The last stage of the Tour de France 2023 took the riders today like usual to Paris. It was an easy day also known as the Tour d’Honneur until the bunch hit the final lap on the Champs-Élysées. Some riders tried to break away but, in the end, it came down to a bunch sprint. BORA – hansgrohe moved up with Jordi Meeus on the last 3km and Jordi was able to catch the right wheel on the home straight. On the last 200m he launched his sprint and was able to overtake Philipsen to the line to take fantastic win.
With place seven in GC, two stage wins and the Yellow Jersey for one day, BORA – hansgrohe can be satisfied with the Tour de France 2023.
Results
Stage 21
01 J. Meeus 2:56:13
02 J. Philipsen +0:00
03 D. Grenewegen +0:00
General Classification
01 J. Vingegaard 82:05:42
02 T. Pogacar +7:29
03 A. Yates +10:56
07 J. Hindley +14:44
From the finish line
“This is the biggest day in my carrier. I knew I could do better than I was able to show so far in this Tour. Finally, all worked out today. I am super proud to have finished off the job. I had really good legs today and Danny and Marco brought me up in the right moment. Then I was on the wheel of Jasper and in a perfect position to launch my sprint. I cannot describe how I feel right now.” – Jordi Meeus
“It was a really hard race, with proper GC days already from the start. We had some really nice moments, winning a stage already in the first week and then also wearing the yellow jersey for a day. That was really something special. Then sitting high in GC for a long time until an unfortunate crash threw a spanner in the works. The impact from the crash lasted the whole race and affected my performance quite a bit, which is shit. Because we were on the right path for a decent final GC result. But regardless I kept fighting every day and left everything out on the road. And with the support off the boys and the whole staff team here, we managed to end up 7th in the end. Maybe not the result we came for, but one I think we can all be proud of. I really felt the commitment and support off the full team 100% from start to finish. Through the good times and the bad. And most importantly, the atmosphere we had here as a team was super nice. And in general, it was a really enjoyable month on the road with everyone. So, I would just like to say thanks to the whole team and to all the fans for the incredible support. It’s been amazing.” – Jai Hindley
“For us, the Tour this year looked very much like the profile: many ups and downs but also a transition phase. We had a great start with a stage win and the Yellow Jersey. After that we were on track for the podium and had to defend our position, which was kind of a flat stage. But after the crash of Jai we have been on a long downhill phase. We slipped some positions in GC and it was a hard battle for everybody, especially Jai, form there on. I think we all are happy now to be in Paris and that we finish the Tour in a fantastic way. The commitment from the boys was unbelievable, also from the guys for the flat parts. Everybody gave his all and the spirit was great. And that’s the absolute positive when I look ahead to the next years. Of course, it is unbelievable to finish on a high like today. It was a spectacular sprint from Jordi and finally he was able to show his speed. We couldn’t be happier than today.” – Rolf Aldag, Sports Director