Vuelta a España - Stage 21 Guide

Jarama Circuit, final start line of the 2011 Vuelta

Stage Map: click here
Stage Profile: click here
More Previews: click here

After yesterday's 185km journey from Bilbao to Vitoria, today is the short (95.6km), flat and partially ceremonial final run into Madrid and the winner's podium, thus ending the 66th Vuelta a España - the last of the 2011 Grand Tours. What a classic it's been: the organisers pulled out all the stops this year in an effort to ensure their race would no longer be considered the boring cousin to the Tour and Giro, making it one of the most challenging events we've seen in many years. We've seen many of a very beautiful country's most beautiful places and we've seen some of the most testing landscapes. We've seen riders abandoning due to the sheer difficulty of the parcours, we've seen relative unknowns ride through the pack and score incredible victories. Chapeau to Unipublic - viva la Vuelta!

Madrid's Royal Palace and Catedral de la Almudena (CC3.0)

The stage begins at the hallowed Jarama Circuit which, before modern Formula 1 rules deemed it to narrow for future races, hosted nine Spanish Grands Prix and no less than fifteen rounds of the World Motorcycle Championships. Designed by the legendary John Hugenholtz, the circuit was built in 1967 and in its current layout is 3.85km in length - the peloton will complete one lap to begin the neutral zone, exiting via the tunnel onto the road network and arriving at the start of the race proper after 5.2km. Heading south-west along the wide road, the riders turn right onto the Av. de Europa with numerous speed humps and reach San Sebastián de los Reyes after 9.6km. Reaching a roundabout, they turn 90 degrees right and left to access the Calle de Real, passing along it for 1.23km until a right turn onto the Av. de Espana leads into Alcobendas. Passing by  the Plaza Mayor and city hall, the race crosses two more roundabouts and arrives at the football ground in the Parque de Navarra, turning left just past it onto the Paseo de la Chopera and continuing for 0.88km until the Carretera de Madrid- Irún and turning right again.

Gran Via

The race is now on the Autovia del Norte, one of the primary routes into Madrid. After 6.2km - having now covered 20.3km from the start - they arrive at Salida 10B, an exit off the road, and take a complex route through the interchange onto the Av. Manuel Azaña and travelling west onto the M-30. This route leads to another interchange where the peloton will turn left to join the Paseo de la Castellana, travelling through 0.5km illuminated tunnel and reaching the Plaza de San Juan de Cruz 2.6km later. Continuing south leads to the Plaza de Doctor Marañón and onward to the Glorieta Emilio Castelar and, 1.6km further, the Paseo Recoletos.

La Plaza de Cibeles hosts the finish of the Vuelta (CC2.0)

0.4km later, the riders arrive at the Plaza de Cibeles and turn right at the roundabout for the Calle de Alcalá, then a slight tight after 0.43km onto the Calle Gran Via. Once at the Plaza de Callao, the peloton turns through 180 degrees and travels back along the Gran Via to the Calle de Alcalá and Plaza de Cibeles where they turn a sharp right onto the Paseo del Prado. Following the road for 1.4km leads to the Glorieta del Emperador Carlos V. Then, having turned 180 degrees left around it, they head back to the Plaza de Cibeles. This 5.7km circuit is repeated a further ten times, with the third and eighth circuits of the eleven forming the two intermediate sprints and the end of the 2011 Vuelta a España coming after 95.6km, when the surviving riders will have covered a total of 3330.1km since the race began more than three weeks ago in Benidorm.

We don't really need to include much of a history of Madrid here and it'd be practically impossible to do without running into many thousands of words: the city is a world capital, home to 3.25 million people and has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Instead, here are a few facts (and if you subsequently win your local pub quiz, you owe us a pint):

Despite Spain's recent financial crisis, Madrid remains an
important centre of banking, technology and trade (CC3.0)

Madrid's Royal Palace, official residence of the king but wholly owned and used by the nation for state functions, is the largest royal palace in Europe. It covers 135,000 square metres and contains 2800 rooms, hosuign works of art by - among many others - Goya, Velázquez and Caravaggio.

