The famous final stage, which for the overall contenders is an unchallenged formality, typically becomes a flat bunch sprint.
Last year organisers ASO introduced a circuit which takes on a cobbled climb over the city’s famous Montmartre hill, changing the parcours enough to encourage the heavier, more powerful riders to challenge for victory.
On Sunday it was powerhouse classics legend Van der Poel who took victory after charging away with 11km remaining with Pogacar.
Pogacar and Van der Poel led through the picturesque and narrow lanes over Montmartre and past Sacre-Coeur, where some fans had their mobile phones knocked out of their hands as the riders squeezed past at speed, before Pogacar began to fade after three weeks of dominance and showing no weakness.
Van der Poel, whose strength and staying power allow him to pull out gaps in gruelling one-day races, just managed stayed ahead of a chasing pack which included several sprinters and was rapidly closing, before he collapsed off his bike and lay under a barrier, breathing heavily for several minutes.
Van der Poel added this prestigious victory on the famous cobbles to many of the sport’s biggest one-day races, such as multiple victories in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.
He said: “We have a saying in Dutch that it has to come for your toes. I don’t know where this came from, but not from my toes.”
The stage was reduced from 133km to 89km after the redirection of emergency services to help tackle wildfires in south-west France.
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