THE RACE LIVE

The top 10 in the general classification of the 2005 Tour de France is:
1. Lance Armstrong (USA) DSC - 3,608.0km in 86h15’02" (41.654km/h)
2. Ivan Basso (Italy) CSC - at 4’40"
3. Jan Ullrich (Germany) TMO - at 6’21"
4. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) IBA - at 9’59"
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakstahn) TMO at 11’01"
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA) GST - at 11’21"
7. Mickael Rasmussen (Denmark) RAB - at 11’33"
8. Cadel Evans (Australia) DVL - at 11’55"
9. Floyd Landis (USA) PHO - at 12’44"
10. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spain) PHO - 16’14"

The winner of the final stage of the 2005 Tour de France was awarded the 20 second time bonus for his victory. He has moved from sixth overall to fifth after starting today just two seconds behind Levi Leipheimer in the general classification.

Lance Armstrong finished the final stage of his career in 118th place. The American has won his seventh Tour de France by 4’40". The average speed for the 2005 race is a record, 41.654km/h.

We cannot yet confirm the position that Lance Armstrong was given in the final race of his career. We can report, however, that he has won the Tour de France for the seventh time.
There are several things which need to be checked with the race jury before the final general classification results can be posted.
The first is the exact time for the first passage of the finishing circuit (which stopped the clock in the race for overall honours).
The second is if the stage winner, Alexandre Vinokourov will receive the time bonus for the stage win (because of the exceptional circumstances - ie. wet roads on the finishing circuit - which meant there were no time bonuses awarded for the intermediate sprint).

Alexandre Vinokourov has achieved a true coup in the final stage. He has claimed his second stage win this year after escaping the peloton in the final 2km. The top 10 in the 21st stage of the Tour is:
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakstahn) TMO - 144.5km in 3h40’57" (39.239km/h)
2. Brad McGee (Australia) FDJ
3. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) FAS
4. Robbie McEwen (Australia) DVL
5. Stuart O’Grady (Australia) COF
6. Allan Davis (Australia) LSW
7. Thor Hushovd (Norway) CA
8. Baden Cooke (Australia) FDJ
9. Bernhard Eisel (Austria) FDJ
10. Robert Forster (Germany) GST)

Lance Armstrong has finished safely in the midst of the peloton. The American is now retired. He has sealed his seventh victory by reaching the finish of the 21st stage.

Vinokourov has won his second stage this year! He will earn time bonuses for the victory and move up to fifth overall...!

McGee and Vinokourov are going to contest the stage win. They are on the Place de la Concorde together with a lead of about 100m on the peloton.

McGee has attacked and leads under the 1km to go kite.

McGee was leading the peloton but his turn was so rapid that he has now crossed to Vinokourov and the AG2R rider with 1,500m to go.

There are 2km to go. Vinokourov is launching an attack but he has been caught by a rider from AG2R. These two are now about 50m ahead of the peloton that’s being led by Gerolsteiner riders.

The peloton has caught the latest escape. A bunch sprint appears to be the likely conclusion to the 2005 Tour de France. But now Brochard and Vinokourov are on the attack...

With less than a lap to go in the Tour the sun has come out. The roads are essentially dry for the final sprint. At the moment, however, there are three riders with a slight lead on the peloton. They are: Bertogliati (SDV), Flecha (FAS) and Jaksche (LSW)>

Vasseur has decided to attack the peloton. He has a lead of about 50m but he has been chased down by an Saunier Duval rider (Bertogliati).

There are just 6.5km to go in the 2005 Tour. The peloton is being led by two Davitamon-Lotto riders, then a selection from Cofidis and Liberty-Wurth. These teams are trying to set up a bunch sprint for the likes of Robbie McEwen, Stuart O’Grady and Allan Davis... all Aussies and all good sprinters.

The FDJ and Davitamon-Lotto teams are now at the head of the peloton. There was an attack from a CSC rider (Sorensen) but he didn’t get far.

