Champs-Élysées

To most regular people, the Champs-Élysées is a premium priced shopping street with a very wide road in the middle of it with evenly spaced trees lining the edges. To anyone with a bike however it is the iconic finish of the Tour de France.

Every year since 1975, the Tour de France has finished on the wide boulevard of the Champs-Élysées. The last stage often takes the form of a slow procession into Paris, with champagne and plenty of photo opportunities with the leaders, especially if the jersey winners are all confirmed. Once the riders reach the Champs-Élysées though, the racing begins and the speed jumps up massively.

Champs Elysees finish around the Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe takes pride of place at the top of the hill, looking down on the rest of the boulevard, the spectacle has increased in recent years as the riders now go fully around the Arc whereas in previous years they hairpin turned away from it at its foot. The Champs itself is actually a form of cobbles, not as brutal as one of the Spring Classics but certainly noticeable on carbon road bikes which helps to negate individual efforts off the front. Riders can often be seen riding in the gutters as they have a smooth surface and are a welcome rest.

Cavendish wins on the Champs Elysees

Big names have won on the Champs-Élysées such as Cavendish, Hushovd, Boonen, McEwen, Abdoujaparov, Museeuw, Lemond and Hinault. The list of names shows that in recent times, it’s been a place where sprinters can earn some glory as it often finishes in a mass sprint, the most recent exception was in 2005 when Alexander Vinokourov won on his own. Sometimes however there is heartbreak, Lieuwe Westra had to withdraw on the final stage of the 2013 Tour having ridden all the way to Paris and having just 39km of circuits to go.

Once the lead-out trains hit the front with around 10km left to go, the pace becomes all-out and on the limit. The way that Team Sky delivered Mark Cavendish to the win in 2012 is one example of the importance of the lead-out train in delivering sprinters to victories. This sprint even had the yellow jersey winner Bradley Wiggins taking a turn with a few hundred metres to go, helping to power along for his teammate and repay some of the hard work others had put in for him. It’s rare to see the yellow jersey working in this way for a sprint.

It would be impossible to see the Tour de France finishing anywhere else other than this simple stretch of road and for that reason it is truly iconic.

Champs Elysees

Champs Élysées

To most regular people, the Champs Élysées is a premium priced shopping street with a very wide road in the middle of it with evenly spaced trees lining the edges. To anyone with a bike however it is the iconic finish of the Tour de France.

Champs Elysees

Every year since 1975, the Tour de France has finished on the wide boulevard of the Champs Élysées. The last stage often takes the form of a slow procession into Paris, with champagne and plenty of photo opportunities with the leaders, especially if the jersey winners are all confirmed. Once the riders reach the Champs Élysées though, the racing begins and the speed jumps up massively.

Champs Elysees finish around the Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe takes pride of place at the top of the hill, looking down on the rest of the boulevard, the spectacle has increased in recent years as the riders now go fully around the Arc whereas in previous years they hairpin turned away from it at its foot. The Champs itself is actually a form of cobbles, not as brutal as one of the Spring Classics but certainly noticeable on carbon road bikes which helps to negate individual efforts off the front. Riders can often be seen riding in the gutters as they have a smooth surface and are a welcome rest.

Cavendish wins on the Champs Elysees

Big names have won on the Champs Élysées such as Cavendish, Hushovd, Boonen, McEwen, Abdoujaparov, Museeuw, Lemond and Hinault. The list of names shows that in recent times, it’s been a place where sprinters can earn some glory as it often finishes in a mass sprint, the most recent exception was in 2005 when Alexander Vinokourov won on his own. Sometimes however there is heartbreak, Lieuwe Westra had to withdraw on the final stage of the 2013 Tour having ridden all the way to Paris and having just 39km of circuits to go.

Once the lead-out trains hit the front with around 10km left to go, the pace becomes all-out and on the limit. The way that Team Sky delivered Mark Cavendish to the win in 2012 is one example of the importance of the lead-out train in delivering sprinters to victories. This sprint even had the yellow jersey winner Bradley Wiggins taking a turn with a few hundred metres to go, helping to power along for his teammate and repay some of the hard work others had put in for him. It’s rare to see the yellow jersey working in this way for a sprint.

It would be impossible to see the Tour de France finishing anywhere else other than this simple stretch of road and for that reason it is truly iconic.