The city has put in a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

The Museo del Prado on the Paseo del Prado has a collection of art considered by some experts to be the finest ever assembled. As a result, it's one of the most visited museums in the world. It houses 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints, 8,200 drawings and a vast collection of historical documents. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, a short walk from the Prado, contains one of the world's most famous and dramatic works of art - Picasso's Guernica.

Madrid is around 300km from the coast. However, it still has a beach - the man-made Urban Beach on the banks of the Manzanares River.

The oldest church in the city is San Nicolas de los Servitas. The 13th Century bell tower is believed to have originally been the minaret of a Moorish mosque.

CaixaForum, Madrid's most unusual building (and our favourite) (CC2.0)

Madrid is located 650m above sea level, making it the highest capital city in Europe

Perhaps the most unusual structure in Madrid, the bizarre and fascinating CaixaForum art gallery can be found near the Paseo del Prado. The ground floor is glass-walled, open and modern. The first and second floors are a far older industrial building, the internal walls removed to form an airy open space. The third and fourth floors are made from rusted steel plates, contrasting with a wall of living plants standing next to the gallery.

It's been the capital of Spain since the 17th Century.

The city's flag and coat of arms features a bear standing on its hind legs to reach berries on a tree. It's believed that Madrid was called Ursaria, "land of bears," in ancient times due to the large numbers of bears that then lived in the area.

Whilst regular readers will be well aware of our views on bullfighting, Madrid's Museo Taurino is worth a visit to see the costume worn by the famous matador Manolete as he attempted to kill his fifth bull in a single day. However, that time the bull got the upper hand and gored him to death. Hurrah!

Tourists tend to assume Madrid is hot and sunny all year round. It's one of the sunniest places in Europe with approximately 250 clear days per annum, but due to its altitude it can become very cold in winter and snow isn't unknown. The record low was -10C.

Plaza Mayor

Madrid's underground metro system is the second largest in Western Europe - only the London Underground is larger. It's the sixth largest in the world after London (largest), New York, Moscow, Seoul and Shanghai. However, since the city is the 50th most populous in the world, the system is unusually clean and pleasant, even at rush hour.

In 2010, Madrid's population was 3,273,049. They're joined by around six million tourists each year.

Now, how in the world are Unipublic going to top this in 2012...?

Predictions: With no change in the GC leaders' placings at the end of Stage 20, Cobo and Froome remain separated by 13 seconds. Traditionally, race leads are not contested in the final stage of a Grand Tour - but that most definitely doesn't mean they can't be. Anything could happen today, all depending on the sort of race it turns out to be - will it be gentlemanly good sportsmanship or will we see pedal-to-the-metal, teeth-and-nails alleycat warfare?

Weather: Hot. Starting at a horrible 27C, it'll get even hotter as the stage progresses to reach 29 or 30C at the end. Winds will be very light to non-existent - headwinds for the first half and crosswinds for the remainder, but not strong enough to make any difference. Once again, no rain is expected anywhere along the parcours and it should remain sunny throughout.

More Previews: click here.

Vuelta a España - Stage 21 Preview

Jarama Circuit, final start line of the 2011 Vuelta

Stage Map: click here
Stage Profile: click here
More Previews: click here

After yesterday's 185km journey from Bilbao to Vitoria, today is the short (95.6km), flat and partially ceremonial final run into Madrid and the winner's podium, thus ending the 66th Vuelta a España - the last of the 2011 Grand Tours. What a classic it's been: the organisers pulled out all the stops this year in an effort to ensure their race would no longer be considered the boring cousin to the Tour and Giro, making it one of the most challenging events we've seen in many years. We've seen many of a very beautiful country's most beautiful places and we've seen some of the most testing landscapes. We've seen riders abandoning due to the sheer difficulty of the parcours, we've seen relative unknowns ride through the pack and score incredible victories. Chapeau to Unipublic - viva la Vuelta!

