Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France for the second time. The green jersey arrives on the shoulders of Jasper Philipsen, already winner last year on the Tour. This marks a fifth victory in this Tour for the Belgian cyclist. As for the polka dot jersey, it is won by the Italian Giulio Ciccone. This final stage was won by Jordi Meeus.
It will have been a very relaxed parade, where the riders were able to pop the champagne and discuss the passage of time, until the arrival on the Champs, where the teams of sprinters worked on their positioning and chased breakaways which generally never go to the end.
A final stage of 115.1 km
The 115.1 km long stage will start from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a nod to the Paris 2024 Olympics, since the city will host the Olympic BMX and track events, in the velodrome which is also the headquarters of the French Cycling Federation.
The Grande Boucle has ended on the Champs Elysées since 1975. Olympic Games oblige, the finish will take place next year in Nice on an individual time trial. In 2025, the return to normal is already scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first arrival on the Champs Elysées. Departure from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines at 4.30 p.m. (launched at 4.40 p.m., arrival on the Champs-Élysées at 7.37 p.m. (timetable calculated on an hourly average of 39 km/h).
A stage victory, two Top 10 overall and emotions: the French riders have rarely been able to play for victory in the Tour de France but have managed to mark the 110th edition of their mark like Thibaut Pinot.
Only one stage victory
From a purely accounting point of view, the 2023 edition is an average vintage with, like the last two years, only one stage victory. It’s worse than in 2020 (2), 2019 and 2018 (3 each time) and 2017 (5). The explosive success of Victor Lafay, from the second stage in the Spanish Basque Country, had launched the affair on an ideal basis.
But, like the Cofidis runner, who ended up in the hospital on Saturday evening after a fall, the result was less flamboyant, despite a host of places of honor: five Top 10 for Bryan Coquard, 2nd place for Pierre Latour at Puy-de-Dôme and the two podiums for another very prominent TotalEnergies runner, Mathieu Burgaudeau, 2nd at Belleville-en-Beaujolais and 3rd at Saint-Gervais .
Two Top 10 overall
With two representatives in the Top 10, France remains within its recent standards. But David Gaudu, 9th, and Guillaume Martin, 10th, were never in the race for the podium, the stated objective for the leader of Groupama-FDJ, and evolved in the third curtain, behind the inaccessible duo Vingegaard-Pogacar, but also riders like Carlos Rodriguez or the Yates brothers.
The disappointment comes mainly from David Gaudu who did not confirm his fourth place last year, finishing more than 23 minutes from the yellow jersey, despite “good feelings”. As for Romain Bardet, he was already out of the fight for the podium, appearing in 12th place when he retired with a concussion after a fall.
Alaphilippe, active but limited
Main provider of victories in recent years (6 stages in total), Julian Alaphilippe has never found himself in a position to raise his arms. “I’m just weaker than the guys in front,” noted the former double world champion (2020, 2021). But he fought on, going into collision in eight of the first twenty stages, before disappearing in the final. His next goal: the World Championships in Glasgow on August 6th.
Pinot, an unforgettable day
Thibaut Pinot, the other darling of the French public, held its rank as an “accelerator of emotions” in his last Tour de France. He too has never been able to play for the win. But he showed great activity (four stages in the top ten) and finished 11th overall. Above all, he offered himself a dream outing on Saturday by spending the day at the front in his native Vosges. A very emotional “last trance” which made him pass alone in the lead the Petit Ballon pass where his loved ones and thousands of enamored supporters were waiting for him, in an extraordinary atmosphere. “I couldn’t have asked for more,” he savored.
French teams
In addition to Groupama-FDJ, a team formatted for the general, but without a stage victory since 2019, the four other French teams have had varying fortunes. Cofidis, who had not won since 2008, managed his Tour with two stage victories, by Lafay and Ion Izagirre, plus Guillaume Martin’s 10th place. AG2R-Citroën shone thanks to its substitute leader, the Austrian Felix Gall, winner of the queen stage in Courchevel and still second on Saturday at Markstein.
“The revelation” of this Tour, according to sports director Julien Jurdie. TotalEnergies, despite an invisible Peter Sagan and the rapid loss of its leader Steff Cras, stood out thanks to Pierre Latour and Mathieu Burgaudeau. Arkéa-Samsic also led a few breakaways and finished on the beautiful sixth place of Warren Barguil on Saturday at Markstein.