Egan Bernal wins 2019 Tour de France

Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) sealed overall victory at the 2019 Tour de France, finishing safely in the peloton on the Champs-Élysées as Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) won the final sprint as the sun set over Paris.

Ewan beat Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Niccolo' Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie) with a perfectly executed late surge on the most prestigious sprint finish in cycling. The Australian seemed too far back but kicked late into the headwind and found a line through along the barriers.

Maximiliano Richeze (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was fourth after Elia Viviani lost contact with his teammates and finished 18th. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished tenth in the sprint but had already mathematically won a record-breaking seventh green points jersey.

Bernal hit the finish line alongside 2018 Tour de France winner and runner up this year Geraint Thomas. The two pointed at each other in celebration as they passed the crown of Tour de France winner. They were joined by third placed Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma). Thomas finished 1:11 down on Bernal, with Thomas at 1:31.

Bernal again struggled to believe what he had achieved, almost crying on the podium.

"Wow. It's incredible. It doesn't seem true. I've won the Tour de France but I'm struggling to understand it all. I'll need some days to realise what has happened," he said.

"I saw my family after the finish and we celebrated together. It's all incredible."

The Colombian fans at the finish called out Bernal's name.

"It's the first Tour win for a Colombian and so everyone is so happy. I'm very proud to be the first Colombian to win the Tour. Now I want to go home, celebrate with my family and take it all in," Bernal said.

Ewan was also emotional.

"I can't believe I just won on the Champs-Élysées," Ewan said.

"When we rolled onto the Champs-Élysées, I almost had tears in my eyes, it was such a surreal feeling. I can't believe I just won the stage."

It was Ewan's third win in what was his debut at the Tour de France.

"The Tour de France started off quite slow for me. It was like I could never get there. But the second half has been unbelievable, I've won every sprint in the second half," he said, explaining how he came from behind to win.

"The sprint was quite messy and we were quite far back but I was patient and waited. I didn't know how many guys were in front of me and so I waited and then ran at the three guys across the road. I went down the right; most sprinters I've talked to, said don't go down the right because it's bumpy. But luckily I had the speed to come through in the end."

How it unfolded

The 21st and final stage of the 2019 Tour de France covered 128km from Rambouillet to the iconic finishing circuits on the Champs-Élysées in Paris - a mostly celebratory ride to close out the race that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the race leader's yellow jersey.

Bernal was greeted outside the Team Ineos bus in Rambouillet by a huge crowd of supporters waving Colombian flags and cheering for the 22-year-old. He took the start line wearing the yellow jersey, happy to ride alongside his teammates into Paris, where he would be officially crowned the overall winner of the Tour de France.

In the early part of the stage, riders were seen congratulating one another on finishing off a very tough and unpredictable three weeks of racing.

Bernal wore his yellow kit and rode a custom yellow Pinarello team bike surrounded by his teammates. He was also given a customary glass of champagne from the Team Ineos car, as were all of his teammates, as the toasted to their first and second place finishes in the overall classification and the team's seventh Tour de France victory.

The race wasn't all processional, however, as there were two category 4 climbs at the start of the day; Côte de Saint-Rémy-lès-Chervreuse (1.3km at 6.1 per cent) at the 34km mark and the Côte de Châteaufort (900m at 4.4 per cent) at the 38km mark.

Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) took the single point at the top of the Côte de Saint-Rémy-lès-Chervreuse. Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Gobert) passed the Côte de Châteaufort in first position. Neither were in contention for the mountains classification on the final day, however, as Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) had a firm hold on the polka-dot jersey.

Race organisers announced during the stage that Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) would be awarded the Super Combatif or Most Aggressive Rider Award. The Frenchman won two stages and spent 14 days in the yellow jersey before losing it to Bernal during the truncated Alpine stage 19 that finished at the summit of the Col de l'Iseran. His prize secured him a place on the final podium in Paris.

As per tradition, the Ineos riders led the peloton onto the Champs-Élysées circuits at the 73.5km mark (54.5km to go), with Bernal safely on their wheels. For the first time the peloton rode through the courtyards of the Louvre museum and past the famous glass pyramid. Soon after the peloton went from a friendly 30kph into a full-on rivalry as they started the race around the final circuits - 8 laps of 6.5km each - the sprinters' teams in pursuit of the prestigious final stage victory.

Sprinters looking for final glory were Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma), Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).

After completing one lap of the Champs-Élysées four men rolled the dice and gained a small lead on the field. Tom Scully (EF Education First), Omar Fraile (Astana), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida) and Nils Politt (Katusha) went clear of the field but held a tenuous gap of only a handful of seconds as the laps ticked down.

Lotto Soudal, Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-QuickStep set the pace at the front of the peloton to keep the race under control. The sprinters' teams held the four escapees at manageable 20 seconds with five laps to go. It rose slightly but then gradually fell as the final two laps approached. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) suffered mechanicals one after the other. They chased back on but it cost them hugely.

The sprinters take charge

The final stage has occasionally escaped the control of the sprint teams but not this time. When the four where caught and the bell rang for the last lap and sun dipped below the Arc de Triomphe, Greg van Avermaet (CCC Team) tried a brave solo attack. However he was caught before the top of the Champs-Élysées, with Mitchelton-Scott taking over on the front.

Deceuninck-QuickStep took over but it was early and they eased up. Everyone was waiting for the final kilometre. Dimension Data hit the front in a rare show of strength, riding for Edvald Boasson Hagen. But they were soon swamped as the key chicane and final turn on the finishing straightaway. Strangely, Viviani had lost the wheel, forcing Richeze to take over sprint duties.

Boasson Hagen kicked first, some 250 metres from the line but he was just something to aim for everyone else. Bonifazio went next but faded into the headwind. Suddenly Ewan came from behind, going between him and the barriers at supersonic speed. Groenewegen was on the other side of the road but was beaten for speed.

Ewan began to celebrate, as behind so to did Bernal, Thomas and Team Ineos. Yet again, despite all the attacks from Alaphilippe and others, the British team emerged to win the Tour de France, this time starting a new era with 22-year-old Bernal and the first-ever win by a Colombian rider.

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