Horner and Tankink were caught with 9km to go in the stage.

The Liberty-Wurth team is now moving to the front of the peloton. This surge has helped reel in the two escapees.

Davitamon-Lotto and Cofidis riders have decreased the advantage of the two escapees - Tankink and Horner - who are now just 8" ahead.

The peloton is now 10" behind Horner and Tankink. There are 10km to go in the 92nd Tour.

There are several riders now launching attacks at the head of the peloton which is still 13" behind the two escapees, Tankink and Horner.

Davitamon-Lotto and Cofidis riders are leading the pursuit of Horner and Tankink with 2km to go in the stage. The advantage of the leading pair is 13".

The peloton cannot get closer to the two escapees. Tankink and Horner are about to cross the Place de la Concorde for the 7th time. There are about 14km still to go in the Tour and the peloton is still 15" behind.

The peloton is now being led by riders from Davitamon-Lotto, Francaise des Jeux and Cofidis. There are 15km to go in the 2005 Tour de France and Horner and Tankink’s lead has been reduced to 15".

The peloton has not been able to get closer to the two attacking riders. Horner and Tankink still lead by 17".
Riders from the Davitamon-Lotto team have now come to the front of the peloton.

Horner and Tankink are increasing their advantage over the peloton. They are less than 18km from the finish of the stage. At the head of the bunch are riders from Cofidis, Liquigas and Phonak.

The Cofidis team is at the head of the peloton which is now 17" behind Tankink and Horner.

The peloton is 15" behind Tankink and Horner with three laps to go in the final stage.

Tankink and Horner are 8" ahead of the peloton at the 122km mark.

The FDJ team has put Sandy Casar on the front of the peloton. He is now leading the bunch that’s 5" behind Tankink and Hornder.

Horner and Tankink are about 100m ahead of the peloton with 22km to go in the final stage.

Knaven has been caught by the peloton by now his team-mate Bram Tankink has attacked. He has been joined by a rider from the Saunier Duval team, Chris Horner.

Knaven (QST) has attacked the peloton as soon as the nine-man escape group was caught. The Quickstep rider has been joined by three other riders...

The nine-man escape group has been caught at the 119km mark.

The nine riders lead by 15" as they begin the fifth lap of the Champs Elysees circuit.

The peloton is now just 15" behind the nine escapees. Cadel Evans leads three Davitamon-Lotto team-mates at the head of the peloton as they approach the Rue de Rivoli. The bunch is now just 12" behind the fugitives.

Knaven has dropped out of the escape group. There are now nine riders with a lead of 17" on the peloton. The composition of the lead group is:
Brandt (DVL), Bernucci (FAS), Quinziato (SDV), Carlstrom (LIQ), Pineau (BTL), Righi (LAM) and Cortonovis (DOM).

One of the riders in the lead group has had a puncture. Nicolas Portal is now in the peloton rather than the escape group.

Brandt (DVL), Bernucci (FAS), Quinziato (SDV), Knaven (QST), Carlstrom (LIQ), Pineau (BTL), Righi (LAM), Cortonovis (DOM) and Portal (A2R) are the riders in the lead of the final stage.

There are seven riders 5" behind the three-man escape group. The peloton is just 10" behind the chase group.

The Saunier Duval rider who is currently on the attack with Knaven and Carlstrom is actually Quinziato not Bertogliati as reported earlier.

Bertogliati, Carlstrom and Knaven lead a group of eight by 8" and the peloton by 25".

Knaven (QST) has been joined by Bertogliati (SDV) and Carlstrom (LIQ) at the front of the stage.

Bertogliati (SDV) and a Liquigas-Bianchi rider have caught up with Knaven.

Servais Knaven has attacked the peloton. He has caught and passed Albasini who is now back in the bunch.

The attacks at the head of the peloton have not been allowed to go. There is now just one rider ahead of the bunch; Michael Albasini (LIQ) leads by 8".

