# Tour Stage 21: 133km NIGHT Finish AROUND l'Arc de Triomphe!



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

Haven't seen the end of Stage 20 yet, so I have no idea what the Mountains Classification is like. But I can say it was refreshing to have a meaningful stage rather than just an ITT.

Programming Note: le Tour will be on later Sunday. Why? BECAUSE THEY FINISH AT DUSK AROUND l'ARC de TRIOMPHE! Unless something crazy happened at the end of Stage 20, Jaune et Vert are both wrapped u. I still don't know if Froome or Rolland or Quintana has the Pois. The finally day is usually a parade into Paris, where crazy attacks happen until the sprinters reel it all in and have their day in the sun. However, sometimes the hidden races are fought along the way. I recall Vino stealing some points and time from Levi and booting him from the top five. 

But the big contest is cutting the tape first. Cavendish has owned this stage in the past, but lady luck had npt been with him this turn. Griepel and Sagan each have only one stage. Kittel and Cavendish both have multiple stages this year. Could he Kittel bookend the 2013 Tour?

Doubt it. 
Cavendish steals the spotlight beneath the waxing Parisian moon.


----------



## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Until Cavendish loses in Paris, I will always put my money on him. He knows the finish and folks are just plain tired right now. He did tweet that he actually is starting to feel good in the mountains after today.


----------



## sir duke (Mar 24, 2006)

spookyload said:


> Until Cavendish loses in Paris, I will always put my money on him. He knows the finish and folks are just plain tired right now. He did tweet that he actually is starting to feel good in the mountains after today.



A fair assessment, plus I'm sure he'd be more than pleased to steal a little of the limelight away from Team Sky and Froome's gold lame fishnet jersey. Cav and Wiggo weren't the best buddies, not sure how he feels about Froome, but he does like to boss it in Paris. 
Straight line speed, only one winner, but will he get a straight line?


----------



## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Froome's going to take the sprint. 

Then he'll be the cemented as the greatest cyclist in history dominating the 100th TDF. Everyone will marvel at his unmatched talents.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Ventruck said:


> Froome's going to take the sprint.
> 
> Then he'll be the cemented as the greatest cyclist in history dominating the 100th TDF. Everyone will marvel at his unmatched talents.


It's like deja vu from 10 years ago.


----------



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

he will also cure lymphoma as he crosses the finish, then eradicate HIV in Africa during the podium ceremony. without the aid of Amgen, no less.


----------



## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

For those that have forgotten or never knew what Cav can do with a full team dedicated to his winning stage, here is my favorite Parisian stage: Stage 21 of the 2009 Tour de France. I had been on a steady diet of Chipotle that year and knew Farrar would win in Paris. Owning the second lap, I was standing in front of my chair, ready to celebrate. Under the red kite I thought, "This is it! Here we go!" The lead man ground into hi drivetrain and grimaced as he looked down. Hincapie swung left and the entire peloton followed. Columbia stole the inside apex from the boys in powder blue and it was all over. 






That last stream makes it look like Cavendish is going faster than the moto. 

teoteoteo was there when that split happened. I think he used to have a hotel room pov shot.


----------



## Skewer (Sep 13, 2011)

Sagan wins the stage with a wheelie.


----------



## PJay (May 28, 2004)

Tempting to predict Kittel, but I have to go with Cavendish FTW.


----------



## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

weltyed said:


> For those that have forgotten or never knew what Cav can do with a full team dedicated to his winning stage, here is my favorite Parisian stage: Stage 21 of the 2009 Tour de France. I had been on a steady diet of Chipotle that year and knew Farrar would win in Paris. Owning the second lap, I was standing in front of my chair, ready to celebrate. Under the red kite I thought, "This is it! Here we go!" The lead man ground into hi drivetrain and grimaced as he looked down. Hincapie swung left and the entire peloton followed. Columbia stole the inside apex from the boys in powder blue and it was all over.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


and that is what an actual 'sprint leadout' looks like
Hincapie did such a masterful job setting the table it wasn't even close


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Sagan dyed his beard green! Love this guy.


----------



## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Cav for the win today - next year Kittel perhaps.

That would be a satisfactory conclusion to what has been one of the better Tours in recent memory.

Froome should flirt with doing the Spanish Tour (payback for Wiggo's TdF comments).


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Crap, I've lost my streaming. Does anybody have a link to live streaming?

Edit: found one.


----------



## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Cav gets a flat on the Champs. Worst timing ever.

Got back on a lot faster than I expected.


----------



## runningdud (Mar 17, 2005)

love4himies said:


> Crap, I've lost my streaming. Does anybody have a link to live streaming?
> 
> Edit: found one.


yup, me too. eurosport 1 live. how to find that in us? damn


----------



## mtnroadie (Jul 6, 2010)

I think Phil just called Sagan's green facial scruff moldy LOL :lol:

Anyone but Greipel for the win please! Get this Cav!


