And in the end, who else would it ever have been? A Classic-style stage, for a Classic-style rider in the wet, brutal conditions he was born to race in. When Wout van Aert attacked on the final ascent of the Montmartre climb, dropping race leader Tadej Pogačar with the kind of power, strength and tactical prowess that only a rider of his calibre possesses, it almost felt like a sense of fate. Visma-Lease a Bike may not have won the yellow jersey – arguably the most coveted prize in the entirety of professional cycling – in this year’s Tour de France, but they have won the final stage on the Champs-Élysées with a rider whom no one could deny it from.
The victory for Van Aert felt so deserved because his path to this point has been tortured. His road to the 2025 Tour de France was never going to be straightforward – this is the kind of rider he is. The Belgian rider believes in an all-or-nothing approach. He will risk it all to try and win. This is evident if we analyse his Classics campaign: Van Aert attacked big, trying his utmost to get ahead, but time and time again he failed. Top-five results in all of the major one-day races were a sign that his form was there, but the victories were what were missing. Van Aert knows that more than anyone. The 30-year-old’s win on Sunday – his 10th Tour stage win and second time on the Champs-Élysées is what matters. It’s success when the stakes are at their very highest.
“It was always my plan to attack on the final climb. Of course, I thought it would be a bigger group going, so on the last lap I reconsidered, but especially because I still had Matteo [Jorgenson] there I could try it, and if it didn't work out we could come together and play our cards differently. I started the climb in the wheel of Tadej [Pogačar], but it was always the plan to attack myself,” Van Aert said after his victory on stage 21, understandably elated at his achievement after three weeks of a Grand Tour working largely in the service of Jonas Vingegaard.
“I was more fighting to hold the wheel of [Isaac] Del Toro there, today was a really confusing final kilometres, because I had no idea if I had a big gap or not. The radio was just noisy and there was too much screaming going on. It was a weird feeling because I only realised in the final straight that I had such a big margin. I wasn’t prepared for these emotions,” the Van Aert continued.
There is no denying that the Visma-Lease a Bike rider’s attack – and the moves that came before it – make a good case for the Montmartre climb to be included in editions of the Tour de France to come. The explosiveness, the entertainment, and the tension were all part of what makes professional bike racing a sport so special and unique. Of course, there is an argument for the sprinting showdown and spectacle that comes with the traditional Champs-Élysées stage, but the finale on Sunday also makes a case for the Tour to be raced until the very end, with attacking, aggressive riders at the forefront. Naturally, Van Aert himself savoured the rain-soaked stage around Paris.
“I did enjoy the final because it was quite selective. It was pretty quickly a small group in the front, and that's how it should be,” Van Aert said in his post-race press conference.
He also added that any stress of general classification riders – many of whom openly commented on their dissatisfaction with the Montmartre climb being included in the final stage – would have their own doing: “The guys that want to race can take the risks,” the Visma rider stated. “If the GC times weren’t taken it’s impossible to create a safe race on this circuit. If you’re 100th you’re already two minutes behind because it’s so technical. It’s still an exciting race to watch, I think.”
It’s true that the circuit around the City of Lights on Sunday, under the gloomy, ominous rain clouds that shrouded France, was entertainment. Fundamentally, this is what bike racing is all about: keeping fans watching climb after climb, lap after lap. The Montmartre circuit did that, whether the general classification riders enjoyed it or not. One man who had the time of his life and who will remember this day for the rest of his career, is Wout van Aert. It was almost as if race organisers ASO had designed this finish for him. Finally, he has delivered.
