TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | STAGE 21 | MONACO > NICE
NICE, France (July 21, 2024) — Sunday’s final stage of the 2024 Tour de France saw Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) confirm his third overall Tour victory with first place in the ITT from Monaco to Nice. On a balmy afternoon on the Côte d’Azur Pogačar made light work of the climbs to La Turbie and Col d’Èze to take the time trial win by a considerable 1’03” margin from Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) for his sixth stage bouquet of this year’s race and his third overall Tour triumph. In the Yellow Jersey again, Pogačar finally finished the 2024 Tour 6’17” ahead of his great Danish rival, having dominated the race. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) was in tears at the end of his Tour debut in Nice’s Place Massena, finishing the final stage in third, behind Pogačar by 1’14”, leaving him also third overall, 9’18” adrift of the unstoppable Slovenian. The GC top five was rounded out by Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) at 19’03” and Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step) at 20’06”.
Cavendish takes a bow
141 riders took part in the final stage of the 2024 Tour, a 33.7km Individual Time Trial from Monaco to Nice with everything on the line. Mark Cavendish was the second rider to start – after his Astana Qazaqstan teammate Davide Ballerini – and the veteran British rider achieved his objective of finishing his final Tour de France. With a record 35 stage victories in the Tour to his name, Cavendish ended his historic relationship with this race as a rider in the most beautiful way possible, concluding it for the 8th time in his 15 participations. Intermarché-Wanty’s Biniam Girmay also knew that he would not win this ITT stage, but he too made it to the finish in Nice in style, to the cheers and support of the crowd, becoming the first African rider to win a ranking in the Tour de France, in his green jersey.
Martinez sets a marker
Groupama-FDJ’s young Frenchman Lenny Martinez completed the course at an impressive average speed of 41.8 km/h and in a time of 48’24” to position himself as the provisional leader, where he would remain for well over an hour, until Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) took over in the top spot, beating Martinez by 10”. In tears yesterday after his final Tour de France stage in the mountains, French hero and Yellow Jersey wearer on Stage 2 Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was given huge support by the fans on his last ever day on the Tour. Due to retire just before the 2025 Tour, Bardet finished today’s stage in 37th place and was 30th in the final GC.
Carapaz in polka dots
Ecuadorian star Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) finished a highly successful Tour as the winner of the Mountain classification with 127 points, compared to 102 for Pogačar and 70 for Vingegaard. It is Ecuador’s first victory in any final ranking of the Tour de France.
The GC favourites fight for final win
Riders such as Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Derek Gee (Israel – Premier Tech) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) all enjoyed a moment with the provisional lead before the GC top 3 finished their runs. Pogačar was already the fastest man in the first sector, 7” and 26” ahead of Vingegaard and Evenepoel, increasing those respective advantages to 24” over Vingegaard and 51” on Evenepoel at the second intermediate marker on Col d’Èze. Pogačar was absolutely flying by the time he reached the Place Île de Beauté in Nice (km 28.6), the third and final intermediate marker, with 1’04” over Vingegaard and 1’28” over white jersey winner Evenepoel, going on the wrap up the victory and a third overall GC success in superb style.
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty): “For The Young Kids Keep Working Hard, Everything Is Possible”
“What can I say? To be honest I really tried to enjoy it but sometimes, the feeling of emotion it was more than I expected. Just like everything is just so wonderful. I feel like I’m floating through the sky. It’s super nice. I just want to say for the young kids, keep working hard and everything is possible. I really would like to share my happiness and all the emotions. There are a lot of people here and it is super happy, all the fans, I’ve seen all the Eritrean flags. Then when I went to the team bus I saw all my people and it’s great that they can be here to enjoy it too. We did a great job as a team and I want to thank everybody. From the start of the Tour I’ve had such incredible teammates you know. All the staff, the team manager, the bosses, I want to say thank you to them, because from the start we had a great atmosphere, good team spirit. We did such an incredible job to protect this jersey. We gave everything we had. We have really the smallest budget of the World Tour teams, so to have three incredible victories and the green jersey, it’s just amazing. Especially for Laurenz Rex and Hugo Page it’s the first Grand Tour for them and they are just great riders and I’m happy to have them.”
Richard Carapaz (Ef Education-Easypost): “I Am Very Proud To Be Able To Bring This Jersey To My Country”
“I am super happy with my Tour de France: it has been a success. We have grown little by little until finishing the race very well, and that is a great feeling to go home very happy. In Ecuador there are very few top-level athletes, but we have achieved great things. I am very proud to be able to bring this jersey to my country.”
