It’s youth on power for the 100 years of the yellow jersey as Australian Tour de France debutant Caleb Ewan claimed his third stage win on the Champs-Elysées and 22 year old Egan Bernal became the first ever Colombian winner.
Omar Fraile, first on the attack
155 riders took the start of stage 21 in Rambouillet. Yellow jersey holder Egan Bernal had his taste of Champagne at the back of the peloton in front of the cameras as per tradition. The peloton covered 34.4km in the first hour. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) successively passed the côte de St-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and the côte de Châteaufort in first position with the acceptance of the rest of the field. Team Ineos led the peloton as they entered Paris for the grand finale in front of the most prestigious monuments and the Champs-Elysées. Omar Fraile (Astana) and Tom Scully (EF Education First) were the first two riders to go clear off the peloton.
Fraile, Tratnik, Politt and Scully at the front
Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) and Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) caught up with the two attackers. With 40km to go, the advantage of the leading quartet didn’t exceed 20’’ as sprinters’ teams Lotto-Soudal, Deceuninck-Quick Step and Jumbo-Visma got organised early. Defending champion Geraint Thomas (Ineos) had a flat tyre with 35km remaining and made it back to the pack quickly. Fraile, Scully, Politt and Tratnik forged on and extended their lead to 25’’ with 25km to go. 15km before the end, only Scully and Tratnik stayed away. Tratnik was last to surrender with the peloton to have 12km to cover while his team-mate Sonny Colbrelli was chasing to come across to the pack with the help of Vincenzo Nibali after a puncture. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) also had a mechanical but got back on with 5km to go.
Third stage win for Caleb Ewan
Earlier achievers Daryl Impey and Julian Alaphilippe, both stage winners, respectively led the pack with 3km to go and under the flamme rouge of the last kilometre at the service of Matteo Trentin and Elia Viviani but it was eventually Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) to launch the sprint from far out. Niccolo Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie) found an open gap and sped up but it came down to a duel between Dylan Groenewegen and Caleb Ewan. The Dutchman on left hand side of road was pipped by the Australian on right hand side. The last Australian to win on the Champs-Elysées was Robbie McEwen in 2002. The last debutant to win on the Champs-Elysées was Tom Boonen on 2004. The last debutant to win three stages at the Tour was Peter Sagan in 2012. Egan Bernal is the youngest ever winner of the Tour de France since the inception of the yellow jersey 100 years ago.