The points for the 2nd intermediate sprint of the 21st stage have been won by:
1. Michael Albasini (LIQ) 6pts
2. Cedric Vasseur (COF) 4pts
3. Nicolas Jalabert (PHO) 2pts

The second intermediate sprint (which does NOT carry time bonuses today) is about to be contested. Albasini has claimed the six points for first place at the ’Hauts des Champs’ for the third time.

Michael Albasini is now alone in the lead of the stage. Grivko has been caught by the peloton which is now being led by Laurent Brochard of the Bouyges team.

There are 40km to go in the race for stage honours. Grivko and Albasini are 10" ahead as they cross the Place de la Concorde for the third time.

Albasini and Grivko are now in the lead of the stage. They are 10" ahead of the peloton.

Fabian Wegmann (GST), Da Cruz (FDJ) and Arroyo (IBA) have also been caught up in a crash.

Commesso has crashed while in the lead of the stage.

There are nine riders in an escape group that’s about 150m ahead of the peloton. The riders involved are: Jalabert (PHO), Commesso (LAM), Voeckler (BTL), Da Cruz (FDJ), Vasseur (COF), Vansevenant (DVL), Flecha (FAS), Albasini (LIQ), Grivko and Vanotti (DOM).

As the peloton heads up towards the Arc de Triumph for the second time, Carlos Da Cruz has attacked. He has been chased down by Jalabert.

There have been no attacks in Paris. The roads are wet, there’s rain falling and the peloton is bunched and being led by riders from the Credit Agricole and Cofidis teams. They are about to cross the line on the Champs-Elysees for the 2nd time. There are seven laps (45.5km) to go in the 2005 Tour.

The race jury has just announced that there will not be any time bonuses awarded for the 2nd intermediate sprint; only points.
This is a modification to the normal rule.

The wet conditions have prompted the organizers and the race jury to stop the clock in the race for overall honours when the peloton passed the site of the finish for the first time.
There are still eight laps of the Parisian circuit to be raced, but this is to determine the stage winner.
The peloton has just passed the site of the finish in a time of 2h39’26". This means that Armstrong has actually already won his seventh Tour. He must, however, still ride another 50km before the celebrations can officially begin.

George Hincapie is alongside Armstrong at the head of the peloton. The winner of stage 15 crashed just before the bunch arrived in Paris. The rider in the white jersey - as leader of the youth classification - Yaroslav Popovych also crashed. These two riders are now leading the peloton on the approach to the Place de la Concorde.

There have been no attacks since the crash of Hincapie and Popovych. The peloton is being led by Lance Armstrong as they approach the 6.5km circuit on the Champs-Elysees.

Jean-Francois Pescheux, the Tour’s sporting director, has just announced that the time for the general classification of the final stage will be taken on the first pass of the finish line.
The peloton will still complete the eight laps of the Champs Elysees circuit but that is just to determine the stage winner.
This decision has been made because it has been raining in Paris and the organizers fear for falls in the closing kilometers of the race.

Although Vinokourov (TMO) gained a two-second time bonus at the first sprint, Leipheimer (GST) is still fifth overall. They are separated by a fraction of a second but the count-back from the two time trials is in favour of the American.

The peloton has just crossed the Seine river. It is now inside the Paris city limits. There are 60km to go in the 2005 Tour de France.

There was an exchange of words with Gilbert for his attack on the approach to Paris. Armstrong came to the front of the peloton after Hincapie and Popovych landed on the tarmac.
The peloton is now bunched and it’ll take a bold man to attack after the recent incident.

The two falled riders are George Hincapie and Yaroslav Popovych. They are back on their bikes and appear to be okay but Lance Armmstrong almost ran into Hincapie as he lay on the ground.

The wet road have caused havoc at the head of the peloton. Gilbert’s attack is now over because two riders from the Discovery Channel team have crashed.