Remco Evenepoel: “A Big Step Forward In My Career”
“It’s pretty good for my first Tour de France. Today I gave it my all, but I realized that I no longer really had my best, even if I was still in good shape, as I finished third in this time trial. And if I take stock, I finished on the podium in the general classification, with the white jersey for best young rider and a stage victory, I can be proud of myself and my team. Tadej is in another world, and Jonas was also superior to me. But it’s a big step forward in my career. There is still a gap to close with them, but it opens up the perspective. With Tadej, we are from the same generation, we get along very well and I think it’s also because we have a bit of the same way of riding.”
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike): “I Would Have Loved To Go A Bit Further”
“Under normal circumstances, I would be disappointed with my Tour de France. But, after everything I’ve gone through, I can’t be disappointed. I didn’t have a good preparation towards this race, yet I still managed to regain a good fitness level. I would have loved to go a bit further, but it is what it is. I would like to come back to the Tour de France and win it again. The Tour de France is the race I love the most, the most beautiful one – it just has something special. I believe the yellow jersey is the most beautiful jersey in road cycling. Even if I feel proud of what we achieved this year, I’m looking forward to come back.”
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates): “We Have To Enjoy This Beautiful Era Of Cycling”
“I am super happy. I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years in the Tour de France, in which we always made some mistakes that cost us the race. This year, everything went to perfection. I’m super happy, it’s incredible. This is the first Grand Tour on which I have been totally confident every day. Even on the last Giro I had one bad day – I won’t say which one. This Tour de France has been amazing. I have enjoyed it from day one until today. Today I started with a good vibe. It was lovely to start from the F1 grid of the best F1 circuit ever! I was only listening to my times compared to Remco. I was feeling super good over the top of the first climb. In my head, I had my girlfriend Urska’s words – that she hated me because I always did this road on training. But it was not wasted time, as it was useful today. These last few years we have been hearing that this is the best era of cycling. If I was not competing, I would say the same. This kind of competition with Remco, Jonas, Primoz… is just incredible. And many young guys are coming, more and more. We have to enjoy this beautiful era of cycling. Next up… I know that Mathieu looks good in the rainbow jersey, but I want to take it from him.”
TOUR DE FRANCE 2024 | STAGE 21 | MONACO > NICE | DAILY STATS
6: A HISTORICALLY DOMINANT TOUR
With a 6th stage win to cap off his 3rd overall triumph, Tadej Pogačar beats Laurent Fignon’s reference from 1984 (the overall + 5 stage wins) and follows the tracks of Bernard Hinault, winner of 7 stages when he won the race in 1979. Pogačar is the 7th rider to win at least 6 stages and the overall: – François Faber, 6 stages in 1909 – André Leducq, 6 stages in 1932 – Gino Bartali, 7 stages in 1948 – Eddy Merckx, 6 stages in 1969, 8 stages in 1970, 6 stages in 1972 and 8 stages in 1974 – Luis Ocaña, 6 stages in 1973 – Bernard Hinault, 7 stages in 1979 Tadej Pogačar is also the first rider since Charles Pélissier in 1930 to win the last 3 stages. But the Frenchman was 9th overall that year. With his 17th stage win since his debut in the Tour 2020, Pogačar joins Jean Alavoine at the 8th spot of the all-time ranking. No rider had ever won that many stages before turning 26 (Cavendish and Faber had 15).
25: THE YOUNGEST 3-TIME WINNER
At 25 years and 10 months, Tadej Pogačar is the 8th rider to claim a 3rd overall victory in the Tour de France, and the youngest to do so: – Eddy Merckx took his 3rd win at 26 years, 1 month and 1 day – Bernard Hinault, 26 years, 8 months and 5 days – Jacques Anquetil, 28 years, 6 months and 7 days – Miguel Indurain, 29 years and 9 days – Greg LeMond, 29 years and 26 days – Philippe Thys, 29 years, 9 months and 20 days – Louison Bobet, 30 years, 4 months and 18 days – Chris Froome, 31 years, 2 months and 4 days
8: POGAČAR REVIVES THE GIRO-TOUR DOUBLE
75 years after Fausto Coppi was the 1st rider to win both the Giro and the Tour de France in the same season, Tadej Pogačar became the 8th, reviving a feat that had not been achieved this century. The Slovenian cannibal was born 50 days after the last Giro-Tour double was achieved and, at 25 years and 10 months, he is the 2nd youngest rider to do so, behind Eddy Merckx (25 years, 1 month and 2 days). The list of riders who achieved the double: – Fausto Coppi (1949, 1952) – Jacques Anquetil (1964) – Eddy Merckx (1970, 1972, 1974) – Bernard Hinault (1982, 1985) – Stephen Roche (1987) – Miguel Indurain (1992, 1993) – Marco Pantani (1998) – Tadej Pogačar (2024) En route to his double triumph, Pogačar claimed 39 leader’s jerseys (19 Maillot Jaune, 20 Maglia Rosa), more than any rider ever did in a single season. Eddy Merckx had 37 in 1970.
