Champs-Elysées, ed.) is Bernard Hinault, in 1979 and 1982. This course opens the door for that again.” Of course, we quickly imagine Tadej Pogacar is very much in the background of this statement, and on paper he would be one of the major contenders for this achievement.

The change however was met with a lot of backlash, with fans and riders alike criticizing the change. Amongst them some of the highest-level figures in the sport such as Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen. besides the 'tradition' aspect of the final sprint in Paris, some also fear for the safety aspect in what is the final day of the race and in very technical roads with lots of tension.

“What is good for the Tour is also good for the champions of the Tour. When we included the gravel stage in the Tour course last year, we didn’t impress the riders either. The same story when we made the cobblestones popular again," Prudhomme argues. However he does not only say that, but provides a clear example from the Tour's past which later became a staple of the race.

“When Henri Desgrange included the Tourmalet and the Pyrenees in the course for the first time in 1910, not everyone was thrilled about that either. Now they are part of the legend of the Tour. We have to keep building on that legend.”