Greig Leach

To be fair, I didn't expected it. I doubt that Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) expected to finish third on the Champs Elysees either. I love Cav, and the race that he has had this Tour, but I am not disappointed that my cycling hero's record will stand for at least one more year. One of the NBC Sports broadcasters had pick Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) for the win today while everyone else had gone for Cav. At first I thought that was Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) looking in, but no, it is his lead out man Luka Mezgec who took second on the stage. I was very pleased to see Andre Greipel (Israel Start Up Nation) who claimed fifth on the stage. I had hoped he would surprise everyone and win yet another career stage on the Champs Elysees. He had started the day by announcing that he was retiring at the end of the season, and it would be great to see him go out in style. I can see Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) in this image, but he did show up in the top ten finishers. Without Matthews winning the stage, and Cav taking third, it means that there will be no change in the leader of the sprint competition. Chapeau, Mark! And chapeau to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) for taking all of the other jerseys in the 2021 Tour de France.