There is a FDJ rider attacking the peloton on the approach to Paris. It’s Philippe Gilbert and Armstrong himself began to chase him down. Now there are other riders from the Discovery Channel team helping the yellow jersey reel in the escapee.

Ronny Scholz is no longer insisting with his escape. It has been a tradition that the team of Lance Armstrong leads the peloton onto the streets of Paris.

The Discovery Channel team has come to the front of the peloton and George Hincapie is now leading the pursuit of Scholz who is leading by 30".

The Domina rider who was chasing Scholz has crashed on a roundabout. We have not received confirmation of which rider from the Italian-based team it was...

There are now riders from the Liquigas-Bianchi and Domina Vacanze teams chasing Scholz who is 25" ahead.

Ronny Scholz of the Gerolsteiner team is now attacking the peloton. He is 20" ahead with 68km to go in the stage.

The points and time bonuses for the first of two intermediate sprints were won by:
1. Alexandre Vinokourov (TMO) 6pts/6"
2. Levi Leipheimer (GST) 4pts/4"
3. Fabian Wegmann (GST) 2pts/2"

Vinokourov and Leipheimer are now on equal time in fifth overall.

Vinokourov is still attacking he is closely marked by Levi Leipheimer and several other Gerolsteiner riders.

There are four Gerolsteiner riders right behind Vinokourov in the final 1,000m before the first intermediate sprint.

Alexandre Vinokourov has attacked the peloton. He is being followed by Wegman to the site of the first intermediate sprint.

There are riders from the Gerolsteiner team at the head of the peloton. They are there because they need to cover any attacks from Alexandre Vinokourov. The T-Mobile rider is currently sixth overall, just two seconds behind Gerolsteiner’s Levi Leipheimer. There are time bonuses of six, four and two seconds for the first three riders across the line in Chatanay-Malabry.

The peloton is now at the 70km mark. There are 5km to go before the first of two intermediate sprints in today’s stage.

Thor Hushovd has a lead of 15 points in the race for the green jersey. The Norwegian has not yet won a stage of the 2005 Tour (although he’s finished in the top 10 on seven occasions).
The last time a rider won the green jersey without winning a stage was in 1999. Erik Zabel claimed first place in the points classification but the best he finished in a stage that year was 2nd (which he did five times, including the final stage).

There has been a crash at the back of the peloton. One of the riders involved is Luke Roberts of the CSC team. He is standing and is about to remount his bike and rejoin the peloton.

The bunch is still cruising along. At the moment it is in the town of Vauhallan at the 63km mark. There are another 21km to go before the peloton arrives in Paris.

The race organizer have a special rule for the final stage if the weather conditions are not ideal. If it is raining when the peloton arrives on the 6.5km finishing circuit, the time for general classification rankins will be taken on the first pass of the finishline.
If it’s dry, however, the time at the end of the eight laps will be used.

One of the riders who should feature in the sprint at the end of today’s stage, Allan Davis (LSW) has punctured. He has a new wheel and is now about to rejoin the peloton.

The points for the final climb of the 2005 Tour de France were won by:
1. Lance Armstrong (DSC) 3pts
2. Peter Wrolich (GST) 2pts
3. Christophe Moreau (CA) 1pt

The Cote de Gif-sur-Yvette is the last climb of the 92nd Tour. The peloton is now near this cat-4 bump. Armstrong and Basso are at the head of the peloton but, if the tradition of the past couple of years is anything to go by, we can expect to see Mr Moreau come forward soon. The best-placed Frenchman in the general classification (11th) likes to get his face on television on the final day and last year he took his cue on the Côte de Montfermeil.

