Kittel doubles up, Nibali wins the Tour !
excerpts from LeTour.fr
Vincenzo Nibali is the winner of the 101st Tour de France, a race he led for eighteen days out of twenty-one. It’s also the big return of French riders on the final podium with Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot second and third respectively. The last stage on the Champs-Elysées went to Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) just like last year. The German outsprinted Alexander Kristoff in a spectacular final sprint on the Champs-Elysées.
The traditional walk in the park
All the way from Evry to Paris, the 164 riders left in the peloton cruised at about 32km/h. The Maillot Jaune Vincenzo Nibali shared some Champagne with his team-mates from Astana. The tradition was respected.
Jens Voigt’s farewell
Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) was the first attacker as the race really started on the Champs-Elysées. Jens Voigt (Trek) was the next one and it look like a lap of honour for the soon-to-be retired rider at the age of 43. The German veteran won the last intermediate sprint of his last Tour de France, after which a crash occurred in the peloton. Runner up Jean-Christophe Péraud (AG2R-La Mondiale) slipped in a curve and a got fright with 43km to go. With the help of three team-mates, he made his way back to the pack five kilometres further. Four riders took the lead with 36km to go: Richie Porte (Sky), Michael Morkov (Tinkoff), José Serpa (Lampre) and Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne).
Kittel makes it four
Porte, Morkov and Serpa insisted as long as they could. Porte was the last member of this breakaway to be caught, with 7.5km to go. His compatriot Simon Clarke (Orica) was the last man to try to escape 5km before the end. But the inevitable bunch gallop saw the domination of Giant-Shimano in the lead out. Marcel Kittel emerged as the winner of stage 21, adding one success to the three he took in the first week of the Tour. Seven stages out of twenty-one have been won by German riders. Peter Sagan crossed the line in ninth position, therefore beating his record of points in the race for the green jersey. The Slovakian champion won the points classification for the third time in a row.
Stage 21 Results
GER 1 KITTEL, Marcel (GIANT-SHIMANO) 3:20:50 NOR 2 KRISTOFF, Alexander (KATUSHA) LTU 3 NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas (GARMIN SHARP) GER 4 GREIPEL, André (LOTTO BELISOL) AUS 5 RENSHAW, Mark (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) AUT 6 EISEL, Bernhard (SKY) FRA 7 COQUARD, Bryan (EUROPCAR) ITA 8 PETACCHI, Alessandro (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) SVK 9 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) FRA 10 FEILLU, Romain (BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) ITA 11 BENNATI, Daniele (TINKOFF-SAXO) FRA 12 DEMARE, Arnaud (FDJ.fr) BEL 13 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) FRA 14 PETIT, Adrien (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) BEL 15 VANMARCKE, Sep (BELKIN) ITA 16 OSS, Daniel (BMC RACING) ITA 17 CIMOLAI, Davide (LAMPRE – MERIDA) FRA 18 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 4 USA 19 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) BEL 20 VAN SUMMEREN, Johan (GARMIN SHARP) GER 21 KLUGE, Roger (IAM CYCLING) + 6 FRA 22 REZA, Kévin (EUROPCAR) NZL 23 BAUER, Jack (GARMIN SHARP) NED 24 VEELERS, Tom (GIANT-SHIMANO) ITA 25 VIVIANI, Elia (CANNONDALE) + 9 GER 26 VOIGT, Jens (TREK FACTORY RACING) ESP 27 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) FRA 28 DUMOULIN, Samuel (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SVK 29 VELITS, Peter (BMC RACING) NED 30 TANKINK, Bram (BELKIN) ITA 31 MONTAGUTI, Matteo (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 32 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (IAM CYCLING) ESP 33 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) FRA 34 MINARD, Sébastien (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 35 RIBLON, Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 36 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) USA 37 HORNER, Christopher (LAMPRE – MERIDA) POR 38 SANTOS SIMOES OLIVEIRA, Nelson Filipe (LAMPRE – MERIDA) GBR 39 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) FRA 40 DELAGE, Mickael (FDJ.fr) + 15
General Classification after Stage 21 ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 89:59:06 FRA 2 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 7:37 FRA 3 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 8:15 ESP 4 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 9:40 USA 5 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 11:24 FRA 6 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 11:26 CZE 7 KONIG, Leopold (NETAPP – ENDURA) + 14:32 ESP 8 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 17:57 NED 9 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN) + 18:11 NED 10 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 21:15
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