The 2025 Tour de France came to an end with a nail-biting final stage in Paris today, with Wout van Aert taking a second career victory on the Champs-Elysees.
The Belgian was part of an elite, six-man group of riders including champion Tadej Pogacar who broke away from the peloton in soaking wet conditions, navigating the treacherous cobbles of Paris city centre to steal a march on the bunch.
Three ascents of the narrow, cobbled Cote de la Butte Montmartre, a recent addition to the parcours, proved decisive as Pogacar tried to rip up the race each time - but it was Van Aert who made the crucial move, dropping the yellow jersey on the final climb and soloing away to a stunning victory.
Pogacar finished fourth but sealed a fourth overall title, celebrating as he crossed the line, with the general classification neutralised on the final stage due to the weather conditions.
Follow all the action on Stage 21 with the liveblog below:
Tour de France stage 21 Live
- The Tour de France comes to an end with stage 21, finishing in Paris
- Stage 21: 132km from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris Champs-Elysees | Live on TNT Sports and ITV4
- Tadej Pogacar in elite breakaway group with 20km to go
- Traditional processional stage has late twist this year in the form of three climbs on Montmartre
- Stage honours could come down to traditional sprint - or favour a bold puncheur
- Kaden Groves soloed to maiden Tour de France victory on wet, crash-hampered stage 20
Final general classification standings
20:06
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Flo Clifford
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 76:00:32
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma - Lease a Bike) +4:24
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +11:00
- Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) +12:12
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +17:12
- Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +20:14
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea - B&B Hotels) +22:35
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) +25:30
- Ben Healy (EF Education - EasyPost) +28:02
- Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) + 32:42
Podium ceremony
19:59
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Flo Clifford
'Maybe I'll be back' - Tadej Pogacar
19:53
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Flo Clifford
“I’m still not getting used to this, I’m still not comfortable talking to so many people,” Pogacar begins his winner’s speech. “It’s an honour and a pleasure to stand on the podium with the two best opponents.”
He thanks the race organisers, all the staff, and the “amazing fans, so many kids cheering for everybody, it was really something amazing to see and to live”.
“It was one of the toughest Tour de Frances I ever did... What else can I say? Maybe I’ll be back,” he grins, and with relief puts the microphone back on its yellow cushion.
Tadej Pogacar wins the 2025 Tour de France
19:46
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Flo Clifford
Podium ceremony
19:42
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Flo Clifford
Final yellow jersey and general classification standings as Tour de France ends in Paris
19:32
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Flo Clifford
Tadej Pogacar has won the 2025 Tour de France, finishing on the podium for the sixth successive year and winning his fourth crown in Paris at the age of just 26.
The defending champion became the youngest rider to reach 21 Tour de France stage wins with his victory atop the Peyragudes category-one climb, and ultimately finished 4’24” ahead of Vingegaard, with German 24-year-old Florian Lipowitz finishing third and sealing the best young rider’s classification at 11 minutes back.
Britain’s Oscar Onley, riding just his second Tour de France and only 22, finished fourth overall at 12’12” down on Pogacar.
Tadej Pigacar: 'Just speechless'
19:24
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Flo Clifford
Tadej Pogacar can also relax now, and he speaks in his post-race interview. “In the end I find myself in the front even though I really didn’t have the energy to motivate myself to race today, but in the end I was really happy they neutralised the times on GC, then it was more relaxed to race. You just had to have good legs to be in front. Hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong, it was a really nice race in the end.
“Just speechless, to win the fourth Tour of France, six years in a row on the podium, this one feels especially amazing. I’m super proud that I can wear this yellow jersey.”
How did he win it? “We had great spirit, we went fighting from day one, after stage five on the Mur de Bretagne, I knew I had good legs to compete for the vicotry. The second week was the decisive moment to take advantage and go more comfortably into the third week.”
And Jonas Vingegaard? “We talked after we start the race, we raised the level of each other much higher, and we push each other to limit to try to beat each other. Battling against Jonas was a tough experience but I must say to him, respect and a big, big congratulations for his fight and incredible race.”
Oscar Onley: 'It's sparked a bit of a dream'
19:18
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Flo Clifford
A much smilier than usual Oscar Onley, finally allowed to relax, has a chat with ITV4. “That was a pretty crazy circuit, it’s a good job the times were neutralised, I think. It was really nice, last time up Montmartre I could soak it in a bit which was quite cool. Coming onto the Champs-Elysees, it was pretty special. It’s been a really special three weeks with the whole team, it’s been nice.”