Madrid's Royal Palace and Catedral de la Almudena (CC3.0)

The stage begins at the hallowed Jarama Circuit which, before modern Formula 1 rules deemed it to narrow for future races, hosted nine Spanish Grands Prix and no less than fifteen rounds of the World Motorcycle Championships. Designed by the legendary John Hugenholtz, the circuit was built in 1967 and in its current layout is 3.85km in length - the peloton will complete one lap to begin the neutral zone, exiting via the tunnel onto the road network and arriving at the start of the race proper after 5.2km. Heading south-west along the wide road, the riders turn right onto the Av. de Europa with numerous speed humps and reach San Sebastián de los Reyes after 9.6km. Reaching a roundabout, they turn 90 degrees right and left to access the Calle de Real, passing along it for 1.23km until a right turn onto the Av. de Espana leads into Alcobendas. Passing by  the Plaza Mayor and city hall, the race crosses two more roundabouts and arrives at the football ground in the Parque de Navarra, turning left just past it onto the Paseo de la Chopera and continuing for 0.88km until the Carretera de Madrid- Irún and turning right again.

Gran Via

The race is now on the Autovia del Norte, one of the primary routes into Madrid. After 6.2km - having now covered 20.3km from the start - they arrive at Salida 10B, an exit off the road, and take a complex route through the interchange onto the Av. Manuel Azaña and travelling west onto the M-30. This route leads to another interchange where the peloton will turn left to join the Paseo de la Castellana, travelling through 0.5km illuminated tunnel and reaching the Plaza de San Juan de Cruz 2.6km later. Continuing south leads to the Plaza de Doctor Marañón and onward to the Glorieta Emilio Castelar and, 1.6km further, the Paseo Recoletos.

La Plaza de Cibeles hosts the finish of the Vuelta (CC2.0)

0.4km later, the riders arrive at the Plaza de Cibeles and turn right at the roundabout for the Calle de Alcalá, then a slight tight after 0.43km onto the Calle Gran Via. Once at the Plaza de Callao, the peloton turns through 180 degrees and travels back along the Gran Via to the Calle de Alcalá and Plaza de Cibeles where they turn a sharp right onto the Paseo del Prado. Following the road for 1.4km leads to the Glorieta del Emperador Carlos V. Then, having turned 180 degrees left around it, they head back to the Plaza de Cibeles. This 5.7km circuit is repeated a further ten times, with the third and eighth circuits of the eleven forming the two intermediate sprints and the end of the 2011 Vuelta a España coming after 95.6km, when the surviving riders will have covered a total of 3330.1km since the race began more than three weeks ago in Benidorm.

We don't really need to include much of a history of Madrid here and it'd be practically impossible to do without running into many thousands of words: the city is a world capital, home to 3.25 million people and has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Instead, here are a few facts (and if you subsequently win your local pub quiz, you owe us a pint):

Despite Spain's recent financial crisis, Madrid remains an
important centre of banking, technology and trade (CC3.0)

Madrid's Royal Palace, official residence of the king but wholly owned and used by the nation for state functions, is the largest royal palace in Europe. It covers 135,000 square metres and contains 2800 rooms, hosuign works of art by - among many others - Goya, Velázquez and Caravaggio.

The city has put in a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

The Museo del Prado on the Paseo del Prado has a collection of art considered by some experts to be the finest ever assembled. As a result, it's one of the most visited museums in the world. It houses 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints, 8,200 drawings and a vast collection of historical documents. The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, a short walk from the Prado, contains one of the world's most famous and dramatic works of art - Picasso's Guernica.

Madrid is around 300km from the coast. However, it still has a beach - the man-made Urban Beach on the banks of the Manzanares River.

The oldest church in the city is San Nicolas de los Servitas. The 13th Century bell tower is believed to have originally been the minaret of a Moorish mosque.