There are 155 riders still in the race. Below is a breakdown of how many riders from each nation are still in the race:
28 - Spain (Constantino Zaballa abandoned during stage five; Isaac Galvez abandoned during stage eight; Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano and Jose Angel Gomez both abandoned with injuries sustained in crashes in stage nine; Manuel Beltran abandoned during stage 12; Alejandro Valverde abandoned during stage 13; David Herrero abandoned during stage 15).
26 - France (Mengin did not start stage eight; Sylvain Calzati abandoned during stage eight; Jean-Patrick Nazon abandoned during stage 11; Nicolas Fritsch abandoned during stage 12)
21 - Italy (Claudio Corioni abandoned during stage six; Alessandro Spezialetti did not finish stage seven; Dario Frigo did not start stage 11; Stefano Zanini abandoned during stage 11; Angelo Furlan abandoned during stage 12; Gianluca Bortolami did not start stage 16).
14 - Germany (Jens Voigt finished outside the time limit in stage 11; Andreas Kloden abandoned during stage 17)
10 - Australia
8 – Belgium (Kevin Hulsmans finished outside the time limit in stage 11; Tom Boonen did not start stage 12; Wilfried Cretskens abandoned during stage 15)
8 - USA (Dave Zabriskie abandoned during stage nine)
7 - The Netherlands (Van Bon Abandoned during stage eight; Gerben Lowik did not start stage 14)
6 – Switzerland (Steve Zampieri abandonded during stage seven).
4 - Ukraine (Honchar did not start start eight)
3 - Austria (Gerrit Glomser abandoned during stage 10) and Kazakstahn
2 – Denmark, Norway, Russia (Evgeni Petrov did not start stage 10); Sweden (Magnus Backstedt did not start stage 16).
1 – Estonian (Kirsipuu abandoned during stage nine); Colombia, Finland, Hungary, Uzbekstahn, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Venezuela
0 – Brazil (Luciano Pagliarini abandoned during stage nine); Luxembourg (Kim Kirchen abandoned during the 11th stage); South Africa (Robbie Hunter abandoned during stage 12)

Graham Jones, a veteran of three Tours de France in the 1980s who now works as a consultant for BBC Radio, has asked for a full list of winners on the Champs-Elysees. As he asked so nicely, we’re only too willing to oblige.
The Champs-Elysees has been the site of the finish of the final stage since 1975. The winners of last stage since that year are:
1975 - Walter Godefroot (Bel)
1976 - Freddy Maertens (Bel) and Gerben Karstens (Neth)
1977 - Dietrich Thurau (Ger) and Alain Meslet (Fr)
1978 - Gerrie Knetemann (Neth)
1979 - Bernard Hinault (Fr)
1980 - Pol Vershuere (Bel)
1981 - Freddy Maertens (Bel)
1982 - Bernard Hinault (Fr)
1983 - Gilbert Glaus (Switz)
1984 - Eric Vanderearden (Bel)
1985 - Rudy Matthijs (Bel)
1986 - Guido Bontempi (It)
1987 - Jeff Pierce (US)
1988 - Jean-Paul van Poppel (Neth)
1989 - Greg Lemond (US)
1990 - Johan Museeuw (Bel)
1991 - Dmitri Konyshev (Rus)
1992 - Olaf Ludwig (Ger)
1993 - Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Uzb)
1994 - Eddy Seigneur (Fr)
1995 - Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (Uzb)
1996 - Fabio Baldato (It)
1997 - Nicola Minali (It)
1998 - Tom Steels (Bel)
1999 - Robbie McEwen (Aus)
2000 - Stefano Zanini (It)
2001 - Jan Svorada (Cze)
2002 - Robbie McEwen (Aus)
2003 - Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fr)
2004 - Tom Boonen (Bel)

The last 60km of the final stage will be raced on the streets of Paris. There are eight laps of a 6.5km circuit on the Champs-Elysees before the final sprint.

Two Frenchman in the peloton, Carlos Da Cruz and Walter Beneteau have received the most votes by photographers for being the most cooperative in this year’s Tour de France. The ’Prix Orange’ is a traditional award presented to the rider who is considered the easiest to work with during the race.
Last year’s winner was Thomas Voeckler.
In 2003 the award was presented to Lance Armstrong.

