And now, the end is near. And so we face the final sprint stage.

Sunday 27th July: Stage 21 – Evry to Paris, flat, 137.5km

There are a few things that are almost guaranteed to happen today. There will be champagne drunk by the jersey holders on the way into Paris. There will be a breakaway, almost certainly containing Jens Voigt. As it is his last Tour de France, the aforementioned Jens will be the first to ride onto the Champs Élysées. And, after eight circuits of the Champs, there will be a twilight sprint, which may or may not be won by Marcel Kittel.

One – or I should say two – little tiny things might cause a surprise. Plucky Frenchman Romain Bardet is only two tiny seconds down from plucky American Tejay van Garderen. If there were to be a split (not caused by a crash) on the final line and he made up those two tiny seconds and added a third tiny second, the French would have three men in the final top five. It’s a long shot, but with the surprises this Tour has thrown up every day, I wouldn’t bet the house on it *not* happening, and Tejay would do well to ensure not to dither at the back of the bunch on that final lap.

Link: Official website