Asked about his battle with Lipowitz earlier in the stage, he laughs and says, “To be fair, that was more, I was just told to follow some moves to cover for Toby [Tobias Lund Andresen, Picnic PostNL’s sprinter], I saw Quinn Simmons go and he’s a dangerous guy, and Lipo just came over the top of me and I had nothing left. But it was good fun.
“This is a really big moment in my career, I don’t really realise it yet, but just from talking to other riders in the bunch, going forward we have something to build on and an exciting project for the future, and it’s sparked a bit of a dream, I guess. I’ve never thought about a top five in the Tour before so to get it on my first try [aiming for GC] is quite something.” He’s had a phenomenal Tour and is a real one to watch.
Tadej Pogacar wins 2025 Tour de France
19:11
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Flo Clifford
Geraint Thomas: 'Not bad'
19:01
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Flo Clifford
Geraint Thomas is asked to sum up his career. “Not bad, long, long enough. Enjoyed it. Did a lot of different things from the velodrome to one-days to stage racing and obviously grand tours. The Tour’s been a massive part of it from the start till now. It’s been good, but I’m definitely happy that it’s done. Today symbolises the whole race for me: crazy, wet, in pieces.”
What next? “Still got Tour of Britain, but after that... I’ve always said I’ve wanted to do an Iron Man.”
Wout van Aert: 'Special day out'
19:01
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Flo Clifford
Wout van Aert says: “It was a special day out, really special to win on the Champs-Elysees once again, on the first occasion when we also climbed Montmartre.
“The rain made it quite sketchy, but I managed to stay upright and had the full support of my team. They controlled this race, going to the last climb, leave it all out there was our plan, and it worked.”
Stage 21 results
18:57
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Flo Clifford
- Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), in 3:07:30
- Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), +19''
- Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious)
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), +26”
- Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling), +38”
- Arnaud de Lie (Lotto), +1’14”
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
- Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana)
- Dylan Teuns (Cofidis), all at same time
Wout van Aert wins stage 21
18:44
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Flo Clifford
Geraint Thomas completes final Tour de France
18:42
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Flo Clifford
It’s stopped raining and is looking a little bit brighter in Paris now. Florian Lipowitz waves to the camera and slows down to take it all in.
Geraint Thomas crosses the line four minutes down in a large group. It’s the end of his final Tour de France, and near the end of a brilliant 19-year career. Jonathan Milan is in the same group, having won two stages and the points classification on his debut Tour.
Pogacar celebrates with his partner Urska Zigart, a professional rider herself.
Wout van Aert wins stage 21
18:38
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Flo Clifford
Jorgenson is on the radio alerting the team of Van Aert’s victory, as the Belgian celebrates with staff and his wife at the line. Ballerini takes second, Mohoric third, and Pogacar, waving to the fans and waving his finger in the air, smiles as he crosses the line.
Trentin comes across sixth, and behind them, de Lie wins a sprint for the minor places.
Jorgenson grins from ear to ear as he hugs Van Aert.
Wout van Aert wins stage 21!
18:36
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Flo Clifford
The Belgian is half-grimacing, half-smiling as he takes in the roars of applause. He sits up and rolls across the line, hands in the air.
Wout van Aert wins stage 21!
Van Aert racing towards victory
18:35
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Flo Clifford
1.5km to go: Van Aert has a 20-second gap and it’s growing still... Pogacar now drops off the chasing group, conceding defeat.
Can Van Aert hold on?
18:33
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Flo Clifford
3km to go: Mohoric is towing Jorgenson and Ballerini back to Pogacar, and they make the junction... and Mohoric leads the counter. Trentin has been distanced somewhere along that climb or descent.
Van Aert has less than 3km to time-trial his way to the finish.
Van Aert breaks clear
18:31
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Flo Clifford
4.4km to go: This is incredible. Pogacar has been dropped. Van Aert is going at full tilt.
The Belgian is descending on these very wet roads, and his lead over the yellow jersey is at 10 seconds now...
Pogacar leads onto final climb, Van Aert attacks
18:30
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Flo Clifford
6km to go: After all that, Pogacar is the first in line for the climb, and he accelerates to try to put his rivals in difficulty... but they all hang on, Van Aert is right on his wheel, and these wet corners mean Pogacar has to decelerate.
