For once, the Tour de France didn’t end with the usual sprint on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday. Due to the addition of the climb to Montmartre, the 2025 edition concluded with a “Classics” feeling. Clément Russo managed to follow the right move for a while, before being distanced by the day’s winner, Wout van Aert, and the Tour winner, Tadej Pogacar. The Frenchman finished eighteenth in Paris, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet secured his sixteenth place overall, while the Groupama-FDJ cycling team achieved nine top-10 finishes, including four top-5s over the three weeks.
One hundred and thirty-two kilometres were left to be covered for the riders still in contention in the 2025 Tour de France on Sunday, in the final stage towards the French capital. From Mantes-la-Ville, the traditional procession took place until entering Paris, and the first attacks – which included Lewis Askey – occurred once the finish line on the Champs-Élysées was crossed for the first time. However, a completely different scenario unfolded in the last 45 kilometres. Due to the three-time ascent of the Côte de la Butte Montmartre, implemented by the organizers after its success during the Olympic Games, and the times being taken before this final circuit, because of the incoming rain, the day took a completely different turn. “Whatever happened, we were involved in the race, we wanted to fight for the stage, and it didn’t change much for us,” Clément Russo said. “We knew it might rain, that it would be dangerous, but we were focused on getting a good result.” He, in particular. “I knew we had to be in a good position right away because the rain came just before the first time up Montmartre,” he added. “It was a question of legs, but also of positioning,” confirmed Benoît Vaugrenard.
“Clément was exemplary just like he was during the whole Tour”, Benoît Vaugrenard
After the first climb, where a massive crowd was gathered, around twenty riders broke away. A lap later, the yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, pushed hard up the cobbled and wet Rue Lepic, and only five riders were able to follow him. “Clément didn’t miss much on the second time up Montmartre,” Benoît noted. “In the final lap, he was also close from following the Vauquelin group, but the leading group was undoubtedly of another level with Pogacar and Van Aert. Yet, he was present and exemplary just like he was during the whole Tour. He’s the rider every team would like to have”. “In the final, it was all about the legs and the courage,” Clément added. “There were riders all over the place, it was a real fight to the finish.” On the Champs-Élysées, the Groupama-FDJ rider came fighting for eleventh place, before coming away with eighteenth. His six teammates finished a few moments later, and also caught up with the eighth man, Cyril Barthe, at the finish line. The 2025 Tour concluded with the stage victory of Wout van Aert, and another overall win for Tadej Pogacar.As for Groupama-FDJ, Benoît Vaugrenard made a clear assessment: “We’re obviously disappointed of not having won a stage, but we can’t blame the riders, they gave their all. We’ll analyse what went well, what didn’t, and we’ll come back next year to try to win. There were obviously good things and less good ones. We especially suffered in the mountains, but Guillaume wasn’t at his normal level. On the first week’s stages, Romain confirmed he was where he belonged. Even if a fourth or fifth place may seem minor, there’s nothing to be ashamed of when you see who was ahead of him. For Paul, it was his first Grand Tour, and he finished it without ever struggling despite the speed of this Tour, so hats off to him. He was present on the sprint stages and didn’t struggle in the mountains. For the future and for the weeks to come, it is promising, and it will allow him to gain a lot of confidence.”
