The Belgian champion, already winner of the terrible stage of Mont-Ventoux and the time trial of Saint-Émilion, the day before, launched the sprint from afar and resisted the return of Mark Cavendish, thus deprived of a 35th stage victory which would have made him the absolute record holder in this field.
To discover
The general classification of the Tour de France
The Briton, who remains tied with Eddy Merckx with 34 one-day successes on the Grande Boucle, will console himself with his second green jersey in the points classification after the one won in 2011. He finally finished third in this stage behind Van Aert. and his compatriot Jasper Philipsen.
For Tadej Pogacar, who had won the race with his lead of 5'20 ”over the Dutchman Jonas Vingegaard and 7'03” over the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz in the general classification, this last stage, starting from Chatou, was above all a final round of 'honor.
Tour de France: Van Aert wins on the Champs-Élysées, Pogacar offers a new coronation
The Slovenian also won the polka-dot jersey for best climber and the white jersey for best youngster, as he had already done the year before. As is often the case on the Champs-Élysées, courageous people tried to break away to walk the cobblestones of the most beautiful avenue in the world in the lead. It was first Stefan Bisegger, Patrick Konrad and Harry Sweeny, followed by Michael Valgren, Brent Van Moer and Ide Schelling, and even, momentarily, Julian Alaphilippe, before the world champion placed himself in the service of Mark Cavendish.