Van Aert is doing a phenomenal ride. Pogacar only has 400m left to attack... Van Aert counters and the Slovenian must chase him down! Pogacar lets the wheel go a little bit... he takes a small gap into the final 200m and is just powering away. He’s got a five second gap over the yellow jersey, with the other riders strung out, as he takes the descent. Drama!
Visma attack Pogacar
18:27
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Flo Clifford
7.4km to go: Jorgenson hangs back and that decision just forces Pogacar to use a bit more energy to close the gap. Visma have strength in numbers here, with two riders. The others are Trentin (Tudor), Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Ballerini (Astana), and of course Pogacar.
It’s Jorgenson who leads them towards the climb, and he attacks again! Mohoric closes it down but this is a bigger gap to close, and Pogacar needs to put in a bigger effort still to bridge across.
Jorgenson goes again, and this time Trentin closes it.
Jorgenson attacks
18:23
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Flo Clifford
10km to go: Jorgenson launches and Mohoric is the one to close it down. All these riders are aware they don’t want Pogacar to be first leading into this climb. It’s his fellow Slovenian who wants to be first - he could do something on this descent.
Pogacar currently sits last in this line. They’ve got 40 seconds on the chasing group, gaining a second or two here and there.
Onto the final lap
18:17
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Flo Clifford
15km to go: One more climb to go, then the riders swoop back onto the Champs-Elysees for the iconic finish.
This six-man breakaway group are rotating well together and Van Aert takes them onto the final lap... They’ve got 25 seconds on the 22-man chase group.
20KM
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 27, 2025
Over the summit of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre, @TamauPogi, @MatteoJorg, @WoutvanAert, @MATTEOTRENTIN, @matmohoric, and Davide Ballerini go clear and gain a 12 second gap over the group behind.
Au sommet de la Côte de la Butte Montmartre,… pic.twitter.com/1zoJVOhhQG
Pogacar attacks on second climb
18:10
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Flo Clifford
22km to go: Incidentally, the last time the yellow jersey won on the final stage in Paris was Bernard Hinault, in 1982. (The last time the yellow jersey won the final stage was last year, as Pogacar won the last time-trial.)
Campenaerts hits the climb first, Pogacar repositions himself further up, behind Mohoric... Van Aert is way down in this group and that’s not good.
Pogacar hits the front! Ballerini is onto him, then Jorgenson chases them down. The yellow jersey can’t get clear! He’s missing his teammates. Van Aert has done brilliantly to come up into fourth wheel.
Pogacar leads a five-man group, completed by Trentin, onto the descent, and Mohoric makes the junction on the downhill too, as you’d expect from possibly the world’s best descender.
Approaching the second climb
18:06
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Flo Clifford
24km to go: Mohoric has to hop round a piece of road furniture and is living dangerously on the front.
There are three Visma-Lease a Bike riders in this front group: Jorgenson, Campenaerts, and Van Aert. Campenaerts comes to the front, with Pogacar lurking two wheels back.
This 28-strong group now has 45 seconds on the Lipowitz-Milan group. 700m until the second climb up Montmartre and there’s another battle for positioning... Pogacar is a little bit further back now.
Terrible conditions for final two laps
17:59
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Flo Clifford
29km to go: Ballerini, Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Powless, Vauquelin, and Mohoric are some of the big names in this front group with Pogacar. Axel Laurance, Arnaud de Lie, Jasper Stuyven too and both Paret-Peintre brothers. They’ve got 20 seconds on the next group on the road, which contains the other three jerseys.
They’re taking thes corners gingerly in these hideous conditions.
Pogacar in leading group
17:56
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Flo Clifford
32km to go: Bastien Tronchon has a small gap and he’s the next over the passage of the line. Two laps to go. It’s absolutely chucking it down and that’s going to really complicate the next couple of laps.
Groups are spread out all over the road. Pogacar is at the front, without any teammates, in this small leading group. More riders are coming back together now, Neilson Powless takes them round the Arc de Triomphe again.
@TamauPogi, @alafpolak1, @JennoBerckmoes, @WoutvanAert, Davide Ballerini, Tobias Lund Andresen, @Arnaud_De_Lie - what a breakaway group
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 27, 2025
Quel groupe de tête ! #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/4v7mDBCUcH
First Montmartre ascent done
17:52
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Flo Clifford
35km to go: These crowds are absolutely phenomenal, it’s an amazing sight.