----------



## PaxRomana (Jan 16, 2012)

Excellent win for Kittel. Well done!


----------



## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

That was a great sprint! All three remained in the same spots for a long way.

Wicked hop by Cavendish right before the line, but it wouldn't have made any difference. Kittel had a better leadout, looked like he had three guys at the end, Greipel and Cavendish looked like they had two.

Cav looked tiny next to those guys. Kittel looks even bigger than Greipel.


----------



## DonDenver (May 30, 2007)

...and nice job TdF officials, Paris...ah, what the hell: Anyone French.

Enjoyed finish ceremony. Lighting up the arch/show was a nice touch.


----------



## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

It was a beautiful light show.


----------



## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Looks like the Cavendish Era may be over. Next season he will come back stronger and so will the others. Some epic encounters, just like today's, are what we have in store over the next couple of years.


----------



## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

Except for stage 5, Steegmans has done a terrible job of leading out Cav. Back in the HTC days, you'd never see a guy overtake Renshaw when they had a train going. But that happened a couple times this TdF.

That said, even with a good leadout, Cav lost to Kittel before, so it could very well be that his days as being unbeatable are over (although he did win the points jersey at the Giro this year, so maybe not).


----------



## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

gusmahler said:


> Except for stage 5, Steegmans has done a terrible job of leading out Cav. Back in the HTC days, you'd never see a guy overtake Renshaw when they had a train going. But that happened a couple times this TdF.
> 
> That said, even with a good leadout, Cav lost to Kittel before, so it could very well be that his days as being unbeatable are over (although he did win the points jersey at the Giro this year, so maybe not).


If Renshaw comes to OPQS like is rumored, it will be electrifying. Not sure what the Cannondale rider was doing in the middle of the Omega train, but I doubt it was on accident. The rider in front of him took a very short pull when he saw a Cannondale jersey which left Cav a rider short to the line. When I saw that, I pretty much knew they had beaten Cav.


----------



## CannondaleRushSynapse (Jun 1, 2012)

Sagan doesn't have a lead out train. Through out the race he's been behind the other sprinters. 

The Gorilla was close.


----------



## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

Cavendish doesn't seem to have a very good weight distribution on that Venge - he already sprints with a very far forward position, and it seemed like his rear wheel was skipping all over the road in the sprint (not just when he hit a bump at the line). Wonder if that's why he yelled about the bike a few stages ago.


----------



## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Kittel had everyone beat right from the last corner. Cav was too far behind to catch up.


----------



## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

stevesbike said:


> Cavendish doesn't seem to have a very good weight distribution on that Venge - he already sprints with a very far forward position, and it seemed like his rear wheel was skipping all over the road in the sprint (not just when he hit a bump at the line). Wonder if that's why he yelled about the bike a few stages ago.


He rode the Venge to many victories this year and when he was with HTC. I don't think he was complaining about the Venge in general, just about his Venge (which was involved in an accident) in particular.


----------



## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

CannondaleRushSynapse said:


> Sagan doesn't have a lead out train. Through out the race he's been behind the other sprinters.


Doesn't matter. Sagan is significantly slower than Cav, Griepel, and Kittel.


----------



## sir duke (Mar 24, 2006)

Finally got to see the stage finish, a good win by Kittel in a good honest sprint. Cav did the best he could with a pretty dismal leadout by Omega, which left him with too much to do. It's not going to be any easier next year.


----------



## gofast2wheeler (Oct 13, 2011)

spookyload said:


> If Renshaw comes to OPQS like is rumored, it will be electrifying. Not sure what the Cannondale rider was doing in the middle of the Omega train, but I doubt it was on accident. The rider in front of him took a very short pull when he saw a Cannondale jersey which left Cav a rider short to the line. When I saw that, I pretty much knew they had beaten Cav.


I agree. The Cannondale rider cost Cav the win. If you look at the sprint Cav surly was catching Kittel even though he had a huge head start and Cav had to fight with the Gorilla the whole length. He clearly was sprinting faster than the other to. That was low on what the Cannondale rider did. No reason for him to be there Sagan was not even a factor.


----------



## bluelena69 (Apr 19, 2005)

So what was low about what the Cannondale rider did? He's supposed to stay in the line and keep his place, working for his guy. So is everyone just supposed to get out of the way? I've never heard some rule against slotting in where you can...

Steegmans let the Cannondale guy get into the line and the Cannondale guy pulled offline almost 1k from the line. Hell, without the Cannondale guy's pull, it looked like Omega might have been dropped by the Argos/Lotto line. At the point the Cannondale guy dropped off, Sagan was very much of a factor


----------