1-2: POGAČAR – VINGEGAARD, A HISTORIC SHARED RULE
Jonas Vingegaard winning two Tours (2022, 2023) right after Tadej Pogačar did so (2020, 2021) was already an unprecedented series in the Tour de France. Now the duo extend their rule to a 5th overall victory in a row. They are also the 2 riders who have featured the most often together at the very summit of the Tour: – 4 times together in the first 2 places of the Tour, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) – 3, Bernard Hinault and Joop Zoetemelk (1978, 1979, 1982) – 2, Firmin Lambot and Jean Alavoine (1919, 1922), Eddy Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk (1970, 1971), Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond (1985, 1986), Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana (2013, 2015).
1: GIRMAY, A GREEN LIGHT FOR AFRICA
Already a history maker as the first Eritrean stage winner (stages 3, 8 and 12) and the first African leader of the points standings, Biniam Girmay brings the green jersey home and thus becomes the first African rider to win a standing in the Tour de France. With 17 green jerseys, he has the 33rd highest tally in the history of the race. Jasper Philipsen is just one jersey away, with the 18 he claimed in 2023.
12: CARAPAZ, AN ATTACKER AND A HISTORY MAKER
After he overcame a 67th categorised climb – adding up to 438.8km of climbing, that he covered at an average of 22.3km/h – on the final stage of the Tour 2024, Richard Carapaz brings Ecuador their first victory in a Tour standing, after he already gave his nation a first Maillot Jaune and a first stage win. 11 nations had won the polka-dot jersey so far in the history of the race. French climbers lead the way with 20 victories, while Slovenia was the latest addition, with Tadej Pogačar’s successes in 2020 and 2021. Richard Carapaz was also named the most combative rider of the Tour 2024, after he spent 575km at the front of the race.
24: EVENEPOEL DELIVERS FOR BELGIUM
At 24 years, 5 months and 26 days, Remco Evenepoel succeeds Tadej Pogačar as the best young rider of the Tour de France and becomes the youngest Belgian to finish in the overall top-3 since Eddy Merckx (24 years, 1 month and 3 days) won the race in 1969. Without considerations for the age, Jurgen Van den Broeck was the last Belgian to step on the overall podium of the Tour (3rd), in 2010.
1-2-3: A TRIO ALREADY SET IN HISTORY
The Tour de France finished with an ITT for the 10th in the history and the last battle confirmed the dominance of Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel. The “big 3” finished together in the stage top-3 for the 4th time this year (after stages 11, 14, and 15) before they stepped together on the overall podium. They match the record set by Lucien Petit-Breton, Georges Passerieu and François Faber in the Tour 1908: 4 times together in stages top-3 and then in the overall. No other trio in the history of the race has featured so many times together in the top-3, even across several editions.
35-141: CAVENDISH, LEADER AND LANTERNE ROUGE
Taking the start of a Tour de France stage for the 227th time of his career, Mark Cavendish completed his 15th Tour de France participation with an emotional farewell. The stage, two weeks after he claimed a historic 35th win, was only a matter of making it to the finish for the British icon, who registered the 134th time on the day… and thus dropped to the 141st and last position in the overall standings. For the first time of his career, Cavendish is the lanterne rouge of the Tour!
8: A GLOBAL TOUR
The Tour de France 2024 has crowned stage winners from 8 different nations, the lowest value since 2014. But 2 of these countries – Biniam Girmay’s Eritrea and Richard Carapaz’s Ecuador – claimed their maiden win, becoming the 35th and 36th nations to win in the Tour. Denmark has won stages in the last 3 editions, Great Britain in the last 4, Slovenia in the last 5, Belgium in the last 6, the Netherlands in the last 9… And France in the last 25, i.e. in every edition this century. There are only 2 editions with French win: 1926 and 1999. In between, French riders achieved their longest winning streak: 65 editions in a row. Belgians won in 71 consecutive editions, from 1911 to 1993.
