Tadej Pogacar has won the 2021 Tour de France and Wout Van Aert the final stage.Ā
Tadej Pogacar has won the 2021 Tour de France on 18 July 2021 as Wout Van Aert won the final stage on Les Avenues Champs dāElysees in Paris.
The stage saw several attacks as the riders lapped the Arc De Triomphe and La Place du Concorde eight times in the lead up to the finish line.
But it was a bunch sprint at the end that saw Wout Van Aert cross the line ahead of both Mark Cavendish and Michael Matthews who were trying to gain the last possible sprint points.
Tadej Pogacar sets personal and Tour de France records
This is Pogacarās second Tour de France at only 22 years old. He won in 2020 by winning the last stage in Paris and taking the yellow jersey from the overall race leader.
It is also a new record as it is the second time anyone has won three jerseys at the Tour de France.
ššThe world's most talented man on two wheels! Tadej PogaÄar wins the maillot jaune, the maillot blanc, and the polka dot jersey for the second year runningšš#couchpeloton #sbstdf #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/hT80eoZs6g
ā SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 18, 2021
He also won the polka dot jersey for the best mountain climber and the white jersey for the best young rider in 2020 and he did it again this year in 2021.
Wout Van Aert wins three Tour de France stages
Wout Van Aert won his third stage in the Tour de France as he crossed the finish line in Paris.
Wout van Aert is built different! He's won a mountain stage, a time trial, and now a sprint stage of 2021 @LeTour. What an exclamation mark for Jumbo Visma's fantastic tour š“āāļøšØ#couchpeloton #sbstdf #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/RspfeWxESz
ā SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 18, 2021
He has previously won both Stage 20 with the second individual time trial in this yearās race and Stage 11 becoming the first Belgian rider to conquer Mont Ventoux, climbed twice during the course of the stage.
He will also be participating at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics within the next few days.
Tour de France standings and records
Pogacar won the Tour but Jonas Vingegaard finished second with Richard Carapaz finishing third overall.
Carapaz has made history as the first Ecuadorian cyclist to get a podium finish at the Tour de France.
.@LeTour 2021 podium š
ā SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 18, 2021
š„Tadej PogaÄar
š„Jonas Vingegaard
š„Richard Carapaz#couchpeloton #sbstdf #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/sVmykgEHyH
Ben OāConnor placed fourth overall in what is the best debut Tour finish of an Australian cyclist with a stage win in the Tour as well.
Frank Bonnamour was awarded the most combative of the entire Tour for having been in every breakaway on every stage.
Mark Cavendish kept his lead in the sprint jersey to win the 2021 green jersey but did not manage to beat Belgian rider Eddy Merckxā record of 34 tour stages by winning his 35th.
https://twitter.com/CyclingCentral/status/1416821784549101569
Team Bahrain Victorious won the teams classification, carrying the number of teammate Jack Haig who crashed out of the Tour de France with a broken collarbone on Stage 3, also nixing his participation at the Tokyo Olympics.
š“āāļøš“āāļøBahrain Victorious takes out the team's classification šµāāļøšµāāļø
ā SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 18, 2021
ā¤ļøMohoriÄ honours Jack Haig by carrying his numberš¦šŗ#couchpeloton #sbstdf #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/yAjmQB5YjX
Three riders won half of the stages in the 2021 Tour de France: Cavendish winning four, Van Aert winning three and Pogacar winning three.
Slovenian riders dominated the race as well with Pogacar winning three jerseys and Matej Mohoric winning two stages.
The cycling calendar post the Tour de France
Up next on the cycling calendar is the Tokyo OIympics that Mathieu van der Poel and other riders left the Tour de France early to prepare and train for.
Following the Olympics, the final Grand Tour of 2021 starts with La Vuelta dāEspana on 14 August.
Other events on the calendar include smaller Tours within Europe and overseas before the previously postponed Paris-Roubaix is held in October.