CaixaForum, Madrid's most unusual building (and our favourite) (CC2.0)

Madrid is located 650m above sea level, making it the highest capital city in Europe

Perhaps the most unusual structure in Madrid, the bizarre and fascinating CaixaForum art gallery can be found near the Paseo del Prado. The ground floor is glass-walled, open and modern. The first and second floors are a far older industrial building, the internal walls removed to form an airy open space. The third and fourth floors are made from rusted steel plates, contrasting with a wall of living plants standing next to the gallery.

It's been the capital of Spain since the 17th Century.

The city's flag and coat of arms features a bear standing on its hind legs to reach berries on a tree. It's believed that Madrid was called Ursaria, "land of bears," in ancient times due to the large numbers of bears that then lived in the area.

Whilst regular readers will be well aware of our views on bullfighting, Madrid's Museo Taurino is worth a visit to see the costume worn by the famous matador Manolete as he attempted to kill his fifth bull in a single day. However, that time the bull got the upper hand and gored him to death. Hurrah!

Tourists tend to assume Madrid is hot and sunny all year round. It's one of the sunniest places in Europe with approximately 250 clear days per annum, but due to its altitude it can become very cold in winter and snow isn't unknown. The record low was -10C.

Plaza Mayor

Madrid's underground metro system is the second largest in Western Europe - only the London Underground is larger. It's the sixth largest in the world after London (largest), New York, Moscow, Seoul and Shanghai. However, since the city is the 50th most populous in the world, the system is unusually clean and pleasant, even at rush hour.

In 2010, Madrid's population was 3,273,049. They're joined by around six million tourists each year.

Now, how in the world are Unipublic going to top this in 2012...?

Predictions: With no change in the GC leaders' placings at the end of Stage 20, Cobo and Froome remain separated by 13 seconds. Traditionally, race leads are not contested in the final stage of a Grand Tour - but that most definitely doesn't mean they can't be. Anything could happen today, all depending on the sort of race it turns out to be - will it be gentlemanly good sportsmanship or will we see pedal-to-the-metal, teeth-and-nails alleycat warfare?

Weather: Hot. Starting at a horrible 27C, it'll get even hotter as the stage progresses to reach 29 or 30C at the end. Winds will be very light to non-existent - headwinds for the first half and crosswinds for the remainder, but not strong enough to make any difference. Once again, no rain is expected anywhere along the parcours and it should remain sunny throughout.

More Previews: click here.

Tour de France: Stage 21 Debrief - Yell for Cav 'n' Cadel!

Cavendish

The final stage of a Tour can sometimes be a little boring when we're spoiled by the superb racing and excitement that comes in the run-up to it. It looked a little like this year might turn out that way early on in the race, but it was not to be - while we all knew Andy Schleck wouldn't even dream of being so crass as to try to challenge Cadel Evans' triumph, Mark Cavendish and Jose Joaquin had every reason to fight right up to the end: all it would have taken was Rojas to win the final sprint to the finish and Cav to come fourth and the green jersey wouldn't have been coming to Britain. Then, instead of the clear-cut stage winning solo breakaway that can so easily happen, the race ended with a mass sprint; meaning massively increased chances of snarl-ups that could give a lucky chancer the opportunity to take his glory.

But with Cav defending it that obviously didn't happen, even though a mechanical problem saw him have to take a bike from a domestique and be paced back to the peloton by team mates. He crossed the line just ahead of the rest after 2h27'02", his 20th stage win and the first British rider to ever win the Points Classification in the Tour de France.

Evans

Cadel Evans crossed the line to a hero's welcome, the only type fitting for a Tour de France winner. He's the only Australian to have won a Tour and, at 34, the oldest rider to have done so since World War 2. There are several petitions currently doing the rounds in Australia with the aim of having the 24th of July declared a national public holiday - this is a perfect reason to have one.

Despite the flurry of doping scandals shortly before the Tour - Wim Vansevenant, Sven S., the BMC bus - only one rider provided a positive sample during the race and was expelled immediately. This already being hailed as the cleanest Tour in years; and that means everyone wins.

