Jonas Vingegaard set his sights on further domination after securing his second successive Tour de France crown while Jordi Meeus won the final stage in a photo finish on the Champs-Elysees.
Vingegaard’s defence of his title was all but assured after Wednesday’s stage over the Col de la Loze, and he celebrated arm-in-arm with his Jumbo-Visma team-mates as they crossed the line together in the French capital.
As the Paris finale came down to the customary sprint finish, all eyes were on Jasper Philipsen, winner of four stages in this Tour, and Dylan Groenewegen on the right-hand side of the road as they bounded over the cobbles, but it was Meeus who shot down the left to nick it with a bike throw.
Vingegaard, who took yellow on stage six, won with a final margin of seven minutes and 29 seconds over 2020 and 2021 champion Tadej Pogacar, but his lead had been just 10 seconds on Monday’s rest day.
Only eight men have won three or more Tour titles, but the 26-year-old Dane is already looking towards the opportunity to join them next summer.
“I’m proud and happy of course,” Vingegaard said. “We’re winning it for a second time and it’s really amazing...I have to say thank you not only to my team but my family and all of Denmark, they supported me and I’m really grateful for this.
“It’s been a long journey but it went by so fast. We raced every day. It’s been a super good fight between me and Tadej and I really enjoyed it all the way. Of course I hope to come back next year to see if I can take a third win or at least try. That will be the plan.”
Britain’s Adam Yates joined Vingegaard and Pogacar on the podium in Paris after securing third place.
“It’s really special,” Yates said. “This is my best Grand Tour finish. I’ve been fourth twice, once at the Tour and once in the Vuelta but to go one step better for me personally is very nice.
“The goal was always to try and win yellow (with Pogacar) but it’s not easy over three weeks to stay consistent. We only had one bad day as a team and there was only one guy better than us so we can’t complain.
“We had a couple of stage wins along the way so overall it’s been a successful three weeks.”
One of those stage wins belonged to Yates, who beat twin brother Simon on the opening day in Bilbao to enjoy four days in the yellow jersey.
Although Simon rides for rival team Jayco-Alula, the Bury-born pair were effectively working together again on Saturday’s final mountain stage as they paced back up to a lead group, with Adam then helping Pogacar sprint to a stage win.
“It’s been super special,” Adam said of competing alongside Simon. “The first day was a fantastic experience for me and Simon. I managed to edge him out in the final so it was really nice for me and not so much for him, but he’s been super strong in the last three weeks so he’ll come back fighting.”
Before the Paris sprint there was the usual procession into town, although not one that will be seen next July when preparations for the Olympic Games will force the race to finish in Nice, where there will be an individual time trial.
In a nod to that, this stage began at the Olympic velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines before the clinking of champagne glasses and the rolling photoshoots began on the road into the city centre.
Mark Cavendish was not around to contest the sprint, having crashed out of what was due to be his final Tour with a broken collarbone on stage eight.
That denied the 38-year-old the opportunity to win a record-breaking 35th career stage, but his Astana-Qazaqstan general mananger Alexander Vinokourov said he planned to meet the Manxman in Paris and discuss a possible contract extension into 2024.
