In Monaco the heat was sticky and heavy. Tall buildings were built into the cliff face, overlooking super-yachts and sports cars. There were no Champs-Élysées and no Eiffel Tower, and the only thing that really signified it as the final stage of the 2024 Tour de France was the yellow banners which read stage 21. Team buses were parked in neat uniform and riders warmed up on their turbo trainers as always, but there was no avoiding that this felt different to the usual end of Tour procession which takes place in Paris. Mark Cavendish was the second rider to roll down the start line for what is likely to be the final race of his career, but there was no last-minute glory to sprint for, instead he was shoved into an aero skinsuit and helmet for his final dance at the race which has made his career.
Perhaps it was just the unusual location for the last stage, but there is certainly something that has an eerie sense of change and finality in this year’s Tour de France. Cavendish leaving the sport is an end of an era, and it feels like the Manxman is handing over to a new, young generation of up-and-coming sprinters. The curtain has been drawn on one of the greatest sporting shows of all time as Cavendish hangs his wheels up.
Cavendish sets off on his final Tour de France stage (Billy Ceusters/ASO)
As one of cycling’s legends leaves, however, there are those waiting in the wings to take the mantle. When it comes to sprinting, that rider is Biniam Girmay, the green jersey and three-time stage winner at this Tour, a history-maker as the first black African rider to ever take a victory at the La Grande Boucle. Girmay’s performances are another signifier of the change that feels rife as the riders cross the finish line on Nice’s promenade on Sunday evening. While progress in terms of increasing diversity in professional cycling has been slow, things are changing for the better. Girmay, this year’s green jersey winner, is the leader of a revolution.
Then, we must consider the battle for the yellow. The change here is that Tadej Pogačar is back and better than ever before. He’s the peloton’s new supertalent, the guy who has his rivals scratching their heads when it comes to figuring out how to beat him. Against all of the tactics, mind games and collective strength of a power like Visma-Lease a Bike, Pogačar has come out on top. A flash of yellow in a sea of blue jerseys, Pogačar wins this Tour de France and cements his place in the history books as, perhaps, the best cyclist in the world. At the moment, it feels like this Tour has set the stage for Grand Tour racing to come. Teams can plan and prepare all they want, but they will always have to solve the Pogačar problem.
To experience first-hand these subtle but important shifts in the shape of professional bike racing has been eye-opening. The Tour de France is a beast; I’ve learnt that in my first time covering the race. It chews riders up and spits them out while at the same time has the potential to change their lives. The difficulty of the race is intriguing: riders know how cruel the Tour can be with its time cuts and crashes, yet still they chase success here more than anywhere else.
Tadej Pogačar made history with his Giro-Tour double (Zac Williams/SWPix)
As hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people travel from stage to stage around France, the most beautiful thing about the race is the stories that come out of it. From the lorry drivers who pack up barriers until the early hours of the morning, to the journalists who write their words, to the photographers who snap their shots, to the security guards who man traffic, to the riders who make history and change, the race is a web of personal, lived experiences.
From Monaco to Nice, 141 riders completed their time trial on Sunday and closed the chapter of a historic Tour de France. There’s a sense cycling reaching a turning point as the sun goes down on the Côte d’Azur: it’s the end of an era for sprinting and the start of a new dawn of general classification riders. Change is on the horizon.
