A question that I have asked myself a few times and brought to mind again with the exciting edition of the Tour de France 2020. Why is there no longer a battle for the final classification on the last day, traditionally the stage with the finish on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées.
The difference between 1st in the final ranking Tadej Pogacar and 2nd Primoz Roglic was only 59 seconds and that was apparently enough for Roglic and his team Jumbo-Visma to throw in the towel. I wonder if this would have been the case if the difference had only been about 10 seconds.
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Jumbo - Visma had proven for 3 weeks that it was the strongest team in the Tour de France, so why didn't they play everything they could to turn the final classification upside down?
The 1971 Tour de France and the incredible time trial of Merckx's Molteni team
Just think of the Tour de France of 1971, when Eddy Merckx, the day after the crushing defeat to Luis Ocana, had his entire team attack from the start to destroy Ocana.
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Or even better: the last stage in the Tour de France in 1975 with arrival at the champs.Elysées when Merckx attacked immediately after the starting gun and did everything possible to still achieve the overall victory. The then yellow jersey wearer Bernard Thévenet, who was still having a chat with the French minister and posing for some photographers, did not know what was happening.
I wonder what Eddy thinks of this tacit agreement. Since 1979 it has apparently become an unwritten law that no one will attack the leader on the last day and that all final classifications are fixed. From the start, the cyclists will ride at a tourist pace, pose for the photographers and the leader drinks a glass of champagne to celebrate his victory.
To be honest, I wouldn't sleep well if I knew that I am less than 1 minute behind the 1st in the final standings of the most famous cycling race in the world and can't attack anymore to still get the overall victory. If it doesn't work, then at least I tried.
The Tour de France 1979: Zoetemelk and Hinault alone on the attack during the final stage
The last time a number of GC riders attacked during the last stage was in 1979. Bernard Hinault was then leader, followed by Joop Zoetemelk, Hennie Kuiper and Joaquim Agostinho. Joop Zoetemelk had informed his team leader that he would attack on every slope, which also happened then, so that Hinault always had to drive into a small gap. Kuiper and Agostinho also did not fail to attack.
At one point Bernard Hinault was thoroughly fed up and attacked himself. There was immediately a gap and Zoetemelk realized that he had to react. It took Zoetemelk a lot of strength to join Hinault, but it did deliver an unseen picture. The 1st 2 riders in the classification rode alone ahead of the peloton, on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The peloton didn't know what was happening.
Both riders continued to work well together and sprinted for the stage win in which Zoetemelk had no chance.
In the video below you will find a report of this incredible last ride
It was the 5th time that the finish of the last stage was on the Champs-Elysées and it was clear that the unwritten law of no more attacks did not yet exist or that the riders were flouting it.
Maybe it's time to rethink this law!