Stage 21 Results:

1. CAVENDISH Mark 2h 27' 02"  

2. HAGEN Edvald Boasson

3. GREIPEL André

4. FARRAR Tyler

5. CANCELLARA Fabian

6. OSS Daniel

7. BOZIC Borut

8. VAITKUS Tomas

9. CIOLEK Gerald

10. ENGOULVENT Jimmy (all same time)

Benjamin du Tour Arnold Jeannesson

Overall Results 2011:

General Classification:

1. EVANS Cadel 86h 12' 22"  

2. SCHLECK Andy 86h 13' 56" (+ 01' 34")

3. SCHLECK Frank 86h 14' 52" (+ 02' 30")

4. VOECKLER Thomas 86h 15' 42" (+ 03' 20")

5. CONTADOR Alberto 86h 16' 19" (+ 03' 57")

6. SANCHEZ Samuel 86h 17' 17" (+ 04' 55")

7. CUNEGO Damiano 86h 18' 27" (+ 06' 05")

8. BASSO Ivan 86h 19' 45" (+ 07' 23")

9. DANIELSON Tom 86h 20' 37" (+ 08' 15")

10. PERAUD Jean-Christophe 86h 22' 33" (+ 10' 11")

Points:

1. CAVENDISH Mark 334 pts

2. ROJAS Jose Joaquin 272 pts

3. GILBERT Philippe 236 pts

4. EVANS Cadel 208 pts

5. HUSHOVD Thor 195 pts

6. HAGEN Edvald Boasson 192 pts

7. GREIPEL André 160 pts

8. FARRAR Tyler 127 pts

9. SANCHEZ Samue 105 pts

10. CONTADOR Alberto 105 pts

King of the Mountains:

1. SANCHEZ Samuel 108 pts

2. SCHLECK Andy 98 pts

3. VANENDERT Jelle 74 pts

4. EVANS Cadel 58 pts

5. SCHLECK Frank 56 pts

6. CONTADOR Alberto 51 pts

7. ROY Jérémy 45 pts

8. ROLLAND Pierre 44 pts

9. IGLINSKIY Maxim 40 pts

10. HOOGERLAND Johnny 40 pts

Youth:

1. ROLLAND Pierre 86h 23' 05"  

2. TAARAMAE Rein 86h 23' 51" (+ 00' 46")

3. COPPEL Jérôme 86h 30' 58" (+ 07' 53")

4. JEANNESSON Arnold 86h 33' 42" (+ 10' 37") (Benjamin du Tour)

5. RUIJGH Rob 86h 45' 26" (+ 22' 21")

6. URAN Rigoberto 86h 55' 10" (+ 32' 05")

7. THOMAS Geraint 87h 13' 10" (+ 50' 05")

8. GESINK Robert 87h 17' 31" (+ 54' 26")

9. GAUTIER Cyril 87h 40' 05" (+ 1h 17' 00")

10. ZEITS Andrey 87h 44' 10" (+ 1h 21' 05")

Team Classification:

1. TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO 258h 18' 49"  

2. TEAM LEOPARD-TREK 258h 29' 53" (+ 11' 04")

3. AG2R LA MONDIALE 258h 30' 09" (+ 11' 20")

4. TEAM EUROPCAR 259h 00' 42" (+ 41' 53")

5. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 259h 10' 49" (+ 52' 00")

6. SKY PROCYCLING 259h 17' 13" (+ 58' 24")

7. KATUSHA TEAM 259h 28' 28" (+ 1h 09' 39")

8. SAXO BANK SUNGARD 259h 35' 01" (+ 1h 16' 12")

9. FDJ 259h 49' 05" (+ 1h 30' 16")

10. COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 260h 06' 18" (+ 1h 47' 29")

Combativity: To be confirmed

Lanterne Rouge Fabio Sabatini. Hurrah!

