| 2021 UCI World Tour, race 21 of 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Route of the 2021 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 26 June – 18 July 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,414.4[1] km (2,122 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 82h 56' 36" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three grand tours. Originally planned for the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the Grand Départ) was transferred to Brest because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Copenhagen hosting four matches in the UEFA Euro 2020, which had also been rescheduled to 2021 because of the pandemic.[2][3] Originally scheduled for 2 to 25 July 2021, the Tour was moved to 26 June to 18 July 2021 to avoid the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics.[4] This would have been the first occasion on which the Tour de France had visited Denmark.[5] Denmark instead hosted the Grand Départ in 2022.[6]
The race was won for the second consecutive year by Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates, becoming the youngest rider to win the Tour twice.[7][8] Pogačar began to build his advantage with his win in the stage 5 time trial. He first took the maillot jaune on stage 8, when he gained almost three and a half minutes on the other contenders after attacking on the penultimate climb of the Col de Romme. He gained another half minute the next day on the summit finish to Tignes. Pogačar rode defensively in the second week before winning both mountaintop finishes at Col de Portet and Luz Ardiden in the third week. He won by 5' 20" over Jonas Vingegaard of Team Jumbo–Visma. Vingegaard was originally supposed to be a domestique for his team's original leader, Primož Roglič. After Roglič's crash and eventual abandon, Vingegaard became the team's leader and rode into form in the second week. He managed to finish second on both mountaintop finishes in the third week before finishing third in the final time trial. Third place went to Richard Carapaz of Ineos Grenadiers, becoming the first Ecuadorian to finish on the podium in the Tour.[9] He emerged as one of the three strongest climbers in the race, along with Pogačar and Vingegaard, before eventually finishing third on both summit finishes in the final week.
In the race's other classifications, Mark Cavendish of Deceuninck–Quick-Step won the points classification for the second time in his career. Cavendish took the green jersey after winning his first Tour stage since 2016 on stage 4. He proceeded to win three more stages to equal Eddy Merckx's record for the most career Tour stage wins.[10] Aside from winning the maillot jaune, Pogačar also won the mountains and young rider classifications for the second successive year. He clinched the win in the mountains classification after his back-to-back wins in the third week, adding 80 points to his tally as both stages' final climbs offered double points. He took the lead in the young rider classification after the first stage and held on to the lead until the end of the race. Team Bahrain Victorious won the team classification while Franck Bonnamour of B&B Hotels p/b KTM won the race's overall combativity award after being involved in several breakaways.
- ^ "Official route of Tour de France 2021". Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ^ "UCI confirms new Tour de France dates for 2021, avoiding Olympic Games conflict". 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ "Brest to host 2021 Tour de France start". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ "Tour de France moved to avoid Tokyo Olympics clash". Sky Sports. 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Officielt: Danmark skal afholde Tour de France-start". TV 2 Denmark. 20 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ "A Spectator's Sign Felled Dozens of Tour de France Racers". Thr New York Times. 1 July 2021.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (18 July 2021). "Tadej Pogacar wins 2021 Tour de France as Van Aert takes final stage". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ Whittle, Jeremy (18 July 2021). "Cavendish fails to break Tour de France stage record as Tadej Pogacar seals title". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (18 July 2021). "Carapaz set to claim Ecuador's first podium finish in Tour de France". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (18 July 2021). "Mark Cavendish equals Eddy Merckx's Tour de France stage win record of 34". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.