Pogacar, in full yellow, leads the peloton off the climb, and now Van Aert comes to the front for this descent. Matej Mohoric and Victor Campenaerts are bridging across to this very small group as the peloton gets strung out.
Davide Ballerini, a great descender, is next to attack from this small group, and the groups are beginning to come back together.
Pogacar attacks on the Montmartre climb
17:48
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Flo Clifford
39km to go: They hit the Cote de la Butte Montmartre for the first of three climbs; it’s an absolute wall of noise from hordes of fans at the roadside. The climb is 1.1km at an average of 5.9% - and Alaphilippe launches off his Tudor leadout!
Arnaud de Lie is straight onto his wheel, and now Pogacar jumps! The yellow jersey catches them and swings onto the front; Wout van Aert is right behind him as they go past the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.
Alpecin-Deceuninck make catch
17:44
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Flo Clifford
41km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck make the catch of Simmons and Lipowitz, all-in for Kaden Groves, who won yesterday’s stage 20 will a truly impressive display of climbing (and tactical nous).
Alpecin lead as they head onto this new part of the circuit, towards the Cote de la Butte Montmartre, and Tudor come to the front in numbers for Julian Alaphilippe.
Tadej Pogacar seals Tour de France
17:36
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Flo Clifford
49km to go: They roll over the Champs-Elysees finish line with three laps to go, and as the neutralisation of the GC standings comes into effect, Tadej Pogacar has officially won the 2025 Tour de France.
Lipowitz and Simmons up the road
17:32
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Flo Clifford
51km to go: Lipowitz is having a great Tour and he has daylight between himself and the peloton, hanging on the wheel of Quinn Simmons in his full Captain America gear.
The pair are working together nicely and have an ten second lead.
Intermediate sprint
17:29
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Flo Clifford
54km to go: Neilson Powless launches a select group off the front, which is chased down by Bruno Armirail, and Jonas Vingegaard is active on the front! Not sure why, is he playing domestique for a teammate today?
They head towards the intermediate sprint with Armirail countering... and Jonathan Milan comes forward to pick up some more points. His only challenger is Jonas Abrahamsen, who really can’t help himself. Milan wins that particular duel.
Now Onley launches, trying to get onto the wheel of Quinn Simmons, and he’s counter-attacked by Florian Lipowitz!
Race hotting up
17:24
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Flo Clifford
59km to go: The Patrouille de France, the French Red Arrows, delight the crowds with a flypast over central Paris as they do every year.
Matteo Jorgenson brings back an attempted breakaway, including Jonas Abrahamsen.
Attacks begin
17:17
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Flo Clifford
66km to go: UAE are allowed their moment on the first passage of the Champs-Elysees, and immediately after that the attacks begin, as they rattle over the cobbles by the Arc de Triomphe.
Magnus Cort is the first to attack, marked by Quinn Simmons. Julian Alaphilippe is there too. Nobody has been able to go clear yet... Bruno Armirail is the next to jump, he’s been stupendous for Felix Gall throughout this race.
10km to go until the intermediate sprint. Will we see a real battle there?
Pogacar rides through Paris
17:12
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Flo Clifford
71km to go: As is traditional, the winning team lead the riders onto the finishing straight, and Visma-Lease a Bike knock off the pace to allow a gap to grow as they roll down the Champs-Elysees. It’s a magnificent sight, as always.
Pogacar, whose watch strap is yellow today, smiles at the camera.
Into Paris
17:07
,
Flo Clifford
74km to go: The riders roll into Paris and head past the Hotel des Invalides and the Tuileries, before they’ll turn towards the Louvre.
UAE on the front
16:58
,
Flo Clifford
80km to go: No rain at the moment, but the roads are very wet from showers earlier on, and there’s some more wet weather expected this afternoon.
Jonas Rickaert, who floated off the front, is brought back.
Le Château de Versailles #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/3u6xyRrVAY
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 27, 2025
Heading towards finishing circuit
16:51
,
Flo Clifford
86km to go: The riders have gone past Versailles and are now onto the day’s second categorised climb, the cat-four Côte du Pavé des Gardes (0.7km at 7.7%). UAE lead the peloton as they roll over the top, very gently. That’s the final climb before the finishing circuit and it comes shortly before we enter Paris.