Lanterne Rouge: 167. SABATINI Fabio 90h 10' 05" (+ 3h 57' 43")

British Riders:

Stage 21

1. CAVENDISH Mark 2h 27' 02"

63. THOMAS Geraint 2h 27' 02" 

146. SWIFT Ben 2h 27' 02" 

158. MILLAR David 2h 27' 37"

Overall General Classification

31. THOMAS Geraint 87h 13' 10" 

76. MILLAR David 88h 27' 18" 

130. CAVENDISH Mark 89h 27' 27" 

137. SWIFT Ben 89h 30' 29" 

Tour de France: Stage 21 Preview

Cadel Evans, the first Australian to
win the Tour de France, will wear the
yellow jersey into Paris.

Today marks a whole three weeks since the Tour de France set off along the slippery flagstones of the Passage de Gois and 3335.5km travelled, with 95 to go. There has been tragedy and joy, surprise and confirmation of the expected, vendettas and self-sacrifice in the name of comrades; but what this Tour delivered most, like all Tours before it, was wonder and beauty.

The final stage, since 1975 ending at the Champs-Élysées, is not as other stages - largely ceremonial, the yellow jersey is traditionally not attacked and the wearer permitted to ride into Paris swathed in glory. It could be attacked, but with Andy Schleck the closest rider to Cadel Evans that won't happen today. The King of the Mountains has already been decided which leaves only the Points competition - which can, and with just 15 point between Mark Cavendish and Jose Joaquin Rojas this year possibly will, be decided on the last stretch.

The start line is in Créteil, one of the so-called Gateways to Paris and a stage town for the third time. Once standing alone, the town is contiguous (as much due to its own expansion as that of Paris) with the capital and is located a mere 11.5km from Kilometre Zero near the West Front doors of Notre Dame, the official centre of Paris and the point from which all French roads are measured. The town, as Cristoïlum, was first mentioned in a catalogue of martyrs compiled by Benedictine monks in the 9th Century; Créteil earning its place in the catalogue as it had been the site of the martyrdom of Saints Agoard and Aglibert some half a millennium before. The early adoption of Christianity and the "Crist-" component of the latinised name have given rise to somewhat fanciful theories that the town is named after Christ or even that it has some connection to him, but in reality it's more likely to be derived via various modifications from the Celtic words crist (ridge) and ialo (glade). The modern variant dates from around 1406.

The polissoir.

However, the locale has been inhabited since much earlier times - the discovery of palaeolithic remains in the area are evidence of a culture dating back to at least 10,000 years ago, analogous with the decline of the Würm glaciation at the end of the last Ice Age. On display in the town is a Neolithic "polissoir," a huge stone similar to a modern whetstone used to sharpen and polish knives and other bladed implements. Bronze Age axes heads from the region are displayed at the British Museum in London.

History from the Middle Ages onwards was not always been kind to Créteil: it was attacked ruined by Anglo-Burgundian troops in the 15th Century, looted by Huguenots in the 16th, evacuated due to violence in the 17th and subject to famine in the 18th. Rich Parisians began building grand villas in the town early in the 19th Century, only for it to be attacked and occupied by Russian forces in 1814 and then razed to the ground by Prussian troops in 1870, returning it to little more than a rural backwater, then bombed heavily by the US Air Force during World War 2, causing several deaths amog the local civilian population. It has suffered numerous major floods, the worst of which took place in 1830 and 1910 and the last in 1970.

Les Choux, an example of the fine modern architecture to be
seen in Creteil. (No, I don't know why it's named after the
cabbage either.)

It began to grow in the years following World War 2 and the population increased by almost 17,000 in the eight years after 1954. This period saw rapid urbanisation, including the development of the Mont-Mesly prefecture which is now home to more than 23,000 people, ensuring that the town now boasts some of the finest modern architecture in France. Yet it has much to offer in the way of older buildings, too - the tower of Église Saint-Christophe dates from the 11th Century and is adjoined to a 13th Century church, the whole being built atop an 8th Century crypt which is used to house relics of Saints Agoard and Aglibert. Excavations around the church have revealed graves from the 9th Century. Créteil is also home to the largest dovecote in the country, with space for 1500 birds, which with unusual consideration towards the importance of heritage for the time was moved in 1971 to allow new houses to be constructed on its original site.

