Vincenzo Nibali Wins The Tour De France

28 July 2014 10:50

The Astana rider, who had four superb victories, had wrapped up the race and could enjoy the final 137.5km stage from Évry to Paris Champs-Élysées with a lead of 7.52 over Jean Chrisophe Peraud.

Nibali, performed the traditional duty of handing out the champage to his team mates as the race rollled out of Evry, a town of 52,800 inhabitants in the l'Essonne Department and there was the ceremonial picture of the jersey winners of Nibali (yellow), Peter Sagan (Green), Rafal Maijka (KOM), Thibaut Pinot (Youth), De Marchi (Most Combatative Rider)

Jerome Pineau rolled off the front as soon as the flag dropped on the D31 road but Astana brought him back long before the category four climb of the Cote de Bris sous Forges.

The peloton rolled through the climb with Gruzdev of Astana taking the solitary point.

Into the Haute De Seine department and the peloton were still rolling along.

Through Clamart, Meudon, Issy-Les- Moulineaux and Boulogne Billancourt, the peloton finally reached Paris, where there was thousands of British fans joining those from all nations in crowds estimated at around half a million.

The pace went up as the riders crossed the finish for the first of nine times. Nibali, on a cloudy afternoon, allowed his team to go over the fiinish line first to start the first of eight laps of seven kilometres. But as as soon as they were over the line, IAM Cycling's Slyvain Chavanel decided to go away on the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées.

He was pulled back and then to huge cheers from massive crowds, Jens Voigt in his last Tour De France, attacked. The 42 year old Trek Factory Racing rider, was ten seconds ahead of the last British rider in the race Geraint Thomas and the front of the peloton.

Voigt was allowed the honour of taking the final intermediate sprint of this race.

Peraud of AG2R was involved in a crash before the third crossing of the line.

Riders then started to go for it with Danny Pate of Team Sky having a go on the front with 38.7kms left.

Team Sky's Richie Porte, Morkov (Tinkoff), Serpa (Lampre) and Fonseca (Bretagne).attacked and took a 19 sec gap with 34.6km to go before Alexandr Kristoff of Katusha, who had won two stages, punctured four kilometres later.

The gap was down to Porte, Morkov and Serpa was at eighteen seconds at the sixth crossing of the finish line.

Tony Martin had a chain problem with two laps to go as the peloton closed in on the three up front.

With 13.2kms left, Richie Porte went away on his own, as Tony Martin worked his way back into the peloton.

Porte lapped Ji Cheng, the Lantern Rouge and the first Chinese rider to ever complete the Tour De France but only had a lead of seven seconds going into the final ten kilometres.

Luca Paolini, a lead out man for Kristoff at Katusha was next to puncture as up the road, Porte was caught.

The bell went, signalling the last lap. Lotto Belisoll looked around for help and got it from Giant Shimano and Europcar.

Simon Clarke of Orica GreenEdge lit up an attack with 3.3kms left but Shimano brought up Marcel Kittel for the final turn.

Cannondale were now on the front before Omega led under the flam rouge. The sprint was on. Marcel Kittel took on Kristoff and just beat him to win in 3.20.50 and give the Giant Shimano rider his fourth stage win in this year's race ahead of Kristoff. Navarddauska, Greipel, Renshaw

Not far behind was Vincenzo Nibali who came over the line to take the plaudits on a superb Tour De France victory with an overall time of. 89.58.46.

Kittel, whose stage win meant that a German had won seven of the 21 stages, said to Eurosport: " I tried to pass Kristoff and i got him just before the finish line, I am very happy. "This is a wake up call for German cycling and the German's can be very proud of their performance in this race. I would like to thank my team for all their help."

Source: DSG