Tour de France 2015 – Stage 21 et fini
Sèvres – Grand Paris Seine Ouest – Paris Champs-Élysées
Distance: 109.5 kilometers.
The final stage, which, by gentlemen’s agreement features no attacks, but a group sprint on the nineth and final circuit on the Champs Élysées. It becomes a parade of the survivors of the race that preceded it.
Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 031 ) [Yellow] 84h 46′ 14″
Peter Sagan ( Svk – TCS – 047 ) [Green] 432 points
Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 031 ) [Polka Dot] 119 points
Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 051 ) 2 [White]
Team: Movistar Team ( MOV – 051-059 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: André Greipel ( Ger – LTS – 075 )
Super Combative: Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 012 ) [Red numbers]
Φ Sébastien Chavanel ( Fra – FDJ – 023 ) + 4h 56′ 59″ [La Lanterne Rouge]
In a repeat of 2013 Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana finished 1-2. Chris was born and raised in the Nairobi highlands, and Nairo in the highlands of Colombia. Growing up at altitude means you have larger lungs and more efficient oxygen use than ‘flatlanders’ which is why they were also 1&2 for the Polka Dot [King of the Mountains] Jersey. No one born and raised on the Florida Panhandle will ever win the Tour.
The Tour is over and, quel dommage!, I haven’t been able to follow it I wanted to and usually do. If you don’t do all of the ground work and build the data bases and spreadsheets before the race starts, it is hard to keep up.
2 comments
“No one born and raised on the Florida Panhandle will ever win the Tour.”
Or the Texas coastal plains. I’ll never forget the time I visited a girlfriend who had moved to Denver and we went hiking in the mountains outside the city… I thought I’d have no trouble because I was as fit as I’ve ever been from so much cycling, but my cycling was in Houston. Whew! What a climb!
You can acclimate to altitude after a while, but after you have finished growing you will never achieve the lung capacity of a native and endurance of someone born at the altitude.