Not even the rain at the start of the stage can dampen the festive atmosphere today. The peloton is still in cruise mode. The riders are currently around the 38km mark of the 144.5km stage.
Armstrong has retreated to the middle of the pack and stopped posing for photographers.

The rider who crashed recently is Alexandre Moos. He is now back on a spare team bike and will soon rejoin the peloton.

There has been a crash in the peloton. The rider involved is from the Phonak team. He’s standing again and is now checking his injuries. He isn’t too badly hurt and will soon get back on the bike and rejoin the peloton which is still cruising along at a casual pace.

The peloton is now being led by all the riders from the Discovery Channel team. They each have a glass of champagne and are toasting the seventh successive victory for Lance Armstrong.

The first year that Lance Armstrong won the yellow jersey, the top 10 in the final stage was:
1. Robbie McEwen (Australia)
2. Erik Zabel (Germany)
3. Silvio Martinelli (Italy)
4. Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
5. Carlos Da Cruz (France)
6. Lars Michaelsen (Denmark)
7. Salvatore Commesso (Italy)
8. Tom Steels (Belgium)
9. Steffen Wesemann (Germany)
10. Gianpaolo Mondini (Italy)

The following riders led the peloton over the line at the end of the final stage of the 2000 Tour de France:
1. Erik Zabel (Germany)
2. Robbie McEwen (Australia)
3. Jeroen Blijlevens (Netherlands)
4. Romans Vainsteins (Latvia)
5. Max van Heeswijk (Netherlands)
6. Massimiliano Mori (Italy)
7. Arvis Piziks (Lithuania)
8. Emmanuel Magnien (France)
9. George Hincapie (US)
10. Christophe Mengin (France)

The bunch sprint in Paris back in 2001 was won by Jan Svorada. The top 10 in the year Erik Zabel won his last green jersey was:
1. Jan Svorada (Slovenia)
2. Erik Zabel (Germany)
3. Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
4. Sven Teutenberg (Germany)
5. Alessandro Petacchi (Italy)
6. Damien Nazon (France)
7. Guennadi Mikhailov (Russia)
8. Jimmy Casper (France)
9. Max van Heeswijk (Netherlands)
10. Christophe Capelle (France)

The top 10 in the final stage of the 2002 Tour de France was:
1. Robbie McEwen (Australia)
2. Baden Cooke (Australia)
3. Damien Nazon (France)
4. Fabio Baldato (Italy)
5. Davide Casarotto (Italy)
6. Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
7. Erik Zabel (Germany)
8. Jan Svorada (Slovenia)
9. Arvis Piziks (Lithuania)
10. Nicola Loda (Italy)

The top 10 in the bunch sprint in the final stage of the centenary Tour de France in 2003 was:
1. Jean-Patrick Nazon (France)
2. Baden Cooke (Australia)
3. Robbie McEwen (Australia)
4. Luca Paolini (Italy)
5. Thor Hushovd (Norway)
6. Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
7. Erik Zabel (Germany)
8. Romans Vainsteins (Latvia)
9. Gerrit Glomser (Austria)
10. Damien Nazon (France)

The final stage of the Tour de France has concluded in a bunch sprint every year since 1994. The top 10 last year was:
1. Tom Boonen (Belgium)
2. Jean-Patrick Nazon (France)
3. Danilo Hondo (Germany)
4. Robbie McEwen (Australia)
5. Erik Zabel (Germany)
6. Jimmy Casper (France)
7. Stuart O’Grady (Australia)
8. Baden Cooke (Australia)
9. Massimiliano Mori (Italy)
10. Bram De Groot (Netherlands)

The Discovery Channel team will win both the yellow and white jerseys in the 92nd Tour de France. Jose Azevedo, George Hincapie, Benjamin Noval, Pavel Padrnos, Jose Luis Rubiera and Paolo Savoldelli - the other riders in the US-registered squad - are wearing jerseys with a yellow right sleeve for today’s 21st stage.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for an attack today. The peloton is content to stroll along at a leisurely pace early in the final stage. Rain is now falling on the bunch which is around the 8km mark. Armstrong has been leading the pack and posing for photos for most of the stage.
Jan Ullrich has just come forward to congratulate the rider in the yellow jersey on another fine effort. Ivan Basso is on the other side of Armstrong and the three riders at the top of the general classification are happy to share the pace setting duties at the moment.

