Every stage win at the Tour de France clearly matters, but there was no questioning just how much Mathieu van der Poel had put into this one. After rolling over the Champs-Élysées finish line, he clambered unsteadily from his bike and lay huddled against the barrier, both completely physically and emotionally spent after the hardest-fought of victories on stage 21.
The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider had launched on the final run up the Rue Lepic in Montmartre, with only Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) able to keep pace on the climb. But with 10km to go and the prestige of the last win in Paris at stake, the chase from the sprinters behind was furious and quickly closing.