Champs Elysees

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Champs Élysées was originally published on Me vs. Pro Cycling

The Top 5 Cyclists of All-Time (according to me…) Part 4 – Robbie McEwen

I’ve been following cycling since I was plonked in front of the Channel 4 programme back in 1997, the year that Jan Ulrich won his Tour. The following year I followed the whole thing and saw Marco Pantani zoom off and win.

This list is those that have captured my attention and been the stuff of dreams ever since!

4 – Robbie McEwen

Robbie McEwen was pretty much my favourite sprinter in that early to mid 2000s period. He never had the same sort of leadout to the finish that Mario Cippolini was given but just seemed to scrap his way to the front, ultimately winning 3 Green Jerseys in the Tour de France.

Robbie McEwen

This was a golden age of sprinters where no one single sprinter dominated the field and all were capable of getting stage wins on their day, the likes of McEwen, Cippolini, Zabel, Hushovd, Cooke, Boonen, Freire and Hunter fought it out to wear Green (and often Yellow in the first week back then).

McEwen stood out as successful and also very very quick – Erik Zabel won 6 Green Jerseys but wasn’t rapid, although admittedly not slow, definitely very consistent and capable of getting points the mountains (basically the EPO version of Peter Sagan). The winning on the line with arms aloft is what captured my imagination. McEwen won 12 Tour de France stages all in all (joint 16th on the all time list), one less that Cipollini, equal to Zabel, two more than Hushovd (TTT wins ignored) then there’s daylight.

The 2007 Tour de France started in London and the 1st stage to Canterbury produced one of McEwen’s most epic wins and also what turned out to be his last Tour de France stage win. McEwen crashed with 20km left in the stage, which with the peleton riding desperately quickly left a huge task for him to catch up and rejoin. It would surely use up all of his energy just to finish the race in the bunch let alone contest the stage. In the final few metres of the race with everyone setting up for the sprint finish, McEwen just appeared off the side of the main line of riders and seemed to just zip past all of them with ease by hitting speeds the others were obviously not capable of matching. McEwen went from down and out to winning by over a bike length on his own without a leadout train.

The knee injury he sustained in the crash led to him withdrawing from the tour a week later but he left having shown us another moment of greatness.

The Top 5 Cyclists of All-Time (according to me…) Part 4 – Robbie McEwen

I’ve been following cycling since I was plonked in front of the Channel 4 programme back in 1997, the year that Jan Ulrich won his Tour. The following year I followed the whole thing and saw Marco Pantani zoom off and win.

This list is those that have captured my attention and been the stuff of dreams ever since!

4 – Robbie McEwen

Robbie McEwen was pretty much my favourite sprinter in that early to mid 2000s period. He never had the same sort of leadout to the finish that Mario Cippolini was given but just seemed to scrap his way to the front, ultimately winning 3 Green Jerseys in the Tour de France.

Robbie McEwen

This was a golden age of sprinters where no one single sprinter dominated the field and all were capable of getting stage wins on their day, the likes of McEwen, Cippolini, Zabel, Hushovd, Cooke, Boonen, Freire and Hunter fought it out to wear Green (and often Yellow in the first week back then).

McEwen stood out as successful and also very very quick – Erik Zabel won 6 Green Jerseys but wasn’t rapid, although admittedly not slow, definitely very consistent and capable of getting points the mountains (basically the EPO version of Peter Sagan). The winning on the line with arms aloft is what captured my imagination. McEwen won 12 Tour de France stages all in all (joint 16th on the all time list), one less that Cipollini, equal to Zabel, two more than Hushovd (TTT wins ignored) then there’s daylight.

The 2007 Tour de France started in London and the 1st stage to Canterbury produced one of Robbie McEwen’s most epic wins and also what turned out to be his last Tour de France stage win. McEwen crashed with 20km left in the stage, which with the peleton riding desperately quickly left a huge task for him to catch up and rejoin. It would surely use up all of his energy just to finish the race in the bunch let alone contest the stage. In the final few metres of the race with everyone setting up for the sprint finish, McEwen just appeared off the side of the main line of riders and seemed to just zip past all of them with ease by hitting speeds the others were obviously not capable of matching. McEwen went from down and out to winning by over a bike length on his own without a leadout train.

The knee injury he sustained in the crash led to him withdrawing from the tour a week later but he left having shown us another moment of greatness.

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The Top 5 Cyclists of All-Time (according to me…) Part 4 – Robbie McEwen was originally published on Me vs. Pro Cycling