The stage begins on the Avenue du General de Gaulle (D1B), from where Les Choux can be seen, and loops about a roundabout before travelling south-east along the wide avenue with its grassy central reservation and large bronze monument to the Resistance. It soon turns south and passes alongside Lac de Créteil, formerly a gypsum quarry that was allowed to flood after decommission in the 1970s, now picturesque and as important a site for leisure as it is for nature. On the other side of the road is the Centre Commercial Créteil Soleil, which looks for all the world like a component from a giant computer motherboard. It then negotiates another roundabout before turning left into a tree-lined avenue and past Le Port 59, a perfectly circular artificial bay on the lake surrounded by some terrifying expensive apartments but belonging really to the swans who live there.

Soon it turns into the Rue Falkirk, named after the Scottish town with which Créteil has been twinned since 1983, then south and south-east again along the Avenue François Mitterrand which takes us over several pedestrians crossings to a crossroads where the parcours veers sharply north-east via a tight corner. It turns north-west and north-east again along the Rue des Corbieres past an area of wooded parkland and past a tall modern water tower, named in a quite charming way the Château d'eau. It then turns north and passes through a narrow passage under a building, which is going to constrict the peloton tightly and may lead to accidents if too many riders attempt to pass through at the same time, and into another area of parkland where modern architecture - including a truly remarkable building at the junction with the Rue Rene Arcos - sits side-by-side with trees, the combination working well and forming an attractive whole.

Eglise Saint-Christophe

A very tight left-hand corner, potentially lethal when wet, leads to another easier one and then an equally technical turn onto the Avenue du Dr. Paul Casalis - home to Tov'Mie which, should you ever happen to be in Paris and find yourself of kosher bread products, I can personally assure you sells the finest bagels in the city. At the end of the road is a traffic island with some trees where the peloton changes direction north east on another tight corner and heads along the Avenue du General Leclerc (D19) which is long, almost perfectly straight and has few hazards until it reaches the junction with the D48E, where the route turns left towards the west. Sights to look out for include a fountain, the Église Saint-Christophe and, in parts, views to the river which runs a short distance away to the east.

Turning left, the route follows the D48E Aveue de la Rebublique until a bridge across a railway where the road becomes the Rue Emile Zola, a section which has many attractive buildings such as the Hôtel-de-Ville at Maisons-Alfort and Camelias, one of the few older commercial buildings left in the area. The parcours crosses the Seine by the imposing Pont du Port à l'Anglais suspension bridge, with a main span of 124m. Suspension bridges always make for excellent footage as the peloton passes across with the helicopters able to get shots from all sorts of interesting angles; with Paris as a backdrop, the results are virtually guaranteed to be even more spectacular than usual here. A big roundabout on the western bank takes the riders onto the Avenue du President Salvador Allende which leads to another railway bridge and on to Avenue Jean Jaures - named after the very same Jean Jaures associated with Carmaux which the Tour reached right back at the end of Stage 10. There's a large and expertly-done mural of a fierce-looking heron on a wall where the Avenue becomes the Avenue Henri Barbusse (D55A).

The Avenue Henri Barbusse is short and ends with another roundabout at the Place de la Liberation, the location of the excellent MAC/VAL contemporary gallery and assorted public works of art. The building itself is a good example of Bauhaus-inspired minimal modernism, as much a work of art as many of its contents. The parcours turns right onto the Avenue Eugene Pelletan (D5) which heads north-west, becoming the Boulevard de Stalingrad after a short while, then the Avenue de Verdun and running straight and wide for some distance before turning sharply left into the Rue Henri Martin which carries the race onto the wide Avenue du Paris for a short way before they turn north-east onto the D54 as it passes through the Cimetière Parisien d'Ivry, last resting place of Louis Caput - third place in the 1942 Circuit de France, one of the stage races that replaced the Tour while it was suspended during WW2.

