Tour de France: Last thoughts on the Tour

The Tour de France is over for another year. Cadel Evans is taking Le Maillot Jaune back to Australia The first time any one from the Southern Hemisphere has done that. Mark Cavendish is taking the Le Maillot Vert back the Isle of Man. The first time any British qualified rider has won The Green Jersey. I was going to say Rider from the British Isles, but then remembered that Sean Kelly won the thing four times back in the Eighties. “Cav”is also the first rider since Robert Millar won the Polka-dot Jersey in 1984, to win a Jersey in the tour de France.

Tour de France: The Final Stage Cadel Evans Wins Overall Cavendish Takes Green

The last stage of any Tour de France follows more or less the same script and for the past two years the script has been this; A play in six acts:

1. Much faffing about drinking champagne and having photos taken.
2. Gentle ride to the centre of Paris, gradually picking up the pace as the race approaches the Champs-Élysées
3. The Yellow Jersey’s team lead the race onto the Champs-Élysées
4. A break of about half a dozen riders gets about 30 seconds to a minute
5. HTC and/or the other sprinters teams decide to stop faffing and set about closing down the break
6. Mark Cavendish wins the stage

It seemed likely that the script would be followed again, because if Cavendish won the stage he would win the Green Jersey.