The polka-dot jersey belongs firmly on Tadej Pogacar’s shoulders, although he’s not wearing it today. Vingegaard is wearing it for him, which must be annoying.
GC battle to be neutralised
16:44
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Flo Clifford
Official communication from the Tour organisers:
“Due to slippery roads on shady spots in Montmartre, it has been decided, in accordance with the commissaires of the UCI and representatives of teams and riders, to stop the time at the 4th passage on the finish line - i.e. before the three laps featuring the Côte de la Butte Montmartre.”
So that minimises the jeopardy for the GC riders, who just need to get to that fourth passage of the Champs-Elysees to be safe. It’s probably the sensible decision, especially given several riders - Vingegaard most notably - have criticised the inclusion of Montmartre and the extra stress it adds to a finish which is already one of the most stressful in cycling.
Heading towards Versailles
16:34
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Flo Clifford
97km to go: UAE remain on the front in their special edition kits, although Pogacar has slipped back.
The riders are heading towards the beautiful Palace of Versailles, which the helicopters are panning over at the moment. Pics if and when we get them.
The fans are out in force in and around Montmartre, umbrellas at the ready.
Will Pogacar attack today?
16:22
,
Flo Clifford
104km to go: Pogacar is spending a lot of time on the front so far, the first man on the road and fully in the wind. That doesn’t seem like the behaviour of a man who wants to win today.
There’s been lots of discussion about him attacking on Montmartre - could he instead be working for a teammate today? Perhaps Jhonatan Narvaez?
Weather check
16:12
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Flo Clifford
111km to go: There’s been plenty of chat about the stage potentially being neutralised today (in terms of general classification times) in case of rain, which is expected in Paris this afternoon and will turn the cobbles treacherously slick.
Decathlon come over the radio to say rain is expected before they get to Paris.
Leaving Paris
16:03
,
Flo Clifford
118km to go: Benjamin Thomas and Matteo Vercher have a laugh recreating their crash on the cobbles on a KOM very early in this Tour. Vercher wasn’t very happy at the time but can see the funny side now.
Vingegaard and all the Danish riders get a photo together too, and now UAE come onto the front to pick up the pace a little.
Onto the first climb
15:56
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Flo Clifford
121km to go: The photo ops continue and Arkea lead onto the first climb at an incredibly slow pace. It’s the Côte de Bazemont (1.7km at 7%).
The photo below shows Montmartre, which is already packed with fans, ready for its appearance later.
Photo ops
15:45
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Flo Clifford
125km to go: After Pogacar and UAE, the other teams take their turns to roll onto the front for celebratory photo ops. Jonathan Milan celebrates with his Lidl-Trek teammates before the white jersey of Florian Lipowitz and his squad hit the front.
A very relaxed rollout
15:36
,
Flo Clifford
129km to go: The stage begins but the racing does not. Everyone takes this at a very relaxed pace. UAE are given a wide berth up the front and could, if they fancied a laugh, go into team time-trial mode and just power away from everyone. They decide not to do that.
Jayco-AlUla’s Luke Plapp rides over to compatriot Kaden Groves and gives him a high five for his stage win yesterday. Lots of mirth and merriment in these opening few kilometres. Florian Lipowitz is wearing a white jacket over his white jersey that’s ballooned up so much it looks like he’s wearing shoulder pads.
Stage 21 begins
15:29
,
Flo Clifford
Pogacar has got a swish full yellow bike, and his teammates all have some extra yellow on their kits, yellow socks, yellow gloves and yellow handlebars. All seven of the surviving UAE riders - missing of course Joao Almeida - roll up to the front to take the obligatory photos. It’s not quite as stylish a look as Visma-Lease a Bike’s pink gear at the Giro d’Italia, I have to say.
Christian Prudhomme waves his flag from the open roof of his race Skoda, and we’re off! 132km from Mantes-la-Ville to Paris, with the finish on the Champs-Elysees via Montmartre. Allez!
Pogacar set for fourth Tour crown
15:24
,
Flo Clifford
This man just needs to make it over the line today to seal a fourth career Tour de France title, and he’s only 26. How many more can he win?
Second-placed Jonas Vingegaard wears the KOM jersey for him, but Pogacar has in fact won that too, while Jonathan Milan has the points classification sewn up.
Florian Lipowitz takes third overall in just his debut Tour, and the 24-year-old has won the best young rider classification too.
Meanwhile Ben Healy completes the first line on the starting grid as the ‘super-comb