It's Decided!

Stage 20: Annecy - Annecy-Semnoz

On the eve of the ride into Paris, the final positions in the overall standings were decided. The front end of the race underwent a rather drastic reshuffle for so late in the race, Froome retained his yellow jersey and will be the winner of the Tour, but behind him the top 10 were sorted out in dramatic fashion.

All the aggression was saved for the final climb of the day, the last hors categorie climb in the Tour up to Annecy-Semnoz. At the base of the climb, Team Sky reasserted their control over the peloton after having let Movistar drive the pace for most of the latter part of the stage. The effect on the race (behind and in front) was immediate, the peloton fell to pieces, leaving a select group of riders in charge, and Jens Voigt's daring breakaway was reeled in.

One-by-one the riders fell away, until the top five riders were left in the led of the race, accompanied by Richie Porte and Alejandro Valverde. Rodriguez needed time to move up into his desired place on the podium, and an opportunity to gain time afforded itself to him when Valverde's pace-making on the front of the group caused Kreuziger to drop off the back. Spurred on by the weakness shown by Kreuziger, Rodriguez attacked and Quintana followed him. No response came from Contador, and Froome bolted up to road to the two riders and immediately attacked them.

Froome's attack came to nothing, as Rodriguez and Quintana were able to drag themselves on to his wheel. No more attacks were forthcoming, at least for a little while, as the three riders realised that their best chance of achieving their objectives would come from working together. Contador was struggling, and a podium finish for Rodriguez awaited at the finish line if they could stretch the gap.

Alejandro Valverde tried to bridge the gap, but the task proved to be too much for him and he found himself between the groups of Contador and Froome - he would ride there to the finish. Behind him, Kreuziger was dragging himself up to the duo of Contador and Porte. Kreuziger joined them, and would pace Contador to the finish, but it wouldn't be enough to save Contador's spot on the podium.

With one kilometre left in the stage, Chris Froome dug deep into his energy reserves, and made one final attack. A win on the stage would secure the polka-dot jersey, and his fourth stage win of the Tour, but it was not to be. Quintana, learning from his mistakes on earlier mountain stages, had held something in reserve and responded to Froome's move. The young Colombian easily bridged the gap to Froome, attacked immediately and rode comfortably clear to the summit. In doing so, he claimed his first ever stage win in the Tour, and earned enough points to give him a win in the King of the Mountains classification.

Froome's effort had drained him of his last scraps of energy, and he was soon dropped by Rodriguez. His efforts on the stage and in the Tour had been rewarded, however. He lost a few seconds to both Rodriguez and Quintana, but his lead in the general classification was not under threat. He crossed the line 29 seconds behind Quintana, but a smile graced his lips - he was 5 minutes clear in the overall standings. The yellow jersey had been won in the most commanding fashion in recent years. He had won the hundredth edition of the Tour de France. He had cemented his place in Tour history. He had earned his smile.

Champs

The parade day of the Tour de France has come about. It promises to be quite the spectacle too. The peloton departs in the evening, and is set to finish in Paris around 10PM. It will be a remarkable finish to this remarkable hundredth Tour de France.

Froome will take to the podium, accompanied by Quintana and Rodriguez. Peter Sagan will stand on the top step in the race for the green jersey. Quintana will wear both the white and the polka-dot jersey. The most aggressive rider of the Tour will be decided - Jan Bakelants has made a strong bid for this classification, as have Blel Kadri and Pierre Rolland. Team Saxo-Tinkoff's efforts will be rewarded, as they claim the title of the best team in the Tour. And, importantly, Svein Tuft will bear the mantle of lanterne rouge into Paris. The only thing that remains undecided is the winner on the Champs Elysees.

Every time Cavendish has ridden into Paris in the Tour, he has won the stage on the Champs Elysees. For the last four years, he has dominated the sprint for the line on the final stage of the Tour. Will he make it five? He will no doubt be in contention, but he will have strong challenges from Kittel, Greipel and Sagan. Marcel Kittel has certainly stood out as a sprinter this year, winning three stages and outsprinting both Greipel and Cavendish in the process. I would not be surprised at all if he was able to take a fourth stage win. Greipel has been lacking some finishing capacity, but his strength in the intermediate sprints is unquestionable - if he brings some of that strength to the finish tomorrow he'll be a tough man to beat. Sagan will probably have handled the mountains better than his rivals, and may benefit from somewhat fresher legs - if this is the case though, he'll need a great lead out if he wants to win the stage. His top end speed isn't quite on the same level as the other pure sprinters, and he will need things to go well for him tomorrow if he to win on the iconic stage.