Third stage win for Australian sprinter, Colombia takes its first Tour title
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) wins final stage of the Tour de France (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) streaked to his third stage victory at this year's Tour de France, beating Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) on the Champs-Elysées in Paris to win stage 21 on Sunday. At the same time, Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) sewed up the overall victory at the race, making it the first time that a Colombian rider has won the Tour.
Bernal crossed the finish line in the French capital hand-in-hand with his Ineos teammate – and the 2018 Tour champion – Geraint Thomas, and thanked 'G' in his victory speech on the podium.
"Thank you to G for the opportunity, and to all the team for believing in me," Bernal said in front of a huge crowd on the Champs-Elysées. "I think that today I am the happiest guy in the world. I just won the Tour de France, and I can't believe it."
The final eight circuits on the Champs-Elysées were animated by a four-man breakaway, made up of Tom Scully (EF Education First), Astana's Omar Fraile, Bahrain-Merida's Jan Tratnik and Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin). Despite the quartet's best efforts, the race came back together, as expected, with two laps to go, and Ewan was the fastest man for a third time at this edition of the Tour, squeezing through a gap on the right-hand side of the road to win the stage often referred to as 'the sprinters' world championship'.
"I can't believe I just won on the Champs-Elysées," a delighted Ewan said at the finish. "When we rolled onto the Champs-Elysées, I almost had tears in my eyes; it was such a surreal feeling. I can't believe I just won the stage."
Watch the highlights of stage 21 below.
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