Tour de France 2022 stage 21 preview: nothing to see here - until the Champs-Élysées sprint!
All you need to know about the route, timings, and what to expect from stage 21

Stage 21 of the Tour de France 2022 starts in La Défense Arena and concludes with our old friend: the sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées, the classic denouement of the Tour.
When is stage 21 of the Tour de France taking place?
The Tour de France stage 21 takes place on Sunday, July 24 starting at 15:45 BST with an anticipated finish time of 18:34 BST.
How long is stage 21 of the Tour de France?
The Tour de France stage 21 will be 115.6 km long.
Tour de France 2022 stage 21: expected timings
Route | Distance to go | Anticipated Time (BST) |
Paris La Défense Arena | 115.6km | 15:45 |
Paris Haut de Champs-Élysées (3rd lap) | 26.5km | 17:55 |
Paris Champs-Élysées | 0km | 18:34 |
Tour de France 2022 stage 21 route
The Tour’s final stage will have its first ever indoor start within the La Défense Arena, a multi-use stadium opened in 2017 that’s home to the Racing 92 rugby club and has hosted concerts by the Rolling Stones, Mylène Farmer and Paul McCartney. Once the riders have had a glass of Champagne and reached central Paris there will be eight laps of the finishing circuit, which has the Louvre at its bottom end and the Arc de Triomphe at the top, before the finish halfway up the Champs-Élysées.
Useful Tour de France 2022 resources
- Tour de France 2022 route
- Tour de France 2022 standings
- Tour de France 2022 start list
- Tour de France 2022 key stages
- How to watch the Tour de France 2022 on TV
- How to watch the 2022 Tour de France
- Past winners of the Tour de France
- Tour de France leader's jerseys
- Tour de France winning bikes
Tour de France 2022 stage 21: what to expect
The stage will begin at the traditional processional pace to enable TV and photographers to get pictures of the yellow jersey and his team-mates toasting each other with Champagne. The pace will only begin to pick up on the way into Paris and will become extremely quick once the race leader’s team has brought the peloton onto the Champs-Élysées the first time.
Although small groups will attempt to break away, there’s very little chance of them escaping the clutches of the sprinters’ teams, who will be absolutely determined not to miss out on the most prestigious sprint of the season.
Tour de France 2022 stage 21: riders to watch
Jumbo-Visma set up Wout van Aert perfectly for this sprint last year, although they received some help from Alpecix-Fenix, who trapped Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish on the barriers as they sought to launch Jasper Philipsen. All three of those teams should feature again, with former Paris winners Dylan Groenewegen (2017) and Caleb Ewan (2019) also likely to be in the frame.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Peter Cossins has been writing about professional cycling since 1993, with his reporting appearing in numerous publications and websites including Cycling Weekly, Cycle Sport and Procycling - which he edited from 2006 to 2009. Peter is the author of several books on cycling - The Monuments, his history of cycling's five greatest one-day Classic races, was published in 2014, followed in 2015 by Alpe d’Huez, an appraisal of cycling’s greatest climb. Yellow Jersey - his celebration of the iconic Tour de France winner's jersey won the 2020 Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year Award.
-
Reusser wins Tour de Suisse Women final stage to take overall victory
Swiss rider leads the four day race from start to finish, taking GC and her second stage win with a tactically perfect attack
-
“I feel proud racing guys I used to watch on TV” says French teenage sensation Paul Seixas after climbing to 6th in Critérium du Dauphiné GC
As Romain Bardet prepares to bow out, 18-year-old Paul Seixas looks well prepared to take up his stage racing baton
-
Michael Matthews puts career on pause after signs of a pulmonary embolism
Australian will miss Tour de France with all physical activity stopped until further notice
-
'Getting to Paris is like that moment you're told you're in remission' - Geoff Thomas to attempt Tour de France route for seventh time with Tour21
Former professional footballer Thomas getting set to tackle the 3,000 plus kilometre route to raise money for Cure Leukaemia
-
Mathieu van der Poel fractures wrist in MTB crash, puts summer of racing in doubt
Van der Poel diagnosed with minor avulsion fracture of the scaphoid bone after two crashes at MTB World Series event in Nové Město
-
'I feel pain in my sprinter's heart': Marcel Kittel reacts to Tour de France final stage shake-up in Paris
Retired German sprinting great says inclusion of cobbled climb to Montmartre before Champs-Élysées finish will be 'very stressful' and would leave him 'disappointed as a rider'
-
Will the sprinters make it to the Champs-Élysées? Tour de France 2025 final stage places Montmartre climb 6km from the finish
ASO confirms punchy race finale with three ascents of the Butte Montmartre
-
'They never once checked me for concussion' - Jonas Vingegaard calls out head injury protocol after Paris-Nice crash
Two-time Tour de France winner says he was 'completely dizzy and nauseous' in days after crash
-
'When everyone starts to panic, you just need to breathe deeply': Fearless approach key to success on Giro d’Italia gravel stage
Pello Bilbao expects Strade Bianche-style stage on Sunday to be both a physical and mental challenge
-
Tour de France Champs-Élysées stage to include cobbled climb in Montmartre, copying Paris Olympic road race
Route change confirmed to mark 50th anniversary of first ever finish on the Champs-Élysées