Fort de Charenton.

The D54 takes a series of sharp corners before the parcours changes to the D50 past the Place Voltaire to the Parc des Cormailles, where there is an artificial hill with a spiral path stretching to the top, then back over the railway and on to the Boulevard Paul Vaillant Couturier (D19) and onto the Pont d'Ivry which carries the peloton across the Seine once more and onwards for a second visit to the Avenue du General Leclerc before switching to the Avenue Gambetta running straight and full of street furniture to the Pont de Maisons-Alfort which crosses one of the most attractive stretches of river in Paris. The route then passes by the docks which, although much gentrified, are still home to working boat yards allowing all manner of watercraft old and modern to be seen as they wait for repairs. The peloton will then join another section of the Rue Henri Barbusse along the D123 heading south-east towards the Avenue de la Liberation (D45). Nearby is the Fort de Charenton, built according to the government to help prevent Paris ever again being subject to the foreign occupations that took place following the decline of Napoleon and according to the left-wing opposition to subdue the populace should they ever again rise up against the establishment.

After switching north-east, another bridge takes the peloton onto the Avenue Charles Floquet, then the N4 nd a long stretch of the N303 to the D30 just south of two river islands, then across the Pont de Bry from where there are good views to the Quai d'Artois with its fine homes. Travelling north-west on the Avenue du General de Gaulle the peloton heads straight to the Rond Point where the riders switch onto the D44 heading west past the Parc des Epivans, an athletics centre, then the Boulevard Gallenini and Avenue de la Republique. A sweeping bend turns south to the Rue de France, with the vast Residence Val de France housing development, a series of tower blocks joined together and winding around.

Chateau de Vincennes

The parcours changes south-east and then south on the Avenue de la Pepiniere into the Bois de Vincennes park where it passes to the north and west of the not-very-picturesque Fort Neuf, which remains the property of the French Ministry of Defence and to which access is limited. On the other side of the road is the far more aethetically-pleasing Château de Vincennes, established in the 14th Century and much redeveloped in the 17th. In addition to being a fortress, the chateau has served as a porcelain factory and a prison - it was once housed the Marquis de Sade and, in the early 20th Century, Mata-Hari who was executed here. Although the Tour is using only a small part of the park, it's very beautiful overall despite the Fort and the helicopters will no doubt be making the most of it. The Avenue Daumesnil past the artificial lake with its two islands and Avenue de Saint-Maurice past the Ancient Cemetery take the peloton back out of the park, where it reaches the Charenton-le-Pont and officially enters Paris.

A very welcome sight after 3430.5km!

The route follows the N6 along the banks of the river, passing the Iles Saint-Louis and de la Cite and Notre-Dame, crossing the Pont Royale just west of the Louvre at one of the best places to view the museum and Jardin des Tuileries. From now on, the peloton are on the final circuits, during which they will travel around the Place de la Concorde and up the Avenue des Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, around and back down nine times times, each circuit being 6km, with the intermediate sprint coming after the third circuit. The Grand Finale is at the Arc following 95km, estimated to be some time shortly after 17:00 local time.

And that, folks, is your lot for the next 49 weeks. C'est la vie. Luckily, it's not long until the Vuelta a Espana.

Weather: It should be dry over the entire parcours, but showers are an outside possibility. Temperatures will be around 22 degrees C, which is ideal for cycling, but winds of up to 20kmph are just strong enough to be a pain when blowing from the side or the front.

Predictions: How about we go out on a limb and say Cadel Evans? Who, though, will win the intermediate sprint? Many people are going to try, especially Jose Joaquin Rojas who is just 15 points from winning the overall sprinter's competition - but he has little chance of beating Mark Cavendish.