'Definitely different': the mixed feelings of Tadej Pogačar and others on a final-day Tour de France time trial

Finishing off a Grand Tour with a time trial is not an unusual concept – it's how the Giro d'Italia ended three years in a row very recently, after all. For the Tour de France though, it hasn't happened in 35 years – since the celebrated 1989 edition when Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by a historically small eight-second margin.

There's a lot to unravel when it comes to this year's reprise of the final-stage 'contre la montre'. For one, not only does the Tour not end in its usual sprint stage, it also ends a very long way from the Champs-Elysées in Nice. It could not be further from business as usual. 

Throw into the mix the mythologising associated with the final TT thanks to the feats of Lemond and it becomes quite the consideration.

The riders' views on the matter tend to be more prosaic; after all, most of them were not even born in 1989. Theirs are the concerns of racing and logistics, and minimising stress.

As such, yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar would prefer the relatively relaxed Champs-Elysées 'victory parade' afforded to the GC leader on the last day, rather than waiting all day for a late start and then racing a hard stage.

"It’s going to be definitely different, but I don’t like it, because I will start so late, 17:45 in the afternoon," he says. "It’s going to be such a long day just for a time trial, and it’s a really hard one too. I think I would prefer a Champs-Elysees sprint.

"But," he adds diplomatically, "it’s something different, and I’m looking forward to it and experiencing how it is."

Paris is certainly a special place, says Israel-PremierTech rider Hugo Houle, a Tour de France stage winner in 2022. But for him  the logistics of a Nice finish couldn't make more sense.

"I live here, I live in Monaco, so it’s nice to be here. It will save a flight on Monday morning," he says. "It’s different, Paris is always unique with the finish on the Champs-Elysees and with the Musée du Louvre, and you have to do it a few times. But for a guy like me, who has done it, it’s nice to be here and enjoy the sun.

"It’s good for us, it’s good for me. I can be a bit less stressed," he adds.

It's worth remembering that the decision to finish in Nice did not arise in a vacuum. With the Olympic Games taking over France's capital city, a Champs-Elysées finish was simply out of the question. It isn't part of any new plan to start ending the race outside of the capital, which will no doubt relieve many.

It seems the Olympics is bigger than cycling's greatest event, as stage 18 winner and accomplished time triallist Victor Campanaerts points out.

"The Tour de France we think is the biggest sporting event but the Olympic Games is the biggest sporting event in the world, so they're now the priority," he says.

As far as a time trial on the final day is concerned, he says: "It happens more often, especially in the Giro, so it's not something totally new to me."

He wouldn't mind seeing the idea repeated from time to time, he says – as long as it is flat. Which today's course most definitely isn't.

One man who does remember the 1989 race is Rolf Aldag, sports director at Bora-Hansgrohe. He finished nine Tours de France in Paris during his career as a rider too, and understandably has an affinity with the place.

"For me, it’s so strange that it doesn’t finish in Paris," he says. "I would love to go back to Paris.

"If it ends in a time trial, once in a while, why not," he adds. "I just don’t want to see a Bordeaux finish in 2028, and then in 2029 Toulouse or Montpellier. For me, it’s really weird, and in every second interview I still get it wrong, saying I can’t wait to get to Paris.

"Paris is a must, but a time trial is fine."