Normally bustling with traffic and pedestrians, the Champs Élysées was being prepared for 2 races on this last Sunday in July: the first ever edition of La Course presented by Le Tour and the final stage of the 101st Tour de France. La Course will get its own post, but for now we'll focus on the Tour.
Standing at 45 meters to go, I had an amazing view of the course.
8 laps to go
Astana lead the peloton on the Champs Élysées with Vincenzo Nibali predictably and safely tucked behind his teammates.
The jets trailing the tricolor smoke overhead were a nice touch.
7 laps to go
He did it on stage 1 and he did it again on stage 21: Jens Voigt was a solo breakaway.
The peloton traffic traveling up and down the Champs Élysées.
6 laps to go
The first few times the peloton approached, there was a new break trying to escape.
Svein Tuft wasn't far off the front.
The yellow jersey.
Jack Bauer and Ramunas Navardauskas.
There was a tangle and AG2R took no risks, sending 5 riders to shephard Jean Christophe Péraud back to the bunch.
5 laps to go
Jose Serpa, Michael Morkov, Richie Porte, and Armindo Fonseca had a small advantage on the bunch.
Not far behind…
Cheng Ji rode alone off the back for most of his time on the Champs Élysées.
4 laps to go
A 20 gap for the break.
And Lotto continued to control the chase.
3 laps to go
Fonseca dropped, the 3 man break maintained a slight advantage.
Amber Meier had a great time cheering for her husband, Christian, who was trying to bridge.
Lotto.
The leaders had nearly caught Ji at the back as he finished his lap.
2 laps to go
Photographers moved into position.
The break carried on.
Alex Howes, Ramunas Navardauskas, Jack Bauer, and Sebastian Langeveld in the pack.
Just a few more minutes until the Kazakh team would officially win the Tour de France.
The bell lap!
Svein Tuft attacked!
The peloton passed and as they thundered up the home straight, Alexander Kristoff had a slight but clear advantage over Marcel Kittel.
But over the last 40 meters, Kittel's legs churned out phenomenal power until he pulled ahead of the Norwegian and bookended the Tour with victories. Kristoff finished second and Navardauskas beat Andre Greipel for third place!
Astana began their celebrations.
With the finish line of the past 3 weeks in sight, many roders relaxed in various ways.
Roy Curvers and Albert Timmer celebrated their teammate's victory.
Adam Hansen wrapped up another Grand Tour.
Alessandro De Marchi, left, would be awarded the overall most combative rider.
Jose Serpa took a break from riding for the first time all month.
Aussies Hansen and Zam Dempster.
Massive smiles from Ben King upon completing his first grand tour.
I had something of a podium view, though the photographers' stand tended to block whomever was on the podium.
As Sagan received his green jersey for the points competition, Ji became the first man from China to not only ride, but also complete, the Tour.
Polka dots for Majka.
Nibali in yellow.
AG2R were the best overall team.
Kittel gave the finish line a big smooch.
I wasn't sure if the riders were going to do a lap of honor or not, so I went to the buses to check it out. There were lots of riders milling about, but I didn't want to bother anyone.
When I realized the riders were in fact going to ride one last lap on the Champs Élysées, I sprinted up the road to join my family. Uncharacteristically, I didn't take many photos of the lap but I did shout out to my favorite rider on each team and he would generally wave or even blow a kiss! Below: Lotto Belisiol.
Laurens Tendam and Bram Tankink.
We are a family of Jens fans, so I called the popular German over to sign the flag. He rode over and laughed, “I've already signed your flag. Look!” It's true, he had in fact signed this flag in 2013 but he was happy to oblige anyway and he signed for my mom.
AG2R received huge cheers.
Thibault Pinot in the white jersey.
Lieuwe Westra is my favorite rider on Astana's Tour squad so when I called his name, he circled round and his face brightened when he saw me (he saw me a lot at last year's Tour, too.) He was all too happy to sign for my mom.
Nibali rode by, pausing along the way to pose for photos with Italian flags and sign autographs.
And just like that, the Tour was over!
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