Greipel wins the Stage 21 Sprint in Paris, Froome Wins His Second Yellow Jersey
André Greipel, Lotto-Soudal, won the ultimate sprinters challenge in the Tour de France by winning the last stage in Paris on the Champs d'Elysées in Stage 21. This was Greipel’s fourth stage victory in this year’s Tour and his tenth Tour stage victory in his career.
Chris Froome, Team Sky, was the General Classification winner in the Tour by finishing 1 minute 12 seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana, Movistar Team, who won the Best Young Rider competition today. Chris Froome also won the King of the Mountains contest by 10 points of Quintana. He is the first Yellow Jersey winner also to win the Polka Dot jersey since Eddy Merckx won both in 1970. Peter Sagan, Tinkoff-Saxo, won the Points competition over Greipel. This was Sagan’s fourth Green Jersey victory in a row, even though Sagan has not won a stage in the Tour in two years. Sagan placed second in six stages this year. Movistar Team won the team contest over Team Sky. Froome’s victory was the third victory in four years in the Tour by Team Sky; Bradley Wiggins won the Tour in 2012, Froome won in 2013 as well as this year.
Reflecting on the 2015 Tour de France
Rooting for Team Sky and Chris Froome is similar to rooting for the New York Yankees, Manchester City or Montreal Canadians when each were dominant in their sport. Like these other teams, Team Sky has the talented lineup, generous resources and the animosity of the sports' fans.
Team Sky has some great cyclists. The support provided to Bradley Higgins and Chris Froome over the last four years has been great. Team Sky stayed near the front of the peloton in most stages, helped Froome on mountain climbs, kept a watch on other GC contenders and for peloton splits due to crosswinds or crashes. While other top teams did many of the same things, these team do not have the same depth of talent as Team Sky. Richie Porte, who is a key team member, is leaving Team Sky at the end of this season to lead another pro cycling team and compete for his victories in cycling's Grand Tours. However, Team Sky will find a good replacement for Porte.
Although the International Cycling Union (UCI) denied Team Sky the use of a mobile home for the team during the Tour, Team Sky did have a fleet of 15 vehicles. Team Sky’s spent £2.45m ($38 million) in 2014. The team signs top cyclists provides top level support and training. In this year’s Tour, you could clearly see a divide opening up between the upper division of cycling teams and the other cycling teams trying to lead breakaways or a stage victory or two.
Despite the training, the talented lineup and attention to support, Team Sky and Froome were accused of doping, and some of the Tour fans cursed and spat on Froome on the route during a couple of stages. Lance Armstrong’s two rides for charity during the Tour in France did not help the situation. Lance’s presence only provoked more questions for Team Sky. Team Sky responded by releasing training data and offering inspection tours of the team bus. Five years after Lance’s last appearance in the Tour and a little over two years after being exposed for cheating, his shadow still looms over pro cycling.
Stage 21 Results
1.
|
André Greipel
|
Lotto-Soudal
|
02h 49' 41''
| |
2.
|
Bryan Coqard
|
Team Europcar
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
3.
|
Alexander Kristoff
|
Team Katusha
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
4.
|
Edvald Boasson Hagen
|
MTN-Qhubeka
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
5.
|
Arnaud Demare
|
FDJ
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
6.
|
Mark Cavendish
|
Etixx-Quick Step
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
7.
|
Peter Sagan
|
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
8.
|
John Degenkolb
|
Team Giant-Alpecin
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
9.
|
Michael Matthews
|
Orica GreenEDGE
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
10.
|
Ramunas Navadauskas
|
Team Cannondale-Garmin
|
02h 49' 41''
|
+ 00' 00''
|
Young Rider Competition (White Jersey)
1.
|
Nario Quintana
|
Movistar Team
|
84h 47' 26''
| |
2.
|
Romain Bardet
|
AG2R La Mondiale
|
85h 02' 14''
|
+ 14' 48''
|
3.
|
Warren Barguil
|
Team Giant-Alpecin
|
85h 17' 29''
|
+ 30' 03''
|
4.
|
Thibaut Pinot
|
FDJ
|
85h 25' 06''
|
+ 37' 40''
|
5.
|
Bob Jungels
|
Trek Factory Racing
|
86h 19' 35''
|
+ 01h 32' 09'
|
King of the Mountains Competition (Polka Dot Jersey)
1.
|
Chris Froome
|
Team Sky
|
119 pts
|
2.
|
Nairo Quintana
|
Movistar Team
|
108 pts
|
3.
|
Romain Bardet
|
AG2R La Mondiale
|
90 pts
|
4.
|
Thibaut Pinot
|
FDJ
|
82 pts
|
5.
|
Joachim Rodriguez
|
Team Katusha
|
78 pts
|
Team Competition
1.
|
Movistar Team
|
255h 24' 24''
| |
2.
|
Team Sky
|
256h 21' 47''
|
+ 57' 23''
|
3.
|
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
256h 24' 36''
|
+ 01h 00' 12''
|
4.
|
Astana Pro Team
|
256h 36' 33''
|
+ 01h 12' 09''
|
5.
|
MTN-Qhubeka
|
256h 38' 56''
|
+ 01h 14' 32''
|
Points Competition (Green Jersey)
1.
|
Peter Sagan
|
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
432 pts
|
2.
|
André Greipel
|
Lotto-Soudal
|
366 pts
|
3.
|
John Degenkolb
|
Team Giant-Alpecin
|
298 pts
|
4.
|
Mark Cavendish
|
Etixx-Quick Step
|
206 pts
|
5.
|
Bryan Coqard
|
Team Europcar
|
152 pts
|
General Classification Competition (Yellow Jersey)
1.
|
Chris Froome
|
Team Sky
|
84h 46' 14''
| |
2.
|
Nario Quintana
|
Movistar Team
|
84h 47' 26''
|
+ 01' 12''
|
3.
|
Alejandro Valverde
|
Movistar Team
|
84h 51' 39''
|
+ 05' 25''
|
4.
|
Vincenzo Nibali
|
Astana Pro Team
|
84h 54' 50''
|
+ 08' 36''
|
5.
|
Alberto Contador
|
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
84h 56' 02''
|
+ 09' 48''
|
6.
|
Robert Gesink
|
Team Lotto NL - Jumbo
|
84h 57' 01''
|
+ 10' 47''
|
7.
|
Bauke Mollema
|
Trek Factory Racing
|
85h 01' 28''
|
+ 15' 14''
|
8.
|
FRANK Mathias
|
IAM Cycling
|
85h 01' 53''
|
+ 15' 39''
|
9.
|
Romain Bardet
|
AG2R La Mondiale
|
85h 02' 14''
|
+ 16' 00''
|
10.
|
Pierre Rolland
|
Team Europcar
|
85h 03' 44''
|
+ 17' 30''
|
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