The last rider in the general classification, Flores (EUS) has "won" the "Lanterne Rouge" before. In the 2002 Tour he was 153rd of the 153 finishers. Three years ago his deficit to Armstrong was three hours 52 minutes and 52 seconds.

The 155th rider in the general classification is the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider, Iker Flores. The Spaniard began today’s stage four hours, 20 minutes and 24 seconds behind Armstrong.

There is a category-four ascent at the 57.5km mark. The Cote de Gif-sur-Yvette is the final climb of the 92nd Tour.
Mickael Rasmussen may have dropped from third overall to seventh after an unfortunate sequence of events in the time trial yesterday but he will win the polka-dot jersey as the 2005 Tour’s King of the Mountains.

There are two intermediate sprints in the final stage. They are in Chatenay-Malabry at the 75km mark and at the ’Haut des Champs’ during the third of eight laps of the Champs-Elysees (at the 107km mark).

All the riders who finished the 20th stage are still in the race.

Christian Prudhomme has dropped the white flag from the race director’s car to signal the offical start of stage 21 at 1.45pm.

The temperature at the start of stage 21 in Corbeil-Essonnes is 18 degrees Celsius in the air and 23 degrees at road level. Some riders are wearing vests while in the neutral zone.
It has been raining in Paris this morning but at the moment the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees are dry. There are some drops of rain falling on the peloton which is near the site of the official start.

The peloton is near the start of the 21st stage. Last year there was an attack from Filippo Simeoni the moment the flag was dropped to signal the official beginning of the final day of racing. The Italian is not in the peloton this year and we can expect to see a casual pace set by the bunch in the first hours of today’s stage.

The winners of three of the four prize jersey have already been determined. Lance Armstrong will win the yellow jersey as champion of the general classification.
Mickael Rasmussen will win the polka-dot jersey as the 92nd Tour’s King of the Mountains.
Yaroslav Popovych will win the white jersey as the best young rider in the 2005 Tour...
But the green jersey must still be won. Thor Hushovd leads the points classification with 175pts, 15 more than Stuart O’Grady and 21 more than last year’s winner Robbie McEwen.
There are two intermediate sprints (each offering 6, 4 and 2pts) and the final sprint has 35pts for the first rider across the line.

The peloton is currently rolling through the 4.7km neutral zone. At the front of the bunch is Lance Armstrong and Thor Hushovd, the riders in the yellow and green jerseys.
Unlike recent years, Armstrong is wearing traditional team knicks. He is, however, riding a special-issue black bike with the number "7" on the head tube.

After his victory in the 20th stage of the 2005 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong has a lead of 4’40" over Ivan Basso in the general classification. At the post-race press conference he stated, "I’m retired now". Before that’s official, however, the American must reach the end of today’s 144.5km stage to Paris.
The only other rider in the peloton to have won the Tour de France, Jan Ullrich, is in third place overall after the 55.5km time trial around Saint-Etienne. The German is 6’21" behind the American at the start of the final stage.

The 21st and final stage of the 2005 Tour de France is scheduled to get underway at 1.30pm. The peloton has only 144.5km to race - from Corbeil-Essonnes to the final pass of the finish line on the Champs-Elysees - before they can celebrate the end of the Tour’s 92nd edition.
There is a 4.7km neutral zone before the riders reach the site of the official start. Live coverage of the stage will commence as soon as the flag